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Sarah Palin's ten point message

Tim Montgomerie

SHIELDS I've just finished the final and full dress rehearsal for the launch of ConservativeHome USA. We launch at 11.30am tomorrow, UK time. One of the pieces I wrote was a summary of Sarah Palin's letter to the new Congress. Here's my post...

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Palin Sarah black Sarah Palin has written an open letter to Republican Freshmen, offering advice and setting out her own philosophy in the process. You can read the whole letter on her Facebook page but here are my ten summary observations of what she communicated:

  1. She puts the replacement of ObamaCare at the top of her list of priorities. "Defund it," she writes. It's "a job-killer, a regulatory nightmare, and an enormous unfunded mandate".
  2. The deficit is a problem of high spending not low taxes. "Tax cuts didn’t get us into the mess we’re in. Government spending did."
  3. A tax hike on job creators is the last thing America needs at the moment. She addresses the key Democrat argument that Republicans want tax cuts for the rich: "You must continue to remind Democrats that the people they are dismissing as “rich” are the small business owners who create up to 70% of all jobs in this country!"
  4. Earmarks are a "gateway-drug" that facilitated backroom deals and bloated budgets. They must go.
  5. Debt is an issue of justice between the generations. She calls for "humane" reform of entitlements and "zero-based budgeting" to restore fiscal discipline.
  6. Reduce the burden of regulation and support free trade agreements with Korea and Colombia.
  7. "Secure the border". This must come first, argues the former VP nominee, before regularizing the status of current illegal immigrants.
  8. Do not try suspected terrorists on American soil. She warns against "precipitously close the Guantanamo prison".
  9. Isolationism is the wrong path for America. She writes: "If we withdraw from the world, the world will become a much more dangerous place. You must push President Obama to finish the job right in Iraq and get the job done in Afghanistan, otherwise we who are war-weary will forever question why America’s finest are sent overseas to make the ultimate sacrifice with no clear commitment to victory from those who send them."
  10. Don't trust the liberal media. Urging Republicans to stick to the principles on which they were elected she warns that a pat on the back from the mainstream commentariat is a warning to "readjust".

Although short on detail, the letter is a solid agenda that puts Sarah Palin in the conservative mainstream. Her continued commitment to America's place in the world, and support for free trade, will upset some of the more isolationist members of the Tea Party Movement but is welcomed by ConHomeUSA. The letter is also noteworthy for the lack of mention of any social issues. The former Governor of Alaska is clearly emphasising her economic credentials in what still looks like a bid for 2012.

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