For over one year we have been inundated with news concerning Sarah Palin. We have been given many examples of the hypocrisy of Palin's rhetoric, from telling us that she said "thanks, but no thanks" to the Bridge to Nowhere, when she originally supported it, to her statement that she was not in favor of earmarks, when she not only accepted millions of dollars in earmarks for Alaska. She was even found to have behaved unethically by an Alaskan bipartisan committee, yet she wanted to tell the media that she had been completely exonerated. In spite of all of this, people love her appearance and the "folksy" charm she exudes while giving a speech to anyone who might listen and as a result, Americans across the country have donated thousands to Palin's Political Action Committee (PAC), via a website to help her efforts to raise money, purportedly for the purpose of supporting candidates for office with goals similar to Sarah's. After reviewing the files of SarahPAC, it is clear Palin has once again been less than truthful.
The very purpose of a PAC is to raise and spend money to elect candidates. A PAC is permitted to give up to $5000 to a candidate, and may receive up to $5000 from any one individual per calendar year. PAC's like the SarahPAC are governed by the Federal Election Commission. Pursuant to those laws PAC's are required to file certain disclosures. On April 13, 2010, Timothy Crawford, Treasurer for SarahPAC filed certain disclosures regarding SarahPAC, that pertain to the first quarter of 2010. These filings are proof of the willingness of Ms. Palin to possibly use and abuse donors to her PAC. Consider the following:
1. As of Jan. 1, 2010 the Sarah PAC had cash on hand of over $900,000.00.
2. Receipts (meaning contributions from Sarah's supporters) totaled over $400,000 for the first quarter of the year.
3. Disbursements (meaning amounts paid out by the PAC) for the first quarter exceeded the donations by $9000.00, indicating total of expenses of $409,760.06.
4. The donations to SarahPAC came from 174 donors, which included 25 unemployed contributors and 57 retired individuals. Thus, almost half of the donors were people who were unemployed.
5. Over $200,000 of the expenditures of the PAC for the first quarter of the year were used for some type of "consulting" services.
6. Mr. Van Flein, the attorney Bristol has relied upon for her child custody case; appears to be received $10,000 per month as some form of compensation from the PAC, probably a retainer.
7. Ivy Frye, the woman who worked for Sarah Palin before she resigned as Governor, and who appeared on some e-mails of Palin's, now receives compensation from the PAC, to the tune of $5000.00 per month, for clerical work. What is not clear is how much is paid for clerical work, and how much she might be paid for keeping secrets. Interviews have shown that while Ms. Palin was the Governor she ran an administration that put a premium on loyalty and secrecy.
8. The PAC has spent over $15,000 on hotel rooms in just the first quarter of the year. At this rate the PAC would spend $60,000 in one year, just on hotel rooms. Why would there be a need for such a large expense to the PAC, unless they are paying for hotel rooms when Sarah travels to give speeches, for which she receives, personally, hundreds of thousands of dollars?
9. The PAC has only made contributions to a total of seven candidates, with total contributions of $9500. Most contributions have been only $1000. Thus, so far this year, Sarah's PAC has contributed about 1% of its net worth to political candidates. If the PAC continues on this path for the remainder of the year, it would contribute less than $40,000 to political candidates, which would be less than the PAC, will likely spend on hotels for the year.
10. There is the question of de-icing Sarah's private jet in Ft. Lauderdale. According to the records filed with the FEC, the PAC paid for de-icing of Sarah's plane on March 23, 2010, two times at a cost to the PAC of $7321.65, each time. The explanation offered is that this was a double charge, and thus we shouldn't be concerned that Sarah's PAC overpaid for "de-icing" by $7000.
I am not a pilot, but logical questions arise. a) If you are paying Ivy $5000.00 per month for clerical work, shouldn't she have caught this error and refused to pay the second charge? b) The temperatures in Ft. Lauderdale on March 23, 2010 ranged from a high of 77.7 degrees to a low of 57.9 degrees. If the low temperature for the day or night was only 58, why would they need to de-ice the plane even once? If Ms. Palin had taken a commercial flight, I bet a first class seat wouldn't have cost as much as de-icing of the private plane, much less the cost of a private plane itself. c) Why is the PAC paying for any expense relating to de-icing a plane in Ft. Lauderdale? There is no charge to the PAC for the private jet, and it would be rather astonishing if Sarah paid for the private plane herself. It seems there should either be a charge to the PAC for the private plane flight to Ft. Lauderdale and the deicing, or there should be no charge at all. Moreover, if Sarah Palin does not contribute any of her speaking fees to her PAC, which she did not, why would the PAC have any responsibility for the expenses associated with her trip to Ft. Lauderdale?
