Palin's Scandal Du Jour

And the hits just keep on coming!

WASHINGTON POST:

Palin Billed State for Nights Spent at Home

ANCHORAGE, Sept. 8 -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a "per diem" allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business.

The governor also has charged the state for travel expenses to take her children on official out-of-town missions. And her husband, Todd, has billed the state for expenses and a daily allowance for trips he makes on official business for his wife.

Just think of how many headaches the McCain campaign would have saved with a little vetting. And this is only 10 days after McCain's selection of Palin... or should I say the religious right's selection of Palin?


UPDATE (12:45pm):

TIME MAGAZINE: Sarah Palin's Alaskanomics

Although Palin praised John McCain in her acceptance speech as a man who puts the good of his country ahead of partisan politics, McCain pretty much proved the opposite with his selection of a running mate whose main asset is her ability to reignite the culture wars. So maybe Governor Palin does represent everything that is good and fine about America, as she herself maintains. But spare us, please, any talk about how she is a tough fiscal conservative.

...Of the 50 states, Alaska ranks No. 1 in taxes per resident and No. 1 in spending per resident. Its tax burden per resident is 2½ times the national average; its spending, more than double. The trick is that Alaska's government spends money on its own citizens and taxes the rest of us to pay for it.

...Alaska also ranks No. 1, year after year, in money it sucks in from Washington. In 2005 (the most recent figures), according to the Tax Foundation, Alaska ranked 18th in federal taxes paid per resident ($5,434) but first in federal spending received per resident ($13,950). Its ratio of federal spending received to federal taxes paid ranks third among the 50 states, and in the absolute amount it receives from Washington over and above the amount it sends to Washington, Alaska ranks No. 1.

...Palin bragged that she had vetoed "nearly $500 million" in state spending during her two years as governor. This amounts to less than 2% of the proposed budget.

...Although Palin's words side with McCain in the [oil windfall-profits tax] dispute, her actions side with Obama. Her major legislative accomplishment has been to revamp Alaska's windfall-profits tax in order to increase the state's take. Alaska calls it a "clear and equitable share" tax. The state assumes that extracting oil from the tundra costs about $25 per bbl. and takes as much as 75% of the difference between that and the sale price.

Why is a windfall-profits tax good for Alaska but not for the U.S.? Well, it's obvious, isn't it? People in [Sarah Palin's] Alaska are better than people in the rest of the U.S. ...

UPDATE (3:50pm):


For my friend, Mr. The Elvis Dingeldein, who commented the following...:

Okay, it's now officially time to have Joe Biden fitted with a Matrixesque data port in his skull into which a giant upload spike might be shoved, so that he can quite simply beat the living shit out of Marty Moose with this stuff. Jack in, Biden. Jack the fuck in.

... and inspired me to quickly do this:






It's no driftglass, but he's a fucking artist.