Palin defends resignation after return from holiday

KOTZEBUE, Alaska — Gov. Sarah Palin returned to the spotlight Tuesday with an appearance in a remote Arctic village where she stood by her perplexing decision to resign just as she tries to elevate her national profile.

Palin signed a bill in this small town 30 miles north of the Arctic circle that is intended to bolster law enforcement in Alaska villages. She was greeted with cheers by about 300 people and briefly took the floor to dance to the beat of Inupiat Eskimo drummers. Many lingered to get their pictures taken with the popular Republican governor and former vice presidential candidate.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Palin defended her decision to step down after a year in which she has been bombarded with a series of ethics complaints and publics records requests that have cost the state nearly $2 million to investigate, according to a tally provided by the governor's office Tuesday.

"You would be amazed at how much time and resource my staff and I, the Department of Law especially, spend on this every day," she said. "It is a waste. We are spending these millions of dollars not on teachers and troopers and roads or fish research and other things that are needed in Alaska."

Palin stunned the political world when she abruptly announced Friday that she would step down July 26. She spent the long holiday weekend fishing with her husband and kids and briefly attended an Independence Day parade. Her first official appearance was at the bill signing. She also gave several interviews while wearing waders from her family's fishing spot before flying to Kotzebue.

She has not said what she will do next, but a book deal is in the works. When asked if she will run for president, Palin responded, "That's certainly not within my immediate plans."

But Palin was quick to criticize President Barack Obama, a possible sign of what's to come three years from now, ripping him over his economic plans.

There has been speculation that she has some legal issue that is not yet known to the public. But her lawyer said she has no legal problems whatsoever and simply is tired of the hostile political climate, personal legal bills and other distractions.

According to the cost breakdown from the governor's office, the state Department of Law incurred expenses exceeding $116,000 investigating Palin's firing of her public safety commissioner in a legislative probe that came to be dubbed Troopergate.

Palin says the state will be better off with Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell as she gets consumed by a political climate that she considers vicious.