11. Finally, it is curious that of all 174 donors live in multiple states around the country, but not one donor lives in Alaska. It seems where they know her best is the place where she has the least support.
Although the SarahPAC website is very limited, a couple of quotes stand out:
"SarahPAC believes the Republican Party is at the threshold of an historic renaissance that will build a better future for all. ... Join us today...We are going to work as common sense conservatives ...helping candidates who will stand up for our nation. We'll help candidates ..."
Certainly Sarah has not helped any candidates with any significant contributions in 2010. She is even distancing herself from the Republican Party, but her PAC still suggests that she supports the RNC. Just days after the RNC admitted to spending donors' cash at an erotic Los Angeles club, Sarah asked the RNC to take her name off the list of invites to a New Orleans fund raiser, even though she would be in town. The RNC embarrassed itself again when a fund-raising letter inadvertently led potential donors to a phone-sex line promising "hot, horny girls."
"Tony Perkins, head of the conservative Family Research Council and a GOP stalwart, urged donors to redirect their cash.
"I've hinted at this before, but now I am saying it - don't give money to the RNC,"
It all stinks. The worst potential abuse is the misuse of funds of SarahPAC, and money donated by unemployed supporters. Those donors give her what little money they have, thinking that they are being patriotic. I guess they don't realize that Sarah has made $12,000,000 since resigning her position as Governor and she hasn't donated a penny of that money to the PAC.
I wish someone would explain to me why the PAC is paying for any expenses for de-icing a plane that was not transporting Sarah on PAC business? Having spoken with Christian Hilland, a spokesperson with the Federal Election Commission, I understand that the FEC can't hold politicians accountable for use of PAC monies for personal use. For example, the RNC was not found to be in violation of existing laws for using RNC monies to purchase $150,000 worth of clothes, makeup, and hairstyling for Sarah and family during the 2008 campaign. Not until Congress enacts legislation to prevent this type of abuse will people like Sarah Palin be held accountable for the misuse of the hard earned dollars her supporters donate to her. "Sarah Barracuda" has dominated the national spotlight for over one year. Fish often begin to smell after they have been around too long. I am not a tax attorney and I have never worked for the IRS, but my common sense conservatism is telling me something stinks.
Follow Malia Litman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/rebuttaltorogue
If you dont like something or someone you really don't want to talk about it. You want to flush it and forget it. If we keep talking about Palin, either good or bad, we are saying I love you and please never go away.
I wish I could be sure Palin would just go away, but the money donated to her PAC by unsuspecting supporters tells me that she won't simply go away until there is no more money to be made off of the unsuspecting. The mere fact that McCain would not endorse her, and now she is helping him raise money for his re-election campaign tells me that Americans have a very short memory. If you check out my blog at malialitman.wordpress.com, you will see that I support all I have said with facts and the "context", so that the people who read can decide for themselves what is the truth. Thanks for caring. Malia
And they REALLY don't like it when he listens to his advisors and to the various chairmen of hearings in the Senate and the House, weighs their findings and the intelligence data....and CHANGES HIS MIND about an issue.
Thanks for following and for your comment. It has been interesting for me to watch to see the level of criticism for things he didn't do. People have forgotten so quickly how bad things were when he took office. I remember. Whatever good he has accomplished in one year, it's never enough. I remember the price of gas. I remember how depressed the market was. I remember how disrespected our country was under Bush. I remember that the US Supreme Court ruled in the Ledbetter case that it was ok if women were paid less than men for the same job. I remember that the Republicans said taxes would be raised under Obama, but in fact the majority of Americans have paid less.I wish more people realized that its easy to criticise, but very hard to fix the many problems we face. Palin seems to be quite adept at criticizing, but totally lacking at offering any real solutions to our many problems. Malia
It seems to me that it is much harder to admit a mistake, or change a position if you feel you were in error, than to just pretend that everything is going to be ok. I for one am glad that we have a President who is willing to approach a problem from a different perspective, if the original idea has not been successful. The problem, as I see it, are politicians who aren't willing or able to adapt to current conditions and make changes as needed. Malia
GOD I HOPE THIS MOVIE NEVER ENDS.......,
Any why are you a FORMER ATTORNEY ? GOOD LUCK I'm sure you are a nice person////
You betcha!
