Lyin’ Sarah’s Pork Express
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Sarah Palin fits right in with the other corrupt Washington Republicans.
Travel records from the governor’s office show that the state has spent at least $31,800 on dozens of airline tickets for the family, and more for meals and hotels.
Records show the family has traveled with Palin for events such as the Alaska Federation of Natives convention in Fairbanks last fall and to shoot official first family photos in Juneau, to draw raffle tickets at an event in Anchorage and to tour a teen center spearheaded by the Juneau Christian Center.
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The views on this site are mine and mine alone, and do not reflect the views of my employer, Media Matters for America
© 2000-2011 Oliver Willis
Thanks for the link, Oliver! Had you not shown me that story, I would never have known that Palin slashed over 75% from the governor’s travel budget!
Leighow noted that Palin’s travel expenses last year — $114,000 — were far less than those submitted the previous year by Gov. Frank Murkowski — the Republican Palin beat in the primary to cement her reputation as a reformer willing to take on members of her own party. Murkowski’s travel expenses for 2006 totaled $516,000.
One odd thing in the article, though — they quote Tony Knowles, the Democratic governor who preceded Murkowski as an expert without once mentioning that he ran for governor in 2006 — and Palin beat his ass by seven points.
I’m sure that was just a harmless oversight, though.
J.
Yes, because she slashed the travel budget that makes it totally okay to use the public’s money as her family travel budget. Or not.
To put this in perspective, $31,800 is 600% less than the raise Michelle Obama received after Barack earmarked $1 million to the hospital Michelle worked at.
…and I’m sure that you were equally outraged at all the trips Chelsea Clinton took with her parents during the Clinton administration? Hell, how about all the ones Hillary took? Nobody elected her ANYTHING until after her husband was out of office.
Why do you hate the idea of a woman being able to have a career AND a family, Oliver?
J.
I’m not against women, just stupid people like Sarah Palin and John McCain.
Oliver, then I suspect you’ll be appropriately outraged at Senator Biden traveling back and forth to work on Amtrak every day on the taxpayers dime?
“Stupid?”
Oh, yeah, that’s the term people like to use when they can’t put a specific term to describe someone they don’t like.
“People,” usually defined as 10-year-olds.
J.
Dude!(i.e. Oliver)
Just checking in reading a few posts here and there. You are just reeling on this Palin thing, aren’t you. The “pig” post is classic, and this non-starter…
It’s all so…poetic!
Everything they try to pick apart Gov. Palin gets thrown back at them. Case in point:
She’s a Christian Fundamentalist – He’s a black nationalist
She’s inexperienced – So is Barry
She uses a tele-prompter – He is a buffoon without one
etc. etc.
The best part of this is they are using time, effort and money to attack the VP candidate, priceless. Also, where is that sparkplug, Joe Biden?
Why do I call it stupid? Well my grandfather once gave me advice on issues like this: Treat it with the contempt that it deserves.
Some contempt. I’ve lost count of how many posts you’ve made attacking Palin over what are either utterly trivial our downright bullshit stories.
It’s worthy of your attention, but not actually putting any effort into it? OK…
J.
If you can’t count past zero, how is that Oliver’s fault ?
Heh! You’re gonna love this…
http://www.freakingnews.com/Super-Vice-President-Pictures-54429.asp
Pete, I’ll just count the articles on the front page currently. 20 articles, 9 mainly about Palin.
Palin’s lipstick.
Palin’s travel budget.
Palin’s lipstick.
Fake Palin vlog.
Palin’s per diem filings.
Palin’s upcoming interview with Charlie Gibson.
Palin and the bridge to nowhere.
Palin in a TPM video.
Palin and economics.
Let others dig through the archives since she was announced. I’ll stop at the front page.
J.
Oliver, then I suspect you’ll be appropriately outraged at Senator Biden traveling back and forth to work on Amtrak every day on the taxpayers dime?
Elected official.
Elected official’s family.
See the difference?
Now if you can show us where little Willow is conducting “state business” in her travels, you’ll be onto something.
Oliver Willis. Case study in PDS. News at 11:00.
…and what vital “national business” was Chelsea Clinton conducting when she went to Bosnia with Hillary Clinton and may or may not have come under sniper fire? Hell, what was UNELECTED non-office-holder Hillary Clinton doing on that US government transport?
