Palin has been dipping in Alaska's Funds

[iotamason]

Report: Palin tapped travel allowance at home

http://news.yahoo.com/story/ap/20080...fyHtc2uuvafZzp h24cA


WASHINGTON – Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has charged her state a daily allowance, normally used for official travel, for more than 300 nights spent at her home, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

An analysis of travel statements filed by the governor, now John McCain's Republican running mate, shows she claimed the per diem allowance on 312 occasions when she was home in Wasilla and that she billed taxpayers $43,490 for travel by her husband and children.

Per diem payments are meant for meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business. State officials told The Post her claims — nearly $17,000 over 19 months — were permitted because her "duty station" is Juneau, the capital, and she was in Wasilla 600 miles away. The governor moved to Juneau last year but often stays in Wasilla and works 45 miles away, in a state office in Anchorage.

Palin's spending and record in office are coming under intense scrutiny as she is presented to the nation as a champion of ethics reform and frugal use of tax dollars — a leader who put the state jet on sale on eBay and drives herself to work..........................................

[PhiGam]

I am already sick of the liberal mudslinging towards Governor Palin.
That article fails to mention that her predecessor billed over $500,000 to that same account every year, I WOULD call that reform. She doesn't pay maids, chefs, personal assistants, etc. She is a normal person with a NORMAL family. The fact of the matter is that the expenses that she billed were necessary for her to be able to hold the office of Governor, that is the purpose of that account. This is another pathetic attempt to cast her in a negative light, and it will fail just like the rest of the left's propaganda.
First was that her teenage daughter was pregnant. She was a terrible mother for allowing this to happen. That attack showed just how out of touch the democrats are with average Americans, teenage pregnancy happens sometimes even in the presence of great parenting. It was reminiscient of the attacks on Jenna Bush for drinking underage. Maybe we should focus on Joe Biden's son who is going to trial for FRAUD and EMBEZZLEMENT and there are allegations that Biden's brother will soon face similar charges.
Another weak attack was that Palin was from a small state, Obama even made a demeaning comment about her being a mayor. Maybe the liberals should have compared the population of Delaware (Senator Biden's constituency) to Alaska before they opened their mouths.
The bottom line is this: Sarah Palin is an amazing person, a great speaker, and is able to claim a moral highground on just about everyone in the political arena. She didn't sacrifice any of her values to get to where she is today and the Democrats are scared shitless. I won't say that I'm angry about the liberal attacks, they are DESTROYING themselves with this crap. The "unthinkable" has happened because of this: McCain is leading Obama and will win this November.

[texas*princess]

yeah it's allllll the media's fault that they are reporting on stuff that they think we should know It's all the media's fault.. they are just pickin on her b/c she's a woman !!1!!

[Drolefille]

I've been reading an interesting article discussing how all of a sudden republicans are falling all over themselves to say how all this other stuff doesn't matter she's such a good speaker and her experience is enough, meanwhile democrats are harping on experience and prying to family life.

Gee, why does that seem familiar.

To be fair, there are legitimate political arguments to be made against Palin, just like there are against Obama. Family isn't one of them, the quality of her governance is. But people who've been complaining about Obama's minister for months should not be shocked by the turnabout. And people complaining about people complaining about Obama's minister should shut their mouths and take the high road.

(Besides Alaska's small population, big size, Arizona's not exactly jam packed full of people, Delaware's tiny and Illinois has Chica.. oh wait.) IMO Palin's lack of national experience of any sort, and a disconnected-ness with the rest of the country are negatives. Of course, others may see these as positives.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

But people who've been complaining about Obama's minister for months should not be shocked by the turnabout. And people complaining about people complaining about Obama's minister should shut their mouths and take the high road.

Absolutely - I'm glad someone else said it on the board. If you were previously complaining about the media's treatment of Obama's personal life earlier in the campaign, then you really shouldn't be saying anything about Palin or McCain's personal lives. One thing I can't stand is hypocrisy.

