# Palin charging state for families' travels **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 21, 2008, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-charging-state-for-families-travels/468973 "2008-10-21T23:54:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-charging-state-for-families-travels/468973/1 "2008-10-21T23:54:21Z")
> [@](#): > > ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Gov. Sarah Palin charged the state for her children to travel with her, including to events where they were not invited, and later amended expense reports to specify that they were on official business. > The charges included costs for hotel and commercial flights for three daughters to join Palin to watch their father in a snowmobile race, and a trip to New York, where the governor attended a five-hour conference and stayed with 17-year-old Bristol for five days and four nights in a luxury hotel. > … > The Palins began charging the state for commercial flights after the governor kept a 2006 campaign promise to sell a jet bought by her predecessor. > > Palin put the jet up for sale on eBay, a move she later trumpeted in her star-making speech at the Republican National Convention, and it was ultimately sold by the state at a loss. > > That left only one high-performance aircraft deemed safe enough for her to use — a 1980 twin-engine King Air assigned to the public safety agency but, according to flight logs, out of service for maintenance and repairs about a third of the time Palin has been governor. The rest of the article is [HERE](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081021/ap_on_el_pr/palin_family_travel). (There’s a lot of it) Now, before anyone attacks me, I see no problem with her taking her family along, as long as she checks with the organizers in advance, so they can make the necessary arrangements, and understands if they decline permission. HOWEVER, to charge the expense to the state, and claim it’s a BUSINESS expense? Especially when we’re talking “their own room for five nights at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel for $215.46 a night”, in some cases. But she amends expense reports to state they have “official duties”, when they do not. Fine, you want them to come along as a learning experience, to keep you company? Great, wonderful! But for godsakes lady, don’t expect us to pay for it, then bitch about socialism, you selfish cunt! ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-charging-state-for-families-travels/468973/2 "2008-10-21T23:59:24Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Great, wonderful! But for godsakes lady, don’t expect us to pay for it, then bitch about socialism, you selfish cunt! Please do not call Governor Palin a cunt. Cunts are useful, peasing, and frequently beautiful, and and as a group they have requested to no longer associated with her. ---
**Author:** ![conurepete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e57/32.png) [@conurepete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/conurepete)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-charging-state-for-families-travels/468973/3 "2008-10-22T00:04:57Z")
actually the pee-sing comes from a different part a few millimeters away ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-charging-state-for-families-travels/468973/4 "2008-10-22T00:06:24Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Especially when we’re talking “their own room for five nights at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel for $215.46 a night”, in some cases. Yeah, there’s no way you’d book a double occupancy room at the Ritz Carlton in NY for less than $800/night. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-charging-state-for-families-travels/468973/5 "2008-10-22T00:14:17Z")
She’s clearly padding the expense account. If a sales person at a company you owned did this, you’d fire their ass. Cut down on the lipstick and pay for your own kids airfare, Palin. ---
**Author:** ![dgrdfd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@dgrdfd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dgrdfd)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-charging-state-for-families-travels/468973/6 "2008-10-22T00:19:08Z")
I don’t understand what kind of official duty she could even claim her kids have. Are they advising her on energy policies something? What could they do in an “official” capacity? There’s no doubt I would be fired for something like this, but I guess I am not as important as her. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-charging-state-for-families-travels/468973/7 "2008-10-22T00:31:28Z")
> [@Rubystreak](#): > > Yeah, there’s no way you’d book a double occupancy room at the Ritz Carlton in NY for less than $800/night. It was the Ritz-Carlton in Philly. In New York… > [@](#): > > mother and daughter shared a room for four nights at the $707.29-per-night Essex House hotel, which overlooks Central Park. They shared a room! How thrifty! ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-charging-state-for-families-travels/468973/8 "2008-10-22T00:36:59Z")
I never like it when stories like this break this close to an election. I have a propensity not to believe it. What I find interesting is that the AP has had quite an right wing bent these days. So it is odd that it came from them. But I still am leery of it. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-charging-state-for-families-travels/468973/9 "2008-10-22T00:39:35Z")
Quick, somebody page Bricker this thread needs some handwaiving… He’ll know just how to spin this. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-charging-state-for-families-travels/468973/10 "2008-10-22T00:47:57Z")
He’ll give up his right to bear . . . hands? ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-charging-state-for-families-travels/468973/11 "2008-10-22T00:48:32Z")
