This is Getting Good

What the heck *are* they charging Alaska for?

by kos

Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 09:05:18 AM PDT

More on Sarah Palin's great scam of the state of Alaska, charging the state of Alaska for "travel" expenses while staying at home, all while making a big show of "saving taxpayer money" by getting rid of her private chef (all mooseshit, of course).

From the Anchorage Daily News, 7/29/2007, via Lexis/Nexis:

"Holding a special session in Anchorage last month cost the state at least $103,500, according to the head of the Legislative Affairs Agency.

Criticized for adjourning the regular session without renewing a program that gave cash payments to low-income seniors, legislators called the one-day meeting on June 26 [...]

Legislators earned a per diem of $278 each. The money is meant to be used on meals and hotels, she said, and is a little more than legislators would get in Juneau.

Holding the session in Anchorage costs about $2,000 more per day for per diems, which are based on rates set by the federal government, she said.

The overall price tag struck Gov. Sarah Palin as too high.

"That makes absolutely no sense, that a seven-hour meeting costs our Legislature over $100,000," Palin said. "What the heck were they charging the state for then?"

Yeah! What were they charging the state for? Were they living at home, yet squeezing travel expenses out of it? Were they bringing the whole family down to Anchorage on the government's dime? Were they staying in $707 per night hotels?

It's important those questions get answered, otherwise, this episode will start to look suspiciously like ... hypocrisy. I know, I know, this is all hard to believe given that she eats mooseburgers and chose life, but there it is.

This episode may just have bought Sarah Palin another two weeks of isolation from the media.

Getting rid of the chef, charging for meals

by kos

Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 08:00:08 AM PDT

I noted earlier that Sarah Palin was busted charging the state of Alaska for charging a travel per diem allowance ... while staying at home. It was a great scam, no doubt. But here's further food for thought. Remember this?

Gov. Sarah Palin knows how to cook.

And her children are capable of making sandwiches.

That said, Palin has told chef Stefani Marnon that the Governor's Mansion in Juneau won't be needing a professional cook until the legislative session this coming winter.

"Bottom line is, the governor does not need a gourmet chef at the mansion," said Meghan Stapleton, the governor's spokeswoman. "From the start, she's been very uncomfortable with a gourmet chef. It's a luxury she doesn't think Alaskans should be paying for."

Folksy! And yes, she was right. There was no reason for Alaskans to be paying for a gourmet chef for the governor. That was $45,000 she saved the state.

Except she then charged Alaska $16,951 to eat at her own place.

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.

So the bottom line appears to be that staying at her own joint was a luxury she thought Alaskans should pay for. Oh, and when she did travel for such crucial state-related business such as "Newsweek's third annual Women and Leadership Conference", she did things like charge Alaska for three nights at a hotel costing $707 per night. That was certainly a luxury she thought Alaskans should pay for.

As for that chef, the one she supposedly fired to save the state $45,000? Well, she didn't.

Remember the long-time executive chef who lost her job at the Mansion when Sarah decided to live mostly in Wasilla instead of Juneau? Stefani Marnon was first reassigned as a "constituent relations assistant" in the governor's office and later to the state museum.

Earwigs report she's finally landed where they really appreciate a good chef: the Legislative Lounge.

So apparently, the chef was also a luxury she thought Alaskans should pay for.

I've gotta admit. As a scam artist, she's pretty good.