Politicians travel with their families. Politicians even sometimes send their family members instead of going themselves. It’s no big deal. It’s a given. And I have absolutely no problem with that. It helps politicians both serve the public and keep some semblance of a relationship with their families. It’s a nice trade-off for the fact that we make those kids grow up in goddamned fishbowls simply because their parents hold public office.
The real meat of the story here is that Palin spent less than a quarter on travel as did her immediate predecessor — showing that she, unlike her opponents on the Democratic side, has some respect for the taxpayers on occasion when it comes to THEIR money.
J.
“taxpayers are our ATM machine”-Sarah
…and what vital “national business” was Chelsea Clinton conducting when she went to Bosnia with Hillary Clinton and may or may not have come under sniper fire? Hell, what was UNELECTED non-office-holder Hillary Clinton doing on that US government transport?
What was Mrs. Clinton doing on the flight? Government business. She was sent to Bosnia as an envoy of the American government. Young Chelsea? No idea.
Now run along and find me the records where the government paid for Chelsea’s trip without reimbursement from her parents. And when you come back, I’ll taunt you for defending champion pork-buster Ms. Palin with yet another chorus of “But what about Clinton?!?”
I sense a pattern here.
Trolls: “PDS HATEFUL ARGH TALKING POINTS”
Everyone else “Rational rebuttal based on facts”
Trolls: “PDS HATEFUL ARGH TALKING POINTS”
They don’t even read our replies anymore.
I’ve lost count of how many posts you’ve made attacking Palin over what are either utterly trivial our downright bullshit stories.
So which ones do you think are “utterly trivial” and which ones are “downright bullshit”?
And are any of them as stupid as the stolen flags story?
Quaker, if she sought reimbursement from the state for taking her kids to Disneyworld, I could see your gripe. But you and Oliver whining about the Governor of a state taking one of her kids along with her on state business and getting reimbursed for it is extremely petty especially when one considers just how much she’s slashed the travel budget.
Weak dude. Weak.
New Democratic Spin:
By spending 80% less than her predecessor, Sarah Palin is hurting the hard-working middle class folks who work in the Alaskan Transportation industry. As President, Barack Obama will fight for those workers by making multiple trips to Alaska in O Force One to singlehandedly save the Polar Bear species.
Oh, yeah, that’s the term people like to use when they can’t put a specific term to describe someone they don’t like.
Ok, how about bigots that want to crush gay people under their heels for shits and giggles? That better?
Let me flush out the ultra con trolls here.
Wasilla sports complex
Wasilla sports complex
Over $100 million was wasted* by the Chicago Annenberg Challenge under the watch of the Chairman of the Board, Barack Obama.
* spent with “little impact on school improvement and student outcomes, with no statistically significant differences between Annenberg and non-Annenberg schools in rates of achievement gain, classroom behavior, student self-efficacy, and social competence”.
How much money was wasted by Wasilla?
Let me flush out the ultra con trolls here.
Better you should flush some of the bullsh!t being spewed by our host here.
Good lord, Zython, you’re citing KOS as a source? Have you been paying attention? In just the last couple of weeks, the Kossacks have either invented or pushed like hell the following lies:
1) Sarah Palin’s youngest son is actually her grandson.
2) Sarah Palin belonged to the Alaskan Independence Party.
3) Sarah Palin cut funding for a program for pregnant teens.
4) Sarah Palin slashed funding for special-needs students.
And that’s just off the top of my head.
It’s come to the point where if someone says “I read about it on Kos,” they’re admitting the story is utter bullshit.
J.
Good lord, Zython, you’re citing KOS as a source?
Funny, you didn’t seem to raise any eyebrows when Frankie cited American Thinker or when one of you geniuses cites Powerline.
1) Sarah Palin’s youngest son is actually her grandson.
I will admit this is false. We now know that Palin kidnapped the baby while she was in Dalass.
But here’s a source you’ll be less whiny about.
Jay (Tea), why do you hate America so much?
Considerably less hysterical source, Zython. And it sounds like a confluence of bad luck, bad decisions, and bad circumstances. All in all, I hope she learned from the mistakes she made.
Kind of like I hope Obama learned SOMETHING from his years heading up the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, which spent a hell of a lot more than Wasilla, Alaska did — and in the end had pretty much nothing to show for it.