I hear what you’re saying…and I agree…but I would shocked to learn that this is NOT a common practice amongst Governors and Congresspeoples. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-charging-state-for-families-travels/468973/12 "2008-10-22T00:49:05Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > Quick, somebody page Bricker this thread needs some handwaiving… > > He’ll know just how to spin this. Ahem… “The Governor did nothing wrong, as she is perfectly within her rights to determine what constitutes state business and what does not. Please cite for me the specific statute that Palin broke.” How’s that for a **Bricker** impersonation? I’m practicing for Halloween. (scary stuff kids) ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-charging-state-for-families-travels/468973/13 "2008-10-22T00:57:43Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Ahem… > > “The Governor did nothing wrong, as she is perfectly within her rights to determine what constitutes state business and what does not. Please cite for me the specific statute that Palin broke.” > > How’s that for a **Bricker** impersonation? I’m practicing for Halloween. (scary stuff kids) Pretty good. I would ignore it because I have given up trying to reason with that water carrying shit monkey spin meister but if someone less disingenuous asked I would quote TPM thusly: > [@](#): > > Alaska law does not specifically address expenses for a governor’s children. The law allows for payment of expenses for anyone conducting official state business. > > As governor, Palin justified having the state pay for the travel of her daughters — Bristol, 17; Willow, 14; and Piper, 7 — by noting on travel forms that the girls had been invited to attend or participate in events on the governor’s schedule. > > But some organizers of these events said they were surprised when the Palin children showed up uninvited, or said they agreed to a request by the governor to allow the children to attend. > > Several other organizers said the children merely accompanied their mother and did not participate. To be perfectly clear I don’t really have a problem with this I figure it is between her and her constituents and personally I don’t have a problem with a governor taking her kids. What I hate is she lies about being all mavericky and focused on cutting government spending when it is clear that she is only interested in cutting spending for people she does not like or can’t vote for her. That and her attempt to justify it by lying. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-charging-state-for-families-travels/468973/14 "2008-10-22T00:58:10Z")
**Euphonious Polemic** , that was downright _scary_. _adds handwave_ ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-charging-state-for-families-travels/468973/15 "2008-10-22T01:02:14Z")
Her daughters are political advisers. They run her Alaskan campaign. They also advise Stevens. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-charging-state-for-families-travels/468973/16 "2008-10-22T01:03:44Z")
What about this angle: If she had not sold the governor’s jet, then any time she attended an event, she could bring along the kids for no extra cost. But since she did sell the jet…(and I’m too lazy to google, but I assume she made a profit)…then a small portion of the profits of that sale could be justifiably used to pay for any extras that the private jet allowed her (like bringing the kids along, first class service, etc). The majority of the profits of the jet sale helped the Alaska tax payers, so in the long run they came out ahead. ETA: just read that she sold it at a\*\* loss\*\*. (I KNEW I shouldn’t have had that last glass of wine)…but still, selling it raised X dollars for the state and she had to spend Y to replace the functions, which apparently included air fare for her kids, so can I assume that X is a lot more than Y? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-charging-state-for-families-travels/468973/17 "2008-10-22T01:20:04Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Her daughters are political advisers. They run her Alaskan campaign. They also advise Stevens. They’re probably smarter than she is. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-charging-state-for-families-travels/468973/18 "2008-10-22T01:25:53Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > I hear what you’re saying…and I agree…but I would shocked to learn that this is NOT a common practice amongst Governors and Congresspeoples. Me too. Not kids so much, but plenty of spouses probably tag along when they’re going someplace fun. It’s not just spouses that are unnecessary on these trips, but the trips in general are problematic. There was something on Inside Edition last week about a Washington State congressman – or maybe it was the governor – taking a bunch of officials to the Galapagos Islands to study the environment or the effects of climate change (something they could have learned about at home). One official even took her sister along. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-charging-state-for-families-travels/468973/19 "2008-10-22T01:26:48Z")
> [@Enola\_Gay](#): > > ETA: just read that she sold it at a\*\* loss\*\*. (I KNEW I shouldn’t have had that last glass of wine)…but still, selling it raised X dollars for the state and she had to spend Y to replace the functions, which apparently included air fare for her kids, so can I assume that X is a lot more than Y? I might be wrong, but I don’t think you can. My impression is that it was not the governor’s jet, but the state’s jet, and was used for more than just shuttling the governor around. If so, that would spread the cost around. On a side note: she does seem to take her kids everywhere, doesn’t she? Why aren’t they in school? ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-charging-state-for-families-travels/468973/20 "2008-10-22T02:04:35Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > On a side note: she does seem to take her kids everywhere, doesn’t she? Why aren’t they in school? 'Cause if they were in school, they’d be in danger of being exposed to…_SEX EDUCATION_!!! :eek: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-charging-state-for-families-travels/468973.md?page=2)