PDS Palin Derangement Syndrome

Gov. Sarah Palin has instituted a hiring freeze and pledged to work with state lawmakers to rein in spending as Alaska faces the possibility of a more than billion dollar deficit this year.

She told lawmakers Thursday night in her annual State of the State address that she also has restricted nonessential spending as oil prices remain low.

AP adds this later:

Alaska's treasury is 90-percent reliant upon oil revenues. Last year, when oil prices were high, about $140 a barrel, lawmakers stashed away billions.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/01/23/ap5957934.html

I would bet many AP users deleted that little note. Indeed, McClatchy published an excerpt from the Anchorage Daily News that managed to not mention any of the good news.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/60576.html

That was somewhat understandable, considering the only mention the ADN article made was the following in paragraph 22:
Palin said Alaska is in a better position than other states, having put billions of dollars in savings last year when oil prices were high.

http://www.adn.com/news/government/legislature/story/664609.html

Of course, the truth is in the state of the state message itself:
Two years ago at this podium, I urged spending restraint. I asked that billions of surplus funds be deposited in state savings. This struck me as a simple precaution against, as I described it, massive single-year cuts down the road, if and when we faced tougher times. You legislators agreed, so we can now meet our challenge in a stronger position.

And you understood the challenge is not just to think fast and change plans when the price of oil suddenly falls, affecting revenue by billions of dollars. The challenge is to follow a consistent plan despite inconsistent prices.

With prudence, you built our reserves - that was good planning. This national economic downturn that's spread to the energy market - it found us prepared. And that's more than many states can say about their financial situation.

http://www.fortmilltimes.com/124/story/432489.html

I wonder how many state governments are in this good a financial situation. Yet Governor Palin is maligned by idiots like Chris Matthews who questioned whether she "could read or write well enough to write a book". The comments left at the sites of the "less truthful" articles show that ignorance combined with hatred for Sarah Palin are alive and well among the former sufferers of BDS.