Palin: Even before Trig was born, I was a strong advocate for increasing funding for special needs kids in our schools and that’s what I did in Alaska. We increased ... state funding, 20 thousand per student up to $70,000 per special needs student to allow equal access to education opportunities for special needs kids. It comes down to my belief that every innocent human life is to be cherished and provided opportunity. So being able to live that out in a position in the vice presidency I think will be very good for our nation and not just those with special needs and their families but for all of America.

About the role of coal in America's energy independence. Pennsylvania is the nation's fourth largest producer of coal:

Palin: It’s so abundant, we’ve got to use it. It’s got to be environmentally friendly, the development of new technology also. The jobs that can be created as we figure out the clean coal technology ... we can then ... share with other nations like China and other areas that right now are producing the coal, but do not have the stringent oversight ... and do not have the technology ... to clean up our environment as the production takes place. We should be developing the technology, selling it to China and these other countries, and we kill a couple of birds with one stone. We allow those nations also to be productive, but at the same time we clean up the air, the water, the environment, and it can be American ingenuity that gets us there, and, again, that goes back to the bigger picture here where America can be a beacon of hope. There also as we’re making this world a cleaner, better, safer, healthier place, creating jobs at the same time, allowing our own economy to be bolstered with energy independence that this new technology can provide. It’s all win-win.

About establishing a better way for federal money to get to states and communities:

Palin: There’s nothing wrong with a state, with a governor or a mayor requesting of the federal government a share of the federal budget. That’s what the federal government takes our, parts of our, income and puts it in a big pot of money and then they distribute the money. There’s nothing wrong with the mayor or governor asking for that. The problem is the abuse of the earmark process -- those 11th hour behind-closed-door deal-making things ... that John McCain has just been disgusted about and has promised the reform. ... Priorities can be set via a local community’s processes and then have the federal government vet what those projects are and see if they’re in the nation’s best interest also. It can be reformed and needs to be.

About reforming the federal government:

Palin: John McCain and I have the track record of showing real change, real reform, I’ve done that on a city level, on a state level, I want to do it on a national level also. And John McCain, of course, having been known all these years as the maverick wanting to put government back on the side of the people and been very successful there in the opportunities he’s had. That’s what the reform is all about. What that proves, too, is we’re not just talk, talking the talk about hope for change some day in the future. No, we’ve got a track record that proves that we’re the candidates who can make this reform happen, to put government back on the side of the American people.

About an investigation -- the report was released after this interview -- that found Palin that violated Alaska ethics laws and abused her power as governor by trying to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper:

Palin: Haven’t heard what all that report is, but we certainly don’t have anything to hide. It’s important for a governor to take on the responsibility of making sure that everybody in her cabinet is in the right place at the right time to best serve the public. I dismissed a cabinet member because he wasn’t the right person at the right time in his position -- dismissed him having nothing to do with telling him to hire or fire anybody else. In fact, he said I’ve never told him ever to hire or fire anybody. ... (T)he buck stops with you also in an executive position ... But thankfully, ... John McCain, never having run with the Washington herd, he has distanced himself from that herd mentality that just kind of gets to protect one another and not be held accountable. McCain wants to be held accountable and so do I.