Sarah Palin Charges 300 Days Per diem To Live In Own House

The news on Palin continues to come out. It has been confirmed that Sarah Palin charged Alaska for 300 days of per diem to live in her own house.

CNN is finally talking about McCains nasty campaign tactics and the blatant lies John McCain and Sara Palin have been spouting in their stump speeches and campaign press releases. Mark Halperrin said it was disgraceful that the press was ignoring the McCain-Palin lies and covering the constant complaints of the McCain campaign.

Palin still will not talk to the press to answer for her statements. Halperrin stated if the press does report on Palin's pushback on talking to the press, then they are not doing their jobs. I agree. Finally I here something that makes sense on CNN. If she wants to run for VP she needs to answer some real questions. Not like the questions FOX news will ask her for her first interview.

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Palin: Carpe per diem

Posted: Tuesday, September 09, 2008 9:11 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under: 2008, Palin

This Washington Post story about Palin charging the state for nights spent at home while governor can be portrayed as something a typical politician might do. "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 between their house in Wasilla and Juneau, the capital city 600 miles away, the documents show.”

“Gubernatorial spokeswoman Sharon Leighow said Monday that Palin's expenses are not unusual and that, under state policy, the first family could have claimed per diem expenses for each child taken on official business but has not done so."

The Wall Street Journal writes about an incident when Palin fired someone who was having an affair with the wife of a friend of hers. "Palin's spokesmen have given conflicting explanations for Mr. Bitney's dismissal. At the time, the governor's office cited ‘personal reasons’ for Mr. Bitney's ‘amicable’ departure, according to contemporaneous news reports. Last week, Sharon Leighow, a spokeswoman for the governor's office, said ‘John Bitney was dismissed because of his poor job performance.’ She declined to provide further details.”

“Mr. Bitney said he was shocked to learn that the governor had had any complaints about his performance as her liaison to the legislature. ‘That's the first time I've heard that,’ he said when told of Ms. Leighow's statement.”

“In May 2007, less than two months before she fired him, Gov. Palin had publicly declared the legislative session -- Mr. Bitney's major responsibility – ‘wildly successful.’ After he was fired, Mr. Bitney landed a job as chief of staff to Alaska House Speaker John Harris, another Republican. ‘I don't think it was fair, but that's just my personal opinion,’ Mr. Harris said of Mr. Bitney's dismissal."

The AP: "A Republican effort failed yesterday to unseat the Alaska state senator overseeing the ethics investigation into whether Governor Sarah Palin abused her power when she dismissed the state's public safety commissioner."

The Los Angeles Times' Rainey thinks it would be "sexist" if reporters treated Palin with "deference." "That might be the right approach for a reporter lucky enough to interview McCain's 96-year-old mother, Roberta. (If only our politicians were so plain-spoken.) But it would be wrong -- and, dare I say it, even sexist -- to suggest that Sarah Barracuda is too meek for a little back-and-forth with the denizens of the Fourth Estate."

Rainey notes that ABC's Charlie Gibson was tough on Obama during the last Dem primary debate. "I'm not sure how much time Gibson is going to have, but he can turn to his own viewers for other questions, posted by the hundreds on ABC's website. During that April debate, Gibson set another standard. He interrupted when he thought his question wasn't being answered. He called Obama out, for instance, when he thought he was not clear enough about gun control.”

“Hardly deferential, but appropriate -- both for the Democratic star of the first half of the campaign season and the Republican star just stepping to center stage."

Gibson will get two days to ask questions of Palin -- not one.