[Swiftwater Gazette] Question for Brad about Palin speech

[Brad Haslett]

Ed,

More from the AP (below). Note the last comment from a DEM strategist.
 One of the things I liked about Palin from the get-go was that she
blew her own party in Alaska apart first.  The DEMs loved her until
she gained national recognition.  I say, turn her loose on the
national GOP -  it is a "target rich environment".  Main Street loves
Sarah - K Street hates her regardless of party affiliation. Assholes
like the last commentator represent the views of the 40% who
contribute nothing and believe in the "free lunch".  I'm betting my
two favorite Democrats, Evan Byah (IN) and Gene Taylor (MS) have a
different view.

You Go Girl!

Brad

-----------------

Palin emerges in Asia with speech to investors

By JEREMIAH MARQUEZ (AP) – 8 hours ago

HONG KONG — Former U.S. vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin,
criticized for her lack of foreign policy experience, emerged in Asia
on Wednesday to share her views from "Main Street U.S.A" with a group
of high-flying global investors.

In her first trip to the region, the former Alaska governor addressed
an annual conference of investors in Hong Kong in what was billed as a
wide-ranging talk about governance, economics and U.S and Asian
affairs.

"I'm going to call it like I see it and I will share with you candidly
a view right from Main Street, Main Street U.S.A.," Palin told a room
full of asset managers and other finance professionals, according to a
video of part of the speech obtained by The Associated Press. "And how
perhaps my view of Main Street ... how that affects you and your
business."

It marked Palin's first major appearance since she resigned as
governor in July, and the speech's location and international scope
could help boost her credentials ahead of a possible bid for president
in 2012. While she's thought to be considering that, her Hong Kong
trip bore no political overtones, said Fred Malek, a friend and Palin
adviser.

"You can read a lot of things into it, 'Is she trying to burnish her
foreign policy credentials?' and the like. But really, it's a trip
that will be beneficial to her knowledge base and will defray some
legal and other bills that she has," Malek said.

Palin left office in part because of the toll of multiple ethics
complaints filed against her. Almost all of the complaints were
dismissed, but she says she amassed more than $500,000 in legal fees.

Palin started off her keynote — which was closed to reporters — with a
light talk about the links between her state and the southern Chinese
territory, then touched later on economic issues and China.

One attendee said she called on China to be a more responsible global
citizen, allow greater freedoms and take a more active role in solving
pressing world issues.

She also criticized the U.S. Federal Reserve's massive intervention in
the economy over the last year, arguing its actions only exacerbated
the crisis, according to another attendee. She also praised the
conservative economic policies of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan
and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Earlier, she talked of Alaska's salmon exports and complimented Hong
Kong as a "beautiful city," according to a third attendee. All three
people spoke on condition of anonymity, because they did not want to
be seen as speaking on behalf of their companies.

Former President Bill Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore and
former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan have spoken in the past
at the conference, hosted by brokerage and investment group CLSA
Asia-Pacific Markets.

"She was chosen because she's a woman of news value and presents an
opinion that we feel would be of value to our fund managers," said
CLSA spokeswoman Simone Wheeler.

Palin, who burst on the U.S. political scene last year when she was
chosen as Republican Sen. John McCain's running mate, was ridiculed
during the campaign after contending her state's proximity to Russia
gave her foreign policy experience.

"You can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska," she said.

Palin received her first passport in 2007, to visit Alaska National
Guard members serving in Kuwait and Germany.

Since leaving office, Palin has vanished from public view, ducking
mainstream news outlets and communicating with supporters largely via
her popular Facebook page.

She also signed with the prestigious Washington Speakers Bureau and
reportedly has been flooded with over a thousand offers.

Palin aides refused to disclose her fee for the appearance, which has
been rumored to be in the low six figures.

CLSA requested Palin's speech be closed to reporters so she could make
an "unfettered" presentation to investors, according to spokeswoman
Wheeler. And Palin, whose supporters have long accused the media of
bias and harsh treatment, agreed.

Hari Sevugan, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, said
Tuesday the group knew little about Palin's speech.

"We're curious as to what she's willing to say in private but not in
public," Sevugan said. "Are there other countries that she can see
from her window that she doesn't want us to know about?"

AP reporters Min Lee in Hong Kong, Beth Fouhy in New York and Matthew
Daly in Washington contributed to this report.

