Palin Billed Taxpayers For Nights Spent at HOME!!

In the 1950s there were 500 polar bears partly due to hunting. In 1973 the Oslo pact was signed and now there are like 23,000 polar bears. Granted, they are on the watch list for endangered species but why put them on an endangered list so that we can't drill for oil? We need energy. The price of gas is what is putting the economy in the dump right down. Wolves are predators and kill the caribou. There are some caribou herds that are in trouble and predators like wolves kill the caribou. If food gets really scarce they will attack people and ranch animals and pets. It's a necessity to thin out their population. Do you work? Do you drive a car? Do you heat a home? I think we need oil and not from foreign sources. We give them money for oil and they buy weapons to use against us. Doesn't make much sense to me. We need to become more energy independent. Drill for oil now and continue research into alternate kinds of energy.

I am sure you heard that she supported the bridge to nowhere until she was elected then all of the sudden changed her mind on the bridge.

I read an article - I believe last week - on CNN or FoxNEws that talked about her "savings". Apparently she canceled the bridge to nowhere saving millions, but then used that money for other things that are not as important and her budget ended up in the billions. Much higher than any previous governor. She is also in with big oil and not worried about the environment. As soon as she got on the ticket with McCain she started changing her views on some of these topics, but who wants a wishy washy VP?

Better question: Who wants a wishy washy president? I'm talking about Obama.

She didn't say she sold it on eBay. She said she put it on eBay. Which she did list it on there three different times and it didn't sell. So they hired a broker to sell it and an Alaskan business man bought it for over 2 million dollars. Not only did the former governor use the plane but they also used it to transport prisoners and it cost around $1,600 per prisoner. Since selling the plane and using another way to transport prisoners it only costs the state $800 per prisoner. So, yes, she saved the tax payers money.

OK, it's legitimate for this person who loves to brag up how much money she saves her taxpayers to charge them to sleep in her own bed. They've agreed for her to work mostly from an office in Anchorage so why would she be able to charge expenses for staying in her own home forty miles away? Annie

So she saves them money, but that's only a good thing if she saves them even MORE money? I'm sorry Annie, but I just can't wrap my head around the concept of "good isn't really good until it's good enough".

Good line, Taskr. And it's only good enough when a liberal does it. If Obama had anything like this on his record they would only be highlighting the part about HIM SAVING money. OH that's right he probably DOESN't have anything like this on his record. NOW I know why they are PO'd.

"I was merely pointing out that some agencies have common sense when it comes to wasteful spending." So travel expenses and per diems are wasteful spending? Sorry, their standard practice in almost every major industry. "I also liked how he tried to compare working for a corporation to a state position. That's not exactly a simple task. Actually it's pretty much grasping. " I said: "When I attend conferences representing my library I am given a per diem for food and my travel expenses are covered. When I worked for Universal Studios I was actually put up in luxury hotels for out of state jobs and given a nice per diem." The library is not a corporation. It's a government job just like the job of Governor. My salary is paid largely by tax dollars and any traveling I do on library business is paid for by tax dollars as are conferences and workshops I attend. I used my experience at Universal Studios to demonstrate that this is common practice in both public, and private industries. I don't know how you can say I was grasping when I clearly opened with my library experience which is a government institution supported by taxpayer dollars. "States don't try to make profits and corporations do try to make huge profits." That type of thinking will guarantee budget deficits. Costs aren't stagnant. You can't budget to break even or you guarantee you will lose money. States who don't try to make profits are states that don't want to grow. When a bridge collapses in Minnesota, if they aren't making a profit, then instantly they go into debt because there was no money remaining in their budget to deal with an unforeseen catastrophe. Sarah Palin gave Alaska a budget surplus and that surplus allowed her to do things a "break even" state could never dream of. With that money she was able to give back to the taxpayers to offset high gas prices. "But, my county is pretty much a Democrat area and I guess that may have something to do with that." Yes, that may very well have something to do with your situation. Your school board won't even pay for lunches when you were forced to be out of town and I'd hardly say that's something to be proud of. Government institutions should really treat their employees better than that. Turnover is a very expensive cost for both private and public organizations. I can assure you the cost of lunch for every teacher in your school is much lower than than the cost to hire one new teacher.

"...they allow state employees to stay in a hotel room that is under $300 a night?" HAHA I'd love to see Obama stay in a $300 a night hotel.

