After 'big stick' rebuke, Palin goes after new stimulus

By CNN Political Unit - Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin took quick aim at new stimulus money announced Thursday by the Federal Reserve, calling the new attempt at spurring the nation's struggling economy a "sugar fix" designed for political gain.

It's the second rebuke in as many days from Palin, who late Tuesday took President Barack Obama to task for his handling of attacks on American diplomatic missions in Egypt and Libya. She wrote on her Facebook page if Obama "doesn't have a 'big stick' to carry, maybe it's time for him to grow one."

In that post, she also harked back to one of the most famous lines from the 2008 presidential campaign.

"Apparently President Obama can't see Egypt and Libya from his house," Palin began, mimicking a line Tina Fey used to mock her on Saturday Night Live.

In Thursday's post, the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee wrote Obama "is clearly revealing his rapid loss of any grip on the economic and security issues that are of utmost importance to our country."

"His economic and foreign policy blunders are manifesting chaos," Palin continued. "On the same day when we see more chaos erupting in the Middle East and President Obama declaring that Egypt is no longer considered our ally, the Federal Reserve announced that it will spend $40 billion a month to purchase mortgage-backed securities with no end date set. QE3 is upon us."

While presidents appoint chairmen of the Federal Reserve to a 14-year term, the bank operates independently of the government, and presidents traditionally do not comment on the actions taken by the bank's board. Actions taken by the Fed do not have be approved by the president or Congress.

That fact didn't stop Palin Thursday from casting the news stimulus as blindly political.

"Is it any wonder that the dollar is down against major currencies?" she asked. "This temporary, artificial economic 'stimulus' bought at the expense of high inflation is no substitute for a stable currency and genuine long-term economic recovery. This is what happens when big government centralized planners try to "plan" our economy."

"President Obama is no doubt happy, though, that this latest sugar fix comes 53 days before the election," she concluded.