On May 11, 2010 Sarah Palin appeared at another fundraising event. This time the speech was to benefit Rainbow Omega, a non-profit organization devoted to adults with developmental disabilities. This facility is located about 45 minutes east of Birmingham Alabama. According to Stentson Carpenter, the Board Chairman and CEO of Rainbow Omega, the contract with Palin prohibited him from disclosing the fee paid to Palin, but he did confirm that the amount was agreed upon in advance, and that the fee was in addition to travel expenses. Palin's usual fee is $100,000. Travel expenses in this case did not include a private plane, but a first class ticket for Ms. Palin and two coach tickets for her security guards. Obviously Grandma Palin was not donating her time, but was receiving financial compensation for this 39 minute speech.
Rainbow Omega is a facility consisting of 8 homes for adults ranging in age from 18 to 85 years old. One of the 8 homes is similar to a nursing home, and the 15 residents in that facility are supported by Medicare at a rate of $200.00 per day, $6000.00 per month, or $72,000 per year per person. Thus just the 15 patients in the nursing facility of Rainbow Omega result in an expense to U.S. taxpayers of approximately $1,080,000.00 per year. Many of the other 65 residents rely upon federal support through Social Security benefits to their parents. Thirty of these special needs residents receive $50.00 per day for 5 days per week through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services CMHS (Center for Mental Health Services) for a benefit known as "supportive employment". This translates into a benefit for the 30 residents of approximately $390,000 per year, in addition to any other support they receive from federal programs.
Palin has said, "Let's take personal responsibility in all areas of life, including health". It seems that the "personal responsibility" Palin took at Rainbow Omega was to ensure that she got paid. If asked, Sarah Palin might tell us that it was part of "God's plan" that she would have a Down's syndrome child, so that not-for-profit organizations like Rainbow Omega would be more inclined to hire her. It must have been "God's plan" to ensure that she would make more than $12,000,000.00 in one year, regardless of who pays the bills.