If you read taskr post, I wasn't blaming Palin for the employees of my county. I was merely pointing out that some agencies have common sense when it comes to wasteful spending. But, my county is pretty much a Democrat area and I guess that may have something to do with that. I also liked how he tried to compare working for a corporation to a state position. That's not exactly a simple task. Actually it's pretty much grasping. States don't try to make profits and corporations do try to make huge profits. Oh well there are some conservatives that will blindly follow.

So you're saying the governor's residence isn't being used at all? Well then explain where she stayed the other 400 or so nights since she billed the state for 312 nights? Getting paid for the travel back and forth isn't the issue, don't you get that, it's her getting reimbursed for SLEEPING in her own home, NOT working there. That's a pretty clever use a smoke and mirrors - cut your own salary but then makeit so you live for just about nothing. Also, her claim about firing the chef was also bogus because the chef just had a change of job title but still cooks for the family. Annie

"So you're saying the governor's residence isn't being used at all? Well then explain where she stayed the other 400 or so nights since she billed the state for 312 nights?" Do more research on it. I don't know. I'm not her keeper. Maybe she didn't write off every single time she slept in her own home. The fact is, it's still a valid expense which is why there's no meat to your arguments. "Getting paid for the travel back and forth isn't the issue, don't you get that, it's her getting reimbursed for SLEEPING in her own home, NOT working there." Which is why I pointed out that if she wasn't being reimbursed for sleeping at home, she'd be using much more taxpayer dollars sleeping in the governor's mansion. "That's a pretty clever use a smoke and mirrors - cut your own salary but then makeit so you live for just about nothing." Governors always live for nothing if they are living in the governor's mansion. It's just like the presidents who live for less than nothing when they are in the White House. "Also, her claim about firing the chef was also bogus because the chef just had a change of job title but still cooks for the family." Now for that I'd have to see some proof since I've never heard anyone dispute her claim about firing the chef. Her speech was picked apart and every statement analyzed by fact-checkers and yet nobody said a word disputing that claim.

Shhh! This isn't about the truth! It's about providing just enough information to make Sarah Palin look bad. You're ruining it for the liberals! Seriously Piasabird, they NEED this. It's all they've got. Obama led McCain for months the same way Clinton was leading him. What happened to Clinton when she lost her lead?

That's the part they're not getting or don't want to get! She billed the state for "lodging" when it was in her own house. She still has the governor's mansion, as far as I know, because obviously she didn't stay in her own home every night. I get it, a bank robber that only robbed one bank isn't nearly as bad as one that robbed four...lol! Annie

The state would be paying for her to live in the governor's mansion if she wanted to. Instead, the state is paying for her to live in her own home and they aren't paying for it every single day as they would in the governor's mansion. I don't know how anyone could fail to realize how much money she's saving taxpayers by staying in HER home, instead of the governor's mansion. Jesse Ventura did the exact same thing as governor. I think it actually pissed the former governor off there because it made him look bad.

Where have you been? an accusation is all they need, "they don' need no stinkin' documentation."

Stop spreading lies! She's evil! She will force you to make babies and and marry big oil! She's never made anyone in Alaska happy. [/sarcasm] Thank you for pointing out the truth of the matter. I can't wait till someone looks into how much money Obama gets for being at home, or for taking vacations.

This IS true and if you don't care if something is ethical or not just because it's technically legal, that's your prerogative entirely. Travel expenses are one thing but when she's sleeping in her own home she is NOT traveling, what's so complicated about that? She still has access to and apparently uses the governor's mansion some of the time since she only claimed 312 nights at her house and she claims to have fired the chef at the mansion. The fact there is the chef is still cooking for her and her family, her officially title just isn't "chef" anymore. If it looks like a duck... Annie

Ok Annie, allow me to debunk your claims regarding the chef. First, Palin's words "And I thought we could muddle through without the governor's personal chef — although I've got to admit that sometimes my kids sure miss her. I came to office promising to control spending — by request if possible and by veto if necessary." And now, some proof to back up those words. "And the decision to downsize chef time at the Governor's Mansion will save $45,000 between salary and benefits, Stapleton said. In an e-mail to friends and colleagues Thursday, Marnon said, "Friday will be my last day at the house, but I will still be employed with the state."" http://dwb.adn.com/news/politics/story/9090479p-9006523c.html Looks to me like the downsizing of the chef alone was almost as much as all her travel and lodging expenses you mentioned.

Well look at Obama, he likes to kill babies and your worried about money, talk about things being legal and ethical