Taxpayers Are Covering Sarah Palin’s Mortgage

One really has to wonder if the McCain campaign actually vetted Sarah Palin at all. Today, we learned that the Alaska governor was taking taxpayer money to live at home! From this morning's frontpage Washington Post article Palin Billed State for Nights Spent at Home:

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.

Palin, who earns $125,000 a year, claimed and received $16,951 as her allowance, which officials say was permitted because her official "duty station" is Juneau, according to an analysis of her travel documents by The Washington Post.

Claiming a per diem to live at home may not have been technically illegal under Alaska law, but it is hardly ethical to accept money for staying in your own home. And hardly the type of behavior we should expect from a so-called “reformer,” a so-called "fiscal conservative," and a vice-presidential nominee. While many Americans are struggling to afford their mortgages and make ends meet, Sarah Palin was charging taxpayers over $892 a month in per diem expenses even when she was not traveling on state business. That's more than many of America's besieged homeowners pay each month on their mortgage.

The more we learn about Gov. Palin the more her actions fail to match her words. Even today, she continues to lie about telling Congress "thanks, but no thanks" to the Bridge to Nowhere. She decries earmark spending, but has requested almost $750 million in federal dollars for Alaska (or more than $1,100 per resident -- by far the largest per-capita request in the nation), and as mayor of tiny Wasilla, Alaska she hired Washington lobbyist to secure more than $27 million in earmarks or about $2,500 per resident. Palin paints herself as a "maverick" crusader against corruption, but she spent years as director of indited Alaska Senator Ted Steven's shady 527 group.

We must confront Sarah Palin and John McCain as they continue to lie about who they are and what they stand for. They are wholehearted supporters of the disastrous policies of the Bush Administration and will not bring us the positive change our nation so desperately needs.