But that’s right — he was a community organizer, so we don’t have to hold him accountable for anything.
J.
Man, I’m glad to see that we’re back on the topic of the earmarks for Wasilla during Palin’s terms are mayor. Turns out that the $27,000,000 which the city received is wrong. Wrong by about $20,000,000.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5765926&page=1
Once someone actually did the research, it was noticed that the majority of the earmarks that went to Wasilla weren’t destined for Wasilla, or used by the city. Instead they were used in the burrough (county to those of us in a normal state) or by the state transportation office. The city itself only received about $7,000,000 over five years which it had requested for itself, much of that going to infrastructure and social service improvements.
Of course, Zython, I don’t quite see what the Wasilla hockey arena has to do with Palin’s travel expenses…
J.
Quaker, if she sought reimbursement from the state for taking her kids to Disneyworld, I could see your gripe. But you and Oliver whining about the Governor of a state taking one of her kids along with her on state business and getting reimbursed for it is extremely petty especially when one considers just how much she’s slashed the travel budget.
So…government waste is bad, except when it’s not. Is that what I’m reading? It’s OK for a “reformer” who is against wasteful spending to waste a little as long as she wastes less than her predecessor.
Conservative “principles” in action, ladies and gentlemen!
Of course, Zython, I don’t quite see what the Wasilla hockey arena has to do with Palin’s travel expenses…
It’s part of a greater pattern of wasting money. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to connect the dots for you.
Considerably less hysterical source, Zython. And it sounds like a confluence of bad luck, bad decisions, and bad circumstances. All in all, I hope she learned from the mistakes she made.
Considering the last 8 years of Rethuglican rule, I wouldn’t count on it.
“Rethuglican?”
Pointless, adolescent name-calling?
You lose.
J.
“Rethuglican?”
Pointless, adolescent name-calling?
You lose.
You haven’t been paying attention for the last 8 year, haven’t you?
Sarah sure loves her pork.
Can’t wait till the debates. Biden’s gonna eat her lunch.
(ZOMG DID JAIM JUST MAKE A SEXIST COMMENT ZOMG???)
Seriously, we’re doing a presidential election here, and Republicans have turned into freakin’ third-graders.
So much for being the “serious, Daddy party.”
Seriously, we’re doing a presidential election here, and Republicans have turned into freakin’ third-graders.
YAWN.
I suppose “THE HOUSES!!” and “100 YEARS!!!” and “SECESSIONIST!!” and “BOOK BANNING!!!” and on and on and on and on…….is all part and parcel of the adult campaign.
Give me a freaking break. From the moment Sarah Palin was chosen by John McCain as his running mate, the Democrats, the left, Obama-bots and the Obama campaign have been flinging shit like babies on a changing table.
All of the bogus ‘tsk tsk’ nonsense from the left is ridiculous.
Jay Tea, I think the metaphor you’re looking for is “flinging shit like monkeys in a zoo”. However I don’t know how apt it would be to make such a comparison when the person being compared is black.
Whoops, Jay, not Jay Tea. Even I have trouble keeping y’all in line, and supposedly I’m one of your hacks.
I suppose “THE HOUSES!!” and “100 YEARS!!!” and “SECESSIONIST!!” and “BOOK BANNING!!!” and on and on and on and on…….is all part and parcel of the adult campaign.
Right. And Barack is a moslem, his wife hates America, his preacher, who was an Army medic selected FROM THE ENTIRE US ARMY to be Lyndon Johnson’s medical aide, hates America, and Barack called Palin a pig.
Do you see how it works? The right has no moral grounds for complaining about anything said about McCain or Palin, EVEN IF IT ISN’T TRUE, because lies are all they have, and they refuse to discuss issues.
Are you saying that McCain DIDN’T say he would have his staff count the houses? (It’s on tape>) Are you saying he didn’t say “100 years? (I know, it’s a hundred years as long as no one is being killed, so we can’t leave as long as people are, and we won’t if they aren’t.) Are you saying that Palin didn’t try to fire the librarian? Are you saying that Obama, using a cliche also used by McCain referring to Hillary, called Palin a pig?
Repack, go move a piano. The very fact that you believe the book banning/firing the librarian smear puts any smidgen of credibility you ever had right in the gutter.
“Pointless, adolescent name-calling?
You lose.
J.”
Style-over-substance fallacy invoking?
You lose.