Okay, wingnuts, let's hear all the reasons why you believe this is a perfectly defensible thing for your hero to do. Skip the part about it being technically within the rules--I want to hear why it's the *right* thing to do.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/08/AR2008090803088.html?hpid=topnews

Ha, I was just reading that on my way in. The thing that really caught my eye was the taxpayer-funded trip they took to a "Christian Teen Center". The state gave the center $25,000.

why bother defending her? you all have no intention of supporting her

the continued attacks by the liberal media only galvanize support for her - keep it up!

hop Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> why bother defending her? you all have no
> intention of supporting her
>
> the continued attacks by the liberal media only
> galvanize support for her - keep it up!

I suppose if McCain had done his homework... He did the same shit in college. Didn't study his flight lessons and ended up crashing into the bay. Because he didn't know how to open the cockpit of his plane (because he didn't study -- I kid you not, he actually portrays the story this way with his own words), he sat at the bottom of the bay until he was able to pry it open.

Fact : He crashed his plane 5 times while serving in the military
Palin : God must have wanted him to live to serve as president of the United States

Well let me explain hw the perdiem thing works for federal employees....

If I was stationed in St. Louis, MO and had a reason associated with the performance of my job to travel to Fairfax, VA where I still maintained a residence...I would be entitled to stay in a hotel if I wanted to and to the portion of per diem for food. If I decide to stay in my home..I cannot claim the portion associated with lodging but I still am entitled to the food portion...thats just the way it is..get over it.

The issue with Palin is did her duties as governor require her to be in her home city or was it her choice (a word she hates to use)? Unless the perdiem rules are different in the state of alaska to authorize per diem for voluntary/personal travel of the governor....she might be breaking the law. If she were a federal employee she would be.

Leave Sarah Palin ALONE!!!

I'm sure being the governor of Alaska there are many more scandel stories to pop up on Palin. Alaska has always had real winners for Gov. She may have only been paid $125,000, but that's probably not even close to big oil PAC and lobbyist money she probably got.

Clearly Sarah Palin does NOT deserve to be elected to vice president. She appears to be a horrible mother, cheats on per diem, uses her children as props (even the patriot son going to war, 'cause he had a choice of jail or Army), and to have a child at age 44 given the Down syndrome risk factors was very poor judgment. I see Palin as a scripted speaker, who learned well in her communications courses, but a below average person who hears God, and most likely she speaks in tongues, as do many Pentecostal brethren. To hold top security positions in the US Government, one must be above approach and even the appearance of wrong doing must be questioned. And now she's going to speak at a Fairfax County public school, when county policy forbids such activity...

If you read the article all the way through, the travel expenses for spouses and family is part of the package. Even the former democratic governor notes that in his comments. Note they are all the way at the END of the article. So while all this sounds like some big scam, even the State Attorney's General office noted that the laws would need to be changed to make something like this illegal (essentially). Right now the policies and regulations on it allow for it, so she put in for it. And the whole thing about not paying for children flying or whatnot is nice, until you take into account that one way to do that is to fund a private jet for the governor (Murkowski) so that then it is the governor making the trip, and then just happening to bring other folks along for the ride.

The fact that she submitted the claims, they were paid, and part of the public record, and the fact that plenty of democratic legislators could have made a big issue about these charges LONG before now if there really was an issue here, just shows how these will go nowhere, other than to try and get just a little more mud to stick to the wall.

Where does oil money come into this btw? She is probably the last person the oil companies would be paying any kind of kickback to since she actually put in place a form of windfall profit tax. Unlike Obama who spent many years working on such a paltry salary - one would wonder how he managed to survive all those years and now he and his wife make millions of dollars a year. Interesting how being a guy that turned down all those high paying jobs is suddenly rich. Just keep pointing at Palin's non-issues, it will make Obama's shine much more brightly.

