The Washington Monthly Fact Checked

CREDIT:  The original fact checker was Stuart Buck.  Let's give him credit for being way on top of things.

He has a blog called The Buck Stops Here 

[UPDATE #2] Also see my latest post which shows that Governor Palin increased special needs funding by another 15%.

Washington Monthly makes false accusations against Governor Palin.

The Washington Monthly: Fact Checking Palin

Palin: "To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters. I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House."

Sarah Palin might have changed her mind on this one recently. However, a comment here notes that Palin actually slashed funding for schools for special needs kids by 62%. Budgets: FY 2007 (pre-Palin), 2008, 2009 (all pdfs).

Now 45 seconds of googling led me to his comment over at the Washington Post blog, "The Trail"

A commenter (Jim Syar) accused Sarah Palin of reducing the special education budget by 62%. That is false. The special education budget actually increased by nearly 12%, as explained below.
As Syar correctly notes, the Alaska 2007 budget for special education was $8,265,300. But that included $5,352,000 for the Alaska Challenge Youth Academy.
In the 2009 budgetary document to which Syar links, astute observers will note that there is no mention of the Alaska Challenge Youth Academy. Instead, you have to look elsewhere. And guess what: There is now a specific document providing $6,082,100 for the Alaska Challenge Youth Academy.http://www.gov.state.ak.us/omb/09_omb/budget/EED/comp2837.pdf So combined with the $3,156,000 that Syar notes, the total is $9,238,100. A nearly 12% INCREASE, not a 62% decrease.
Posted by: SB September 3, 2008 3:38 PM

Burn. I posted in the comments. Check back to find out if a retraction is printed.

UPDATE - Washington Monthly printed a correction. Yglesias picked up the story though, and hasn't.

Also stay tuned for a post where I prove that Governor Palin significantly increased the support for special needs children even more than I have shown here.

Michelle Malkin gives me props.