Deference and per diem
Since John McCain’s campaign manager says GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin is being kept away from the press until reporters learn to treat her with “with some level of respect and deference,” I want to say I’m posting this with the greatest level of respect and deference:
But what’s with the Alaska governor charging the taxpayers for per diem expenses when she spends the night in own home?
The Washington Post today reports that Ms. Palin claimed and received $16,951 in per diem expenses for the 312 nights she spent in her own home in Wasilla in her first 20 months in office. That works out to $54.33 a day in per diem.
(On the one hand, that’s a bargain. Missouri legislators get about $80 a day in per diem when they’re in session; Major League Baseball players get about $100 a day in “meal money” when they’re on the road. On the other hand, she was staying in her own house, and Gov. Palin brags that she’s not a typical politician, which I say with the greatest respect and deference).
The Post also reports that the governor charged the state $43,490 for her husband and her family to travel in her first 20 months in office, with many of the trips coming between Wasilla and the state capital in Juneau. A spokesman for the governor said “it’s absolutely reasonable that the first family participates in community events.”
Certainly Ms. Palin does not find life in her state capital as salubrious as it could be. Juneau is 600 miles from Wasilla, and Ms. Palin often conducts state business in a a state office in Anchorage, a 45-mile commute from Wasilla. In this she is not unlike Illinois’ Rod Blagojevich, who likes to work from his home in Chicago when possible.
In 2007 the Associated Press reported that Mr. Blagojevich had made nearly 1,000 flights between Springfield and Chicago on state aircraft at a cost to the state of more than $225,000. Since we’re trying to be deferential here, we’ll say only that the words “fiscal watchdog” don’t leap to mind when we think of Rod Rod Blagojevich.
Still, Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt likes to escape to his family home in Springfield whenever possible, and Lieutenant Gov. Peter Kinder and Secretary of State Robin Carnahan also escape the climes of Jefferson City for St. Louis on many days. We’re not aware that any of them claim per diem for these personal preferences, however.
We respectfully look forward to hearing Ms. Palin explain herself.
Kevin Horrigan is deputy editor of the editorial page. He writes editorials on local, state and national politics and public policy and also contributes a signed column to the Sunday Commentary Page. "The Old Sport" is a former sports columnist for the Post-Dispatch and for 10 years hosted radio talk shows on KMOX and KTRS in St. Louis. He lives in South St. Louis with his wife, Kate, and a dream of one day starting a professional catfish noodling tour. 
This might be a more interesting post Kevin if you were to spend more time researching what the $54.33 a day in per dien consisted of. I am sure that those expenses are part of the public record easily obtainable from the state of Alaska. Then you could ask a detailed question of her about the expenses instead of an open ended one that leads the reader to believe a misdeed has been carried out.
While you are at it, I am sure you will also investigate Obama’s and Biden’s per diem expenses as senators too. If Palin’s $55 is of such great concern, I wonder what Obama’s and Biden’s are. I expect nothing less than thorough reporting from the unbiased and politically neutral staff of the PD…….
Mrs. Sarah is one piece of WORK!!!
Fiscal Conservative her rear, JUST LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE THEY ARE DISTORTING ABOUT HER AND MCCAIN, (the Karl Rove ilk), just one big FACADE.
So here is the rest of the story:
http://rightwingnews.com/mt331/2008/09/the_latest_liberal_spin_on_pal.php
Kevin, you must be working really hard on that Joe Biden editorial, right?
As someone who hates liars that put out false info, I think I may be guilty.
I provided this link:
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=305508174916939
which has been debunked by right wingers. So, I apologize to fellow bloggers, Sen. Obama and his campaign. I will be more careful in the future.
Hogan - still waiting for your apology on Edwards.
Let me get this straight. The current governor of Alaska billed the state for some but not all of the reimbursements she was entitled to, saving the taxpayers over $300K from the previous governor, and the PD thinks this is a scandal?
You’re not just desperate, you’re insane.
But since you seem to be in an investigative journalist mood, how about a little report on where the $49.2 MILLION that the Chicago Annenberg Challenge spent while Barack Obama served on its board with terrorist thug William Ayers ended up.
You call this journalism? You must have gone to j-school at the University of Idaho.
Is there no limit to what you will rationalize as ethical behavior?
Why should anyone get per diem if they are staying at their own home?
Housing is provided for the governor in the capitol.
She made a conscious decision not to use the housing provided.
It’s not like she did not know the capitol and her home were 900 miles apart.
Get a grip people.
Stop and think about what you are condoning as acceptable behavior
— A CENTRIST
‘I apologize to fellow bloggers, Sen. Obama and his campaign. I will be more careful in the future.”
Classy thing to do CENTRIST.
Republican says Sarah Palin “scares the hell out of me”
Former NY City Mayor, Republican Ed Koch, said Sarah Palin “scares the hell out of me”, as he endorsed fellow Democrat Barack Obama on Tuesday.
Koch backed President Bush for re-election against John Kerry saying the Bush was better equipped to combat “Islamic terrorists”.
Koch said he has concluded that the country would be safer in the hands of Barack Obama and Joe Biden than John McCain and Palin. “Protecting and defending the U.S. means more than defending us from foreign attacks,” Koch said, citing such concerns as civil liberties,. . . and access to health insurance.
Koch called Palin a “plucky, exciting candidate” but also said that if she were ever called on to lead the country, there is no question that the experience and demonstrated judgment of Joe Biden is superior to that of Sarah Palin.”
Ouch!
http://www.nypost.com/seven/09092008/news/regionalnews/ed_koch__sarah_palin_scares_me_128271.htm
Kevin, when you decide to do a hatchet job, I want to see the information you use. Reasonable, non-threatening, my aunties red bloomers. Your ideology speaks volumes with this column, albeit subtly. When you decide to actually write something that is reasonable and fully “vetted” about the expenditures of both Senator Obama and Senator Biden, wait a minute, your ideology prevents you from journalistic integrity. Wait, this is an opinion column. Once I heard you could take all the words and opinions in a newspaper and they still would add up to only something to use in an outhouse. Well this column deserves to be in an outhouse.
Sarah Palin just came on the national scene.
Everybody wants to know more about her, after all she is nominated to be 1 heartbeat away from the presidency.
Or would you be satisfied just getting the Republican point of view.
I really hope not because getting only side of an issue is not healthy for democracy.
Kevin expanded on the results of some investigative journalism done by the Washington Post.
It addresses an issue called ethics and possibly fraud.
I’m glad he posted the link and commented on the article.