I pointed out in my original post that it was technically within the rules. But Palin is portraying herself as a 'reformer'--somebody who turns away government money that she could legally take. This was her story with the 'bridge to nowhere'--she turned down the money and said if they needed a bridge they would build it themselves. Now we know that she actually kept that money too, and just used it for other purposes. This story just helps to illustrate that Sarah Palin is not who she claims to be. While Palin was legally entitled to claim the per diem, she wasn't required to. If she was a true reformer, or even just an ethical person, she would have not requested reimbursement for meals she ate at her own home. Period.

Yes, the savings of $463K (for the jet and other travel) and the family expenses of Murkowski's wife (many thousands per year), and the not having to pay for a chef's salary more than offset the amounts we are speaking of here - by a factor of 10 at least. I would say that was a significant reform.

How do you know, when she was at home, that she was not performing duties as a governor, such as speaking to constituents, or working from home? In those cases, if she actually was working, and had to pay someone to get a meal delivered... yeah, I can see charging for per diem. Now - show me the records that address that aspect of this and you might have a better case, other than a speculation that she was unethical for submitting these expenses. If they really were not on the leve, I am sure that her political opponents in Alaska would have used it against her long before now.

She submitted the per diem for 312 days in one year. And what difference does it make whether she was working or not, anyway. I am working today and just got back from lunch. I bought my own fucking tuna sandwich instead of asking the government to buy it for me.

Palin claims to be a reformer and against "business as usual." Then she bills Alaskans for the time she sleeps in her own bed?

I work in a profession that uses billable hours. If I am in Chicago for a client, I don't bill the client for the time I spend sleeping in the hotel. I guess technically I could, but do you think that client would retain my services after finding out? Is that really ethical? Or the right thing to do? No.

Voter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> She submitted the per diem for 312 days in one
> year. And what difference does it make whether
> she was working or not, anyway. I am working
> today and just got back from lunch. I bought my
> own fucking tuna sandwich instead of asking the
> government to buy it for me.

Facts will kill you every time:

Quote

...billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office...

WashingToneLocian Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Palin claims to be a reformer and against
> "business as usual." Then she bills Alaskans for
> the time she sleeps in her own bed?
>
> I work in a profession that uses billable hours.
> If I am in Chicago for a client, I don't bill the
> client for the time I spend sleeping in the hotel.
> I guess technically I could, but do you think that
> client would retain my services after finding out?
> Is that really ethical? Or the right thing to do?
> No.

Per diem is not for time she slept. It is for meals. If you actually ever submitted for per diem that would be an obvious one. Lodging and travel are different.

You know, dude, that doesn't make it any better for me...



Registered Voter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Voter Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > She submitted the per diem for 312 days in one
> > year. And what difference does it make whether
> > she was working or not, anyway. I am working
> > today and just got back from lunch. I bought
> my
> > own fucking tuna sandwich instead of asking the
> > government to buy it for me.
>
> Facts will kill you every time:
>
>
> ...billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her
> own home during her first 19 months in
> office...
>

She didn't anything illegal, or unethical (at least not proven by that article or others like it). Get over it.

If you are on travel, or travel constantly, then the least they can do is re-reimburse you for meals if you have to pay for them while you are working - at home, or not (especially if they were paid for in support of work related business). All these folks digging, they should be able to come up with something better than "...she submitted and was paid for her per diem..." within the laws, rules and regulations she was bound by. Again, go talk to the democratic legislators up there and see if they have some issue with it - because so far the only folks that seem to have a problem with it are the ones that don't know all the facts, and are making supposition out of incompletely reported facts.

Registered Voter - Are you hungry? I bet you rest the keyboard on your belly while you type.

It's ok. Most Republicans do.

You big fat fatty Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Registered Voter - Are you hungry? I bet you rest
> the keyboard on your belly while you type.
>
> It's ok. Most Republicans do.

Only when I work from home. :)

That's because your occupation is serial eater. Please. For the love of your health, walk around and get the gummy bears out of your arteries before you have a stroke.