Palin Charged Per Diems For Fox News Interview, Phone Call With Elizabeth Dole

On Wednesday, Governor Sarah Palin was informed that she owed income taxes on the per diem reimbursements she racked up while living at her home in Wasilla. The revision of her tax compliance, which came after the governor requested a review, will cost Palin an additional $17,000. It also spurred questions about the Alaska Republican's accounting practices in general.

Now, the Anchorage Daily News has put online the expense reports that Palin submitted for the last two months in 2008. Tucked in there are some filings that, while perfectly within the realm of officials gubernatorial business, seem either a bit high in cost or curious in purpose.

The Governor, for instance, charged the state of Alaska a $60 per diem expense for an appearance on Fox News on November 9, 2008. A few weeks later, she billed taxpayers another $60 for a "phone call with Sen. Elizabeth Dole." (Dole had lost her reelection bid weeks earlier). On the 26th of November, Palin again turned in a $60 meal/incidental expense per diem report for "Phone call with Gov. Rendell, interview."

Here is the November report, and here is the December report.

Taken as a whole, these expenses constitute a drop in the bucket compared to the thousands of dollars Palin charged for the work she did while living at her personal home. They also seem to fall within the legal confines of appropriate per diem billing (though Alaska taxpayers may take umbrage with that). On a broader lever, the expenditures offer a fascinating window into how Palin -- thrust into the national spotlight -- balanced her work as governor with growing media attention.

There are, for instance, interviews conducted on the same day in November with "Entertainment Tonight" and the New York Times, and, a week later, The Weekly Standard and "Larry King Live." A few days after speaking with Rendell, she filed a $60 per diem expense for a photo session with "UAA Men's & Women's teams" -- likely University of Alaska Anchorage's basketball squads. In mid-December, meanwhile, she met with Alaska Senator-elect Mark Begich, followed by an interview with Human Events (for which she filed a per diem expense of $60). On the next day came a phone call with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for what was, ostensibly, a federal matter that pertained to Alaska.

Comments

[Bitsko]

Man, she is such a fox. I wonder if she would go out with me? Maybe if I write a note to her and pass it in class. Do you thing she'd say yes? Oh, I do hope so.

[roshni]

If you buy her some new clothes, I'm sure she would.

[BuriedInTheBibleBelt]

You better pass that note in crayon.....

[haveitoldyoulately]

I always believed per diem was a charge to cover living and travelling expenses in connection with WORK?????. All of her interviews after her fall for the White House were all personal..­...talking aBout the campaign, her family, and $150,000 worth of clothes she claim she never purchased. WHAT DOES THAT ALL HAVE TO DO WITH ALASKAN GOVERNMENT?
Was she recruiting Elizabeth Dole for a political position in Alaska....or was it just repuk chat?
Wouldn't we all like to tell our boss we have to work from home, and they charge him for it.

[Huero]

She was the best thing that happened to the McCain campaign. You are all afraid of her. Thanks for keeping her name alive an in the news! Keep it up, please.

[haveitoldyoulately]

150% correct........She was the best thing that happened to the McCain campaign.....She was his downfall

[roshni]

Happy to oblige. She was the best thing to bring McCain down and we want her around so that we can use her to win round 2 in 2012.

[JessWonderin]

"afraid of her"????

sorry pal, we EMBRACE her, she is the total personification of the "new Republican Party" . . . ignorant of world facts, self obsessed, failed administrator, no-tax and spend policies, suppression of dissent, socially divisive, religious hypocrite soaked in intolerance . . . .

I HOPE she leads the Republican Ticket and solidifies them as a regional party of Mississippi, Alabama and assorted backwater counties . . . .

[eahce]

Palin is yesterday's news, please let's keep it that way.

[BigSlick674]

Palin spends over 60% of her days "working" from her home in Wasilla. She isn't even going to Anchorage most of the time.

[Huero]

Of course she wouldn't go to Anchorage. Juneau is the Capital of Alaska.

[BigSlick674]

Palin's CURRENT approval rating is 55% and dropping.

[roshni]

More dirt please from the ADN. MAybe I'll buy a subscription if they keep digging.

[MissV]

The problem with ALL of these politicians is that they spend the money as if it belonged to someone else (which I guess it does). I guarantee they would probably be more prudent if it were their own money. Maybe they need a committee of Americans to determine what they could be reimbursed for.

[lydiajean]

Why are we still obsessed with Palin. Get over her.

[jazabelz]

Oink, oink -- I see -- feeding at the public taxpayers trough again!!!!! Hopefully Alaskan's are smart enough to vote her out of office

[lydiajean]

she still has 85% approval in Alaska.

[meede]

No she doesn't. You're still looking at the approvals prior to running for VP.

[Principaldad]

Not anymore. Last I heard it was down to 60%, which is pretty low considering the people are getting checks from the state on a regular basis.

[bellabeach]

When is Bristol's wedding taking place?!!

[roshni]

Not anytime soon, from the looks of things.

[NewDem08]

As soon as they can get a good price on the flying pigs for the reception.

[DNBRO]

Palin is so clued out I wonder if she has mental issues?

[meede]

Doesn't have a brain so how can she have mental issues

[roshni]

She is a narcissist.

[jackbutler5555]

The more attention Sarah gets, the more realistic her chances of seeking the GOP nomination for President in 2012, the more likely her political appeal will be underestimated, the more polarized we'll become, the more comfortable those of us who don't know very much will feel about the state of our knowledge.

[bogues]

Sarah Palin should be living in the Governor's mansion. If she did not want to live there, she should not have run for the office. Staying in her private home and charging the state to do that is rediculous.

[tm68]

How does a phone call warrant a $60 per diem payment? I don't get this at all. Yeah, $60 may seem a pittance, but added up, it can be quite a sum. As an AK taxpayer- why are we footing her self-serving interview "bills"?

[kannita]

How in the world is this legal?! I am amazed!!! It one thing to telework but to charge extra!? Isn't it part of the job as Gov. to take phone calls? Geesh, I am working in the wrong industry!