[Lazlo in PA]

Business isn’t government...

Right there is the problem. The Gov't should be run like a business. That is why we are in the mess we are today. As far as Palin being able to straighten out the Gov't using her expertise, I don't see it. She did do good things in AK, but did end up doing politically expedient things as well that raises red flags in my mind.

Palin's agenda has been dominated by an energy policy that, in part, bears more resemblance to the one put forward by Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and other Democrats than the one backed by McCain and the GOP. Obama supports a so-called windfall tax on oil profits; McCain opposes it. McCain also opposed repealing billions of dollars in oil tax breaks as a way of paying for renewable energy subsidies. "If that plan sounds familiar, it's because that was President Carter's big idea, too," McCain said of Obama's windfall tax proposal in June in San Antonio. Six months earlier in Alaska, Palin had signed a bill that increased state taxes on oil profits. The measure imposed a graduated scale, so the state's share would go up even more when oil prices rise. Palin dubbed her plan "Alaska's Clear and Equitable Share." Oil company profits are taxed at a 25% base rate, up from the previous 22.5%. The tax rate rises 0.2% for each dollar the price of oil exceeds $52 per barrel.

I'm not a big fan of raising taxes.

[editor-surveyor]

>> “The Gov’t should be run like a business.” <<

.
That is an immature quip.

Government can’t be run like a business. A business has to seek a profit, and if it fails, it is replaced by one that does better. Government cannot fail, because government is us. The methods that make for effective government are vastly different than what makes for profitable business.

[editor-surveyor]

Palin’s bill didn’t have anything to do with oil profits; ACES was addressed before profits.

[DJ MacWoW]

If you are looking for truth, you won't find it in USA Today.

What pundits should be talking about when it comes to Palin

Palin tossed out the corruption-ridden, structurally-flawed Petroleum Profits Tax of the Murkowski administration and put forth ACES (Alaska’s Clear and Equitable Share), which incentivized development while seeing to it that Alaskans — resource owners as per the Alaska Constitution — would receive “A CLEAR and EQUITABLE SHARE (ACES) of the value of their commonly-owned oil and gas.” The result? Alaska was left with a $12 billion surplus. Also, as reported at Big Government, “The number of oil companies filing with the Alaska Department of Revenue has doubled, indicating that competition has indeed increased. Alaska has the second most business friendly tax set-up — up two spots since the passage of ACES. Additionally, a report from Governor Parnell’s Department of Revenue indicated that 2009 yielded a record high in oil jobs.”