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# Is Sarah Palin the fiscal conservative the Tea Party is looking for?
- URL: https://ivn.us/sarah-palin-fiscal-conservative-tea-party-looking/
- Published: 2010-02-17T09:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-06-22T19:14:38.000Z
- Author: Ryan Jaroncyk
- Tags: News

Sarah Palin has emerged as the unofficial leader of a national movement that is championing limited government, lower taxes, and less debt. While Palin espouses a fiscally conservative platform, it would behoove supporters to test her platform against her record as a mayor, governor, vice presidential candidate, and grassroots celebrity.

As a mayor, Palin cut property taxes by [75%](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah%5FPalin?ref=ivn.us#Mayor%5Fof%5FWasilla), eliminated the business inventory tax, and cut her own salary by 10%. However, during her term, the sales tax rose by 0.5% and public works spending projects increased the city's debt by [$24 million](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah%5FPalin?ref=ivn.us#Mayor%5Fof%5FWasilla). She also lobbied for nearly $8 million in federal earmarks.

As a governor, Palin [repealed](http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2008/08/29/palin-uninspiring-tax-policy-record/?ref=ivn.us) tire taxes, issued tax credits for commercial salmon fishing and film production, implemented a one-year suspension of the state fuel tax, and reduced the state's business license fee. She also sold the state jet, refused to use the gubernatorial chef & personal driver, [rejected](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah%5FPalin?ref=ivn.us#Budget.2C%5Fspending.2C%5Fand%5Ffederal%5Ffunds) a pay raise, and vetoed hundreds of millions of dollars in extra spending projects. She also socked away [$1 billion](http://www.suntimes.com/news/elections/1217049,palin101208.article?ref=ivn.us) for a rainy day. However, she also signed a record budget which increased spending by 28%, raised taxes on oil companies, requested about $200 million in federal earmarks (though far less than her predecessor), and kept about $440 million in federal transportation funds originally allocated for the "Bridge to Nowhere".

As a vice-presidential candidate, Palin supported John McCain, whom the National Taxpayers Union [reported](http://www.ntu.org/main/page.php?PageID=141&ref=ivn.us) would've increased federal spending, perpetuating the Bush administration's chronic budget deficits. Palin also [supported](http://mediamatters.org/research/201002070013?ref=ivn.us) the $700 billion Wall St bailout.

As a "grassroots" leader and Tea Party icon, she has trumpeted former President Ronald Reagan as a champion of fiscal conservatism in her book *Going Rogue*. But, as I outlined in a previous [article](http://caivn.org/article/2010/02/01/challenging-glenn-becks-conservative-icons?ref=ivn.us), Reagan increased both domestic and overseas spending, was unable to balance the budget, and doubled the national debt, despite a largely Republican Senate. In addition, she is campaigning for John McCain, even though she called him a "progressive" who supported the bank bailout (which she supported in 2008) in a recent Glenn Beck [interview](http://mediamatters.org/research/201002070013?ref=ivn.us). She has also expressed her support for [attacking Iran](http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MTI5NzBmYThkM2M5MDI4NThiMDQwNGU1NmRkMzMxMDE=&ref=ivn.us), which by all accounts, would certainly add to the $1.4 trillion budget deficit, much like the $1 trillion wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

So, when it comes to fiscal conservatism, Palin's track record is best described as a mixed bag. At times, she has enacted strong, fiscally conservative policies, while at other times, she has implemented and/or supported fiscally liberal policies. In other words, Sarah Palin's experience, campaigning, and commentating strongly suggest that she can at most be considered a fiscal moderate.

Therefore, tea party supporters should ask themselves, based on the actual data, if they are supporting Palin because she is a staunch fiscal conservative, or if she is merely a charismatic, symbolic counter to President Obama and Democratic leadership.