Is Palin As Clueless As She Seems?

Is she simply a Gooper Puppet?

Palin has no clue how entitlements work.

Tonight in an ABC interview, host Charlie Gibson asked Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) if she would cut entitlements — such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Palin, however, began talking about spending by government agencies, demonstrating a fundamental ignorance on economics:

GIBSON: Do you talk about entitlement reform? Is there money you can save in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid?

PALIN: I am sure that there are efficiencies that are going to be found in all of these agencies. I’m confident in that.

GIBSON: The agencies are not involved in entitlements. Basically, discretionary spending is 18 percent of the budget.

Last weekend, Palin also tried to explain the recent federal bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by saying that they had “gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers.” The companies, however, aren’t taxpayer funded but rather operate as private companies.

Transcript: Read the rest of this entry »

Update: Yglesias has more.

Update: Palin used the word "efficiencies" four different times during the interview to refer to money that can be saved in government agencies. She presumably meant "inefficiencies."

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