Living Large, Soccer Mom Style
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a “per diem” allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business.
The governor also has charged the state for travel expenses to take her children on official out-of-town missions. And her husband, Todd, has billed the state for expenses and a daily allowance for trips he makes on official business for his wife.
maverick-y.
Michael Vick’s bitch with lipstick!
Link?
Here.
Fixed.
I don’t think its that big a deal. Alaska has a unique situation. The town she lives in has no roads to other towns, you have to fly everywhere.
Alaska law allows her to do this and it doesn’t appear she has taken undue advantage. I call no foul.
Shorter Meatball: I support welfare for rich, well-connected people.
Alaskan taxpayers thank you.
I’m just sayin’ it must cost a fortune to travel in Alaska and she does have to make appearances throughout that giant state. Does the president pay for Airforce 1 (or any “official” travel for his family) out of pocket.
meatball . . . you’re wrong.
Read this post at mudflats if you want to educate yourself, http://mudflats.wordpress.com/2008/09/08/money-for-nothing-in-the-palin-administration/
HOCKEY mom! She’s a hockey mom. Please don’t tarnish the reputation of all the soccer moms out there .
Think about the Badminton Moms, Please!
Um, there’s nothing illegal in what Sarah Palin did. In fact, it was less than 1/4 of what her predecessor charged the state. Not only that, but she didn’t even bill for the sorts of expenses (regarding her children) that she was allowed to bill.
And if your company has a policy allowing you to bill them for your travel from home to work (and some companies do), then you may do so. It’s neither illegal nor immoral.
You guys really need to work a little harder at this.
It’s neither illegal nor immoral.
No, but you have to agree, it is maverick-y.
Keep trying. You’re bound to come up with something sooner or later. What the article says is that Palin:
a) billed the state for most expenses allowed by law, including per diem when she stayed in her own home (her “duty station” was the state capitol of Juneau) in Wasilla;
(b) didn’t bill the state for other expenses, when she could have done so lawfully, such as per diems for her children; and
(c) spent a lot less money on expenses than did her predecessor, especially on travel and by ridding herself of the state’s personal chef.
Source: http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2008_09_07-2008_09_13.shtml#1220936107
I find this a little disturbing:
From the WAPO article
“One such invitation came in October 2007, when Willow flew to Juneau to join the Palin family on a tour of the Hub Juneau Christian Teen Center, where Palin and her family worship when they are in Juneau. The state gave the center $25,000, according to a May 2008 memo. “
Most companies don’t let you charge back your travel to and from work — and we’ve been though a recent audit that told us that these charges are specifically unallowable to be allocated to overhead you charge to the government.
But living large on the government dime seems to be the GOP standard (cf, Jack Abramoff).
Shazzy, no one here needs to work at all on Failin’ Palin. We already got her number. You, on the otherhand, are under the lasting effects of the red kool-aid. You can pull your head out now Shaz.
And I’m sure that the corrupt and entrenched GOP that she supposedly went up against in Alaska were doing what they could acording to the law too. They were stretching it, but they were still within the law — according to them.
And that chef stayed on the payroll working for another department.
More like her “dooty” station. Tee hee. Palin is maver-licious!
not much of a ‘reformer’, huh?
That’s the point.
Did she stick-up a liquor store too?
Correct me if I am wrong but you libs are running against McCain. . .or is it Palin.
Doesnt it just piss you off you are going to lose in November b/c you have no idea how to run from behind?
Got ya seething doesnt it?