No actually, the article I was reading was tax attorney’s weighing in.
(I know the difference, I’m trained as a tax accountant and used to be a paralegal for tax attorneys).
As anybody who has collected per diem knows, per diem is an offset for expenses. It is non-taxable to the extent that you actually use it for those expenses. Any part of per diem that is NOT used for expenses IS taxable and must be declared. Any bets on whether or not she claimed any of that money as income?
If she’s billing the gov for their plane tickets that’s one thing, but bringing them along and having them stay in the same hotel room as her is not a big deal. I’m military. When I go TDY to Florida I get a specific gov rate for a room that happens to overlook the beach. The cost of my room is the same no matter where I stay in town so the fact that it overlooks the beach is just a bonus. I will be bringing my wife with me on my next trip down there. She will not be paying for lodging. We will be staying in the same room I would be staying if if I went alone. No extra cost to the gov but it appears that she is staying on the gov dime to an outsider. I have no problem with this and if that is what Palin has been doing then who gives a shit. If she is billing their plane tickets to the gov then thats different.
Hey-I’m not a mom and I feel bad for her kids too. Especially Bristol-in this day and age, in two thousand and fucking eight a sixteen year old should not be forced into a shot-gun wedding because she’s pregnant. (And as much as I dislike her mother, I think the rumors that Tigger, or whatever his name is, was actually HER son rather than her baby brother, were pretty vile)
Are you still pretending to be a lawyer?
Nah, you can get a double for about $600/night during the week at the Ritz on Central Park, and probably even less at the Ritz in Battery Park.
Just sayin’…
Whether Palin is doing something illegal is not the point. There are also ethics and morality involved. Can she legally get away with it. Perhaps, they write the rules to their own benefit. But running up the cost of hauling her family around the country on tax payer money is offensive. It appears she is gaming the system. It just shows what kind of person she is.
And apparently, she didn’t fly commercial after ditching the “governor’s plane,” but would use a search and rescue plane to haul her and her brood around. (That’s what Olbermann said at any rate. Feel free to dig for a better cite if it gets your panties in a bunch.)
Mind you, in a state the size of Alaska, you need a plane of some kind to get around if you’re the governor. Its just too fucking big a place to try and drive long distance (and in some cases that’s not even possible.)