If you think Obama reflects all these qualities, why don't he act like it. If he were all these, his ratings wouldn't be, what, 42% now. Yea, he's a real LIGHTBULB. We might could do better than SARAH PALIN, but I don't think we could do any worse than Obama...
Thank you for your hard work in exposing Palin.
What I don't get is why the MSM won't go after her with everything they've got...like how they went after Tiger Woods.
She has done worse, and has proven herself over and over that she can't be trusted in every aspect of what she stands for.
Sometimes it (she) can be so frustrating.
Just compare her to Lisa Murkowski. Nobody thinks any less of Lisa Murkowski because of Sarah Palin. They might criticize Lisa Murkowski for her policies or votes or various things, but nobody considers her any less qualified for the job of Senator because of Sarah Palin's glaring deficiencies, lies, complete lack of ethics and appalling greed.
Now, as for damage to Alaska, damage to American public discourse and to the political system, damage to the Republican Party, you're correct. She's done a lot. It's no accident that Alaska Republicans are the people who despise her the most.
Not sure why they continue to FAIL to expose the real story behind Grifter Granny.
Maybe Granny needs to be more careful as well... it would appear she might have a st@/ker
posting on your thread here. I think pat is in luv..... just saying. Watch out Tawd.
BTW... In her Canada speech last night she CLAIMED ( in her OWN words ) that part of
her achievements was that she was a City Manager.
Everybody in Alaska knows she HIRED a City Manager to run her little town when she was Mayor.
Payroll records for the City would prove this fact as well. There is no dispute here.
You may have to mention this Fact as part of your next post. She lies so easily these days.
She is a pathological liar, and she lies about matters large and small. She lies about taking a role in the big Alaska political corruption investigation. She had no role whatsoever; it was a federal investigation, she was just a spectator. She lies about "negotiating" with the oil companies for a gas pipeline deal. Under the bill she introduced, negotiations by the state on the gas pipeline are illegal. She lies about the Exxon Valdez oil spill litigation, saying that she somehow secured a victory for Alaska at the Supreme Court (it was a private class-action lawsuit, the state had no role and had completed its own litigation in 1991, and the outcome was a huge defeat for the private plaintiffs). She lies about her daughters being the target of internet gang-rape threats while they were attending public school in Juneau; the Juneau Police Department, Juneau School District, principal of the high school and Alaska State Troopers all said there was never any evidence of any such threats. She even lied about the Alaska weather, claiming Todd drove around in subzero temps in Anchorage on the day in 2002 when she was interviewed by Frank Murkowski for a Senate appointment. That day in 2002 and the entire 2002-03 winter was extremely warm; the temps never went below zero in Anchorage all that winter.
If I were donating to SarahPAC, I'd wonder why so much money is going to everything except candidates. Ostensibly, the PAC's purpose is to support candidates who offer what Mrs. Palin calls "common sense solutions" to our country's ills. Are there so few people running for office that warrant support, and such parsimonious support at that?
To an open-minded observer, it looks like the PAC is just funding a national gallivanting expedition for someone who has earned the title, "grifter." Legal or not, I recall Mrs. Palin saying, while she was Mayor, "I'll do whatever I want until the courts tell me I can't." One can only hope that day comes soon.
For anyone interested, as has already been mentioned, Palingates has extensive documentation on this, and many more of Sarah's "gates."
Thanks for you comment, and yest she keeps saying that she might run, even though she says "No" in her book, explaining that she wouldn't have resigned as Governor if she planned to stay in politics. I think you are right...she will do whatever she thinks will help her continue to get paid $100000 per speech, saying the same things over and over. Malia
Thanks for your kind words, and rest assured that I will continue doing all that I can. I posted this article today on my personal blog at malialitman.wordpress.com, and it looks like I am going to set a record from the number of viewers tonight at 9:30. A large number of viewers are in Alaska, and other blogs have picked up the story. Huffington Post is known in the media, so I am hopeful that this is just the beginning. I'll keep you "posted". Thanks, Malia