Gov. Palin’s Pro-Life Slashing of Funding for Teen Mothers
Ahhhhh! I love the smell of hypocrisy in the great state of Alaska!
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee who revealed Monday that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, earlier this year used her line-item veto to slash funding for a state program benefiting teen mothers in need of a place to live.
After the legislature passed a spending bill in April, Palin went through the measure reducing and eliminating funds for programs she opposed. Inking her initials on the legislation — “SP” — Palin reduced funding for Covenant House Alaska by more than 20 percent, cutting funds from $5 million to $3.9 million. Covenant House is a mix of programs and shelters for troubled youths, including Passage House, which is a transitional home for teenage mothers.
According to Passage House’s web site, its purpose is to provide “young mothers a place to live with their babies for up to eighteen months while they gain the necessary skills and resources to change their lives” and help teen moms “become productive, successful, independent adults who create and provide a stable environment for themselves and their families.”
Palin’s own daughter, Bristol, is five months pregnant and has plans to wed.
I am happy to report that Bristol Palin will have a place to live, and Levi Johnston will have the skills and resources to keep their lives exactly the same as they are now.
More liberal bias – Here are the facts:
http://wthrockmorton.com/2008/09/03/sarah-palin-did-not-slash-funds-for-teen-mothers/
From Warren Throckmorton’s link:
I disagree that tripling a budget constitutes hypocrisy. It’s hard to defend a disagreement about how much money to allocate: $5M or $3.9M, as hypocrisy.
The article is both incorrect and misleading. Warren, however, did his homework. Check the facts:
Covenant House Alaska grant income received from the State of Alaska:
(2006) $1.2 million
(2007) $1.3 million
(2008) $3.9 million
In 2008, Covenant House Alaska asked the state for $10 million to assist in the building of a new $22 million facility. The legislature appropriated $5 million, and Governor Palin used her line-item veto to limit this year’s grant INCREASE to $2.6 million (a total grant this year of $3.9 million). Additional money will be allocated for this capital expenditure project over the next few years, a phased-in grant rather than all the money at once.
This was confirmed in a quote from the Executive Director of Covenant House Alaska, Deirdre Cronin:
“Despite some press reports to the contrary, our operating budget was not reduced. Our $3.9 million appropriation is directed toward a multi-year capital project and it is our understanding that the state simply opted to phase in its support for this project over several years, rather than all at once in the current budget year.”