Posted on 09/08/2008 9:06:31 PM PDT by kristinn
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.
Palin, who earns $125,000 a year, claimed and received $16,951 as her allowance, which officials say was permitted because her official "duty station" is Juneau, according to an analysis of her travel documents by The Washington Post.
The governor's daughters and husband charged the state $43,490 to travel and many of the trips were to and from their house in Wasilla and Juneau, the capital city 600 miles away, the documents show.
SNIP
In separate filings, the state was billed about $25,000 for Palin's daughters' expenses and $19,000 for her husband, Todd Palin.
Flights topped the list for the most expensive items, and the daughter whose bill was the highest was Piper, 7, whose flights cost nearly $11,000, while Willow, 14, claimed about $6,000 and Bristol, 17, accounted for about $3,400.
SNIP
Gov. Palin has spent far less on her personal travel than her predecessor: $93,000 on airfare in 2007, compared with $463,000 spent the year before by her predecessor, Frank Murkowski. He traveled often in an executive jet that Palin called an extravagance during her campaign. She sold it after she was sworn into office.
SNIP
Leighow said that the governor's staff has tallied the travel expenses charged by Murkowski's wife: $35,675 in 2006, $43,659 in 2005, $13,607 in 2004 and $29,608 in 2003.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
More from the DNC’s WAPOHOs.
Ok, let’s open upon that expense book Obama.
The one with all the red ink?
Obama’s European tour cost what?
And what did she save the state?
Not sure why the state is paying for the kid's expenses, but if they paid for family expenses “on official trips” before, then I guess it was OK for Palin.
Not a federal issue. The federal government has different rules.
OMG. How much more pathetic can the DBM get?
The Libs seem to take “curbside” to a newer, lower venue every 3 seconds or so!
Well hell, we’ve been paying both Obama and McCain to be Senators and how much work have they been doing?
Seriously, how can the press even pretend to be objective when we have never seen the government charges that Obama and Biden have racked up?
Do a story on that, then you will have gained some semblence of credibility, Washington Post.
I’m having a little trouble understanding why the article was even written. Is it showing that Palin is more frugal, or that somehow she is dishonest with the taxpayers’ money. The keel is jammed to hard aport on the MSM garbage scow.
Next!
Unbelievable, how it’s 5 new, different attacks per day.
Every State Housemember and Senator claims the per diem, AK is a huge state, it costs money to travel around the thing.
I can hear the MSM now “Palin..Reformer? She billed the State for staying at home...”
rolleyes...
Were the taxpayers billed when Bill stayed home and ordered the Monica delivered pizza?
The WaPo strikes back!!! With nothing!
So what, she did nothing illegal and actually billed less than her predecessor.
WaPo will lay down their journalistic lives to help their messiah, no matter how disingenuous the methods.
No kidding. I would imagine those "evil" Blackwater contractors who protected Hussein's lilly rear end while he was doing his token tour of troops whose funding he voted to cut didn't come cheap either.
Did the MSM do any investigative articles into her predecessor's nearly half million in travel? Keep hitting her, she'll keep not falling down.
Ummmmm...you forgot to mention how much she sold it for. An honest oversight I'm sure.
Hell, I’d be billing the state too if my stupid capital was in the middle of an archipelago inaccessible to roads. Move the capital to Anchorage.
the dems sent 40+ lawyers to Alaska to dig up/make up dirt on Gov. Palin. Expect a barrage of such crap =This is a story that people should know about - they will then take everything with a large grain of salt.
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