On 9/23/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> Ed,
>
> Here's more WSJ coverage (below).  I'm not a big Ron Paul fan, I know
> Ric is, but I do agree with Dr. Paul with some of his views on the
> Fed.
>
> Brad
>
> --------------
>
>
>
>     * September 23, 2009, 8:46 AM ET
>
> Palin, Sounding Like Ron Paul, Takes on the Fed
>
> Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin fired a shot at the Federal Reserve in
> her coming-out speech in Hong Kong today, blaming the central bank for
> the current crisis and disagreeing with the idea that the Fed should
> have a greater role in preventing the next crisis. It was an echo of
> fellow Republican and Texas congressman Ron Paul, who has led the
> charge in Congress to perform an audit of the Federal Reserve with an
> eye to eventually eliminating it.
> Sarah Palin addresses Asian investors. (Associated Press)
>
> “How can we discuss reform without addressing the government policies
> at the root of the problems? The root of the collapse? And how can we
> think that setting up the Fed as the monitor of systemic risk in the
> financial sector will result in meaningful reform?” she said. “The
> words ‘fox’ and ‘henhouse’ come to mind. The Fed’s decisions helped
> create the bubble. Look at the root cause of most asset bubbles, and
> you’ll see the Fed somewhere in the background.”
>
> More generally, Mrs. Palin took the tack that the financial crisis
> occurred because government got in the way of free enterprise.
>
> “Lack of government wasn’t the problem, government policies were the
> problem. The marketplace didn’t fail. It became exactly as common
> sense would expect it to,” she said. “The government ordered the
> loosening of lending standards. The Federal Reserve kept interest
> rates low. The government forced lending institutions to give loans to
> people who as I say, couldn’t afford them. Speculators spotted new
> investment vehicles, jumped on board and rating agencies
> underestimated risks. So many to be blamed on so many different
> levels, but the fact remains that these people were responding to a
> market solution created by government policies that ran contrary to
> common sense,” she said.
>
> On the question of more complex economic issues, Mrs. Palin told the
> hall filled with bankers and economists, that would come later.
>
> “Maybe you’re hoping to hear me discuss the derivations of the formula
> for effective rate of protection, followed by a brief discussion of
> the monetary approach to the balance of payments,” she said. “If time
> allows, a quick summary of factor price equalization. Maybe some
> thoughts on quantitative easing, but that’s for next time. Because I
> have spent my life closer to Main Street. That’s what I want to talk
> about is that view from Main Street,” she said.
>
>
> On 9/23/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Ed,
>>
>> Not that I'm aware of, the speech was given just a few hours ago.
>> Below is the WSJ coverage. If you've ever watched Palin's interview
>> with Charlie Rose you will understand why I was rooting for her long
>> before anyone had ever heard of her.  The woman is smart and is has a
>> highly tuned BS detector. Will she run for POTUS in 2012 and be
>> successful?  Who knows.  I'm glad she's able to provide for her family
>> and secure their financial future. Leaving the Guv's office was smart
>> planning for her - she had nothing to gain by hanging on and faced not
>> only personal financial ruin but a stalemated government for Alaskans.
>> The last time someone of her stature quit voluntarily in the middle of
>> a term was Andrew Jackson (he quit the US Senate twice) and after his
>> second resignation became POTUS in the next election cycle.  That's a
>> little trivia the "she's a quitter" crowd remain ignorant of or silent
>> about by choice.
>>
>> Brad
>>
>> ---------------
>>
>>     * SEPTEMBER 23, 2009, 10:41 A.M. ET
>>
>> Palin Addresses Asian Investors
>> Former Governor Touches on Budget Deficit, Health Care and China
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> By JONATHAN CHENG and ALEX FRANGOS
>>
>> HONG KONG -- Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, in what was billed as her
>> first public-speaking engagement outside North America, blamed the
>> world financial crisis on government excesses and called for a new
>> round of deregulation and tax cuts for U.S. businesses.
>>
>> "We got into this mess because of government interference in the first
>> place," the former Republican U.S. vice presidential candidate said
>> Wednesday at a conference sponsored by investment firm CLSA
>> Asia-Pacific Markets. "We're not interested in government fixes, we're
>> interested in freedom," she added.
>>
>>
>>
>> On the foreign-policy front, she told the room full of bankers and
>> executives of the importance of the global fight against terrorism and
>> of finding ways to engage China as a global power. She said China
>> "rightfully makes a lot of people nervous."
>>
>> Her speech marks an effort to reach out to an international audience
>> and define her political identity since resigning from office earlier