[BetteDavisEyes]

Originally Posted by PhiGam

I am already sick of the liberal mudslinging towards Governor Palin.
That article fails to mention that her predecessor billed over $500,000 to that same account every year, I WOULD call that reform. She doesn't pay maids, chefs, personal assistants, etc. She is a normal person with a NORMAL family. The fact of the matter is that the expenses that she billed were necessary for her to be able to hold the office of Governor, that is the purpose of that account. This is another pathetic attempt to cast her in a negative light, and it will fail just like the rest of the left's propaganda.
First was that her teenage daughter was pregnant. She was a terrible mother for allowing this to happen. That attack showed just how out of touch the democrats are with average Americans, teenage pregnancy happens sometimes even in the presence of great parenting. It was reminiscient of the attacks on Jenna Bush for drinking underage. Maybe we should focus on Joe Biden's son who is going to trial for FRAUD and EMBEZZLEMENT and there are allegations that Biden's brother will soon face similar charges.
Another weak attack was that Palin was from a small state, Obama even made a demeaning comment about her being a mayor. Maybe the liberals should have compared the population of Delaware (Senator Biden's constituency) to Alaska before they opened their mouths.
The bottom line is this: Sarah Palin is an amazing person, a great speaker, and is able to claim a moral highground on just about everyone in the political arena. She didn't sacrifice any of her values to get to where she is today and the Democrats are scared shitless. I won't say that I'm angry about the liberal attacks, they are DESTROYING themselves with this crap. The "unthinkable" has happened because of this: McCain is leading Obama and will win this November.

Here's an idea. Stop reading the threads & stop watching the news!
There are plenty of us here who don't care for Palin so we'll damn well give our opinions on her & her policies. As for the media, get over it. Stick to Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh.

[nittanyalum]

Originally Posted by KSigkid

Absolutely - I'm glad someone else said it on the board. If you were previously complaining about the media's treatment of Obama's personal life earlier in the campaign, then you really shouldn't be saying anything about Palin or McCain's personal lives. One thing I can't stand is hypocrisy.

Yeah, me neither.

[SWTXBelle]

Back to the op - I need more information. Even if she were at home that night, she might have been traveling during the day. I also seem to recall that she did not move her family to the capital - that might explain the family travel expenses. I'm sure the story will develop, and then we'll see. I'm not quite ready to call her a thief.

As an aside, I think it is far more of a theft of taxpayer's money when sitting, oh, I don't know, SENATORS, are off on the campaign trail and not working - yet still collect their pay. It's one reason I think the campaign season should be streamlined.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by KSigkid

Absolutely - I'm glad someone else said it on the board. If you were previously complaining about the media's treatment of Obama's personal life earlier in the campaign, then you really shouldn't be saying anything about Palin or McCain's personal lives. One thing I can't stand is hypocrisy.

It does work both ways though.

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

It does work both ways though.

... which is what he said.

If the context is truly that she reduced her "expenses" to less than 10% of what the previous Governor was using, and that the size of the state is the reason behind this being available to her (which appears to be the response), then it seems like an interesting but ultimately relatively tame tidbit of information that I would have difficulty determining how to use when deciding how to vote.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

It does work both ways though.

Thanks for the reinforcement - that's exactly what I just said.

[UGAalum94]

I can't bring myself to watch the Daily Show link.

Has Palin herself made any statements expecting deference because she's a woman?

I know that we're been treating anything that anyone says about the candidates as a topic generally on GC, but I'm interested in knowing if Palin herself is guilty of that particular hypocrisy.

[BetteDavisEyes]

Actually, it's other members of the GOP on the Daily Show link. It's quite funny b/c at one point, one member of the GOP is knocking a Democrat for holding the office at a tiny city with slightly over 100,000 people in it yet he then praises Palin for running the 2nd largest city in Alaska with slightly over 9,000 peole. It's not about her hypocrisy. It's about the hypocrisy of members of the GOP.

[VandalSquirrel]

Originally Posted by BetteDavisEyes

Actually, it's other members of the GOP on the Daily Show link. It's quite funny b/c at one point, one member of the GOP is knocking a Democrat for holding the office at a tiny city with slightly over 100,000 people in it yet he then praises Palin for running the 2nd largest city in Alaska with slightly over 9,000 peole. It's not about her hypocrisy. It's about the hypocrisy of members of the GOP.

The second largest city in Alaska has about 30,000, including the service members and their families at Ft. Wainwright. The Fairbanks North Star Borough has about 85,000.

Not sure where you're getting 9,000 as the second largest city Anchorage is the largest city with over 300,000 in the municipality. Even Juneau has a bigger population than 9,000.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

... which is what he said.

If the context is truly that she reduced her "expenses" to less than 10% of what the previous Governor was using, and that the size of the state is the reason behind this being available to her (which appears to be the response), then it seems like an interesting but ultimately relatively tame tidbit of information that I would have difficulty determining how to use when deciding how to vote.

Gee is that what he just said?

I'm emphasizing the point because it seems like now it makes complete and total sense to bash "omg liberal left" when "omg radical right" backs everything they've said about Obama/Biden. Bit of a stones in glass houses thing.