Sarah Palin Blasts 'War on Christmas,' 'Church of Government'
In her speech at a fundraiser in Iowa this past weekend, 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin blasted secular groups for their opposition to nativity scenes during Christmas and the "scandals" of President Obama's administration, calling it "church of big government."
"Everywhere it seems that faith, religious freedom is under attack," former Alaska Governor Palin said at the 13th Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition Dinner on Saturday, according to Reuters. She was joined by Sen. Mike Lee, a Republican from Utah.
"The war on Christmas is just the tip of the spear in a larger battle," added Palin, who is promoting her new book, Good Tidings and Great Joy: Protecting the Heart of Christmas.
Palin also criticized the Obama administration, saying she sees it as big government's efforts to become a church in its own right, according to CNN.
The "church," she said, involves Obama's administration and its scandals including NSA spying and the terrorist attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi last year. But "the crowning achievement of their church of big government" is Obamacare, Palin said.
Palin also referred to the $1.3 trillion the U.S. owes China, saying, "It's going to be like slavery when that note is due." The comparison "isn't racist," she noted.
Palin also blasted the establishment Republicans who granted an end to the government shutdown without defunding Obama's signature health care law.
"They promised that they would do everything in their power to fight against socialized medicine, against Obamacare, but when it came time to stand and defund it, they waved the white flag of surrender and they threw under the bus the good guys who did stand up and fight for us," she said.
Palin added it was time to "stiffen our spines" for the 2014 elections. "I want to encourage you to make your voice heard, to hold politicians accountable," she told hundreds of attendees.
Lee and Sen. Ted Cruz were instrumental in the attempt to defund Obamacare. Many establishment Republicans criticized the strategy and its leaders.
A Wall Street Journal/NBC poll held during the stalemate at Congress showed that the approval rating for Republicans was at an all-time low at 24 percent. In the survey, 70 percent of respondents said they believe congressional Republicans were putting politics before the nation's good.