>> this year. Mrs. Palin is among a handful of high-profile Republicans
>> seeking a path back to power for a party that lost control of both
>> houses of Congress and White House in last year's U.S. elections.
>>
>> Mrs. Palin's address was officially closed to the media. The Wall
>> Street Journal reviewed a recording of the speech.
>>
>> In the wide-ranging address, Mrs. Palin touched on the rising U.S.
>> budget deficit, the debate over a proposed health-care overhaul, the
>> war in Afghanistan and China's role in world affairs.
>> More
>>
>>     * Real Time Econ: Palin Sounds Like Ron Paul
>>     * Washwire: Palin's Bridge to Hong Kong
>>
>> She described her political philosophy as a "common-sense
>> conservatism," and said the free-market policies of Ronald Reagan and
>> Margaret Thatcher should be guides for how to get out of the current
>> economic situation. "Liberalism holds that there is no human problem
>> that government can't fix if only the right people are put in charge,"
>> she said.
>>
>> Mrs. Palin didn't refer to President Barack Obama by name, but said
>> his promise for change during the election hasn't taken hold. She
>> called his campaign promises "nebulous, utopian sounding…Now 10 months
>> later, though, a lot of Americans are asking: more government? Is that
>> the change we want?"
>>
>> In an echo of last year's presidential campaign, she criticized
>> government policies that result in what she called a redistribution of
>> wealth. "There is no justice in taking from one person and giving to
>> another," she said. "History shows it simply does not work."
>>
>> Mrs. Palin blamed the U.S. Federal Reserve's low interest-rate policy
>> of previous years for setting the stage for last year's global
>> financial crisis. She opposed appointing the Fed as the chief overseer
>> of systemic risk in the U.S. financial system. "The words 'fox' and
>> 'henhouse' come to mind. The Fed's decisions have created the bubble,"
>> she said.
>>
>> She called for tax cuts as well as the elimination of the capital
>> gains and estate tax. Then, she said, the world will "watch the U.S.
>> economy roar back to life."
>>
>> On health care, Mrs. Palin defended her previous criticisms that the
>> health-care overhaul proposed by Democrats would lead to health-care
>> rationing and what she called "death panels." "It's just common sense
>> that government attempts to solve problems like health care problem
>> will just create new problems." She called for "market friendly"
>> health care reform that gives tax breaks to individuals to buy health
>> insurance.
>> [Sarah Palin] Associated Press
>>
>> Former U.S. vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin attended the 16th
>> annual CLSA Investors' Forum in Hong Kong Wednesday.
>>
>> She acknowledged the economic rise of both China and India but called
>> for a vision of Asia in which no one country would dominate.
>>
>> "We all hope to see a China that is stable and peaceful and
>> prosperous," she said. But she added that the U.S. must work with
>> Asian allies in case "China goes in a different direction."
>>
>> She said greater political openness in China could help soothe
>> tensions. "Many believed that with China liberalizing its economy,
>> greater political freedom would follow, but that hasn't happened," she
>> said. "The more open [China] is, the less we'll be concerned about its
>> military buildup and its intentions."
>>
>> On U.S.-China trade relations, Mrs. Palin called for more openness and
>> warned against protectionism. We need China to improve its rule of
>> law, and protect our intellectual property," she said. "On our part,
>> we should be more open to Chinese investment where our national
>> security interests are not threatened."
>>
>> She talked about the recent protests of ethnic minority Muslim
>> Uighurs, Chinese labor conditions, and Tibet. Mrs. Palin mentioned
>> Charter 08, a document signed by prominent academics and dissidents
>> calling for greater democracy and openness in China.
>>
>> In other areas, she criticized Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
>> for speaking skeptically about the need for more troops in
>> Afghanistan. "Afghanistan is where the 9/11 attacks were planned and
>> if we are not successful there, al Qaeda will find a safe haven there
>> again," she said.
>>
>> Mrs. Palin warmed up the crowd with her impressions of Hong Kong, one
>> of the densest urban areas in the world. "The wildlife-to-human ratio
>> is different from Alaska, but I could get used to it," she said.
>>
>> She also spoke about how Alaska once shared a land bridge with Asia.
>> And she noted that her husband's Eskimo ancestors crossed that bridge.
>> "To consider that connection that allowed sharing of peoples and
>> bloodlines and wildlife and flora and fauna, that connection to me is
>> quite fascinating," she said.
>>
>> Write to Jonathan Cheng at jonathan.cheng at wsj.com and Alex Frangos at
>> alex.frangos at wsj.com
>>
>> On 9/23/09, Ed Kroposki <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:
>>> Brad,
>>>
>>> Is there any documentation to the speech?
>>>
>>> Ed K
>>>
>>
>