# Palin Collected Travel Per Diems While At Home **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 9, 2008, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-collected-travel-per-diems-while-at-home/462778 "2008-09-09T14:19:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-collected-travel-per-diems-while-at-home/462778/121 "2008-09-11T19:47:53Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Becuase that’s how the law works for politicians. Just now, Californian Assemblymen/Sentators are also getting their per diem. It’s common, legal and acceptable. Legal. Yes. Acceptable?: "In the past, per diem claims by Alaska state officials have carried political risks. In 1988, the head of the state Commerce Department was pilloried for collecting a per diem charge of $50 while staying in his Anchorage home, according to local news accounts. The commissioner, the late Tony Smith, resigned amid a series of controversies. “It was quite the little scandal,” said Tony Knowles, the Democratic governor from 1994 to 2000. “I gave a direction to all my commissioners if they were ever in their house, whether it was Juneau or elsewhere, they were not to get a per diem because, clearly, it is and it looks like a scam – you pay yourself to live at home,” > [@Dr. Deth](#): > > Again, Politicians get special tax breaks on this and special per diem as they are required to maintain a home in both their district and the Capital (well, they don;t have to have a home there, they can get a hotel room, but…). Their “job” is also of a limited term, so no one expects them to move to where their job is. I did not know that politicians got per diems for driving to their office every day. Do you happen to have a cite? Seems a bit wasteful to me too. > [@Dr.Deth](#): > > If you had a similar job, you could claim per diem also. I’m sure I could. But if I wanted to be a “reformer” and that I’m against government waste, I sure the hell wouldn’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-collected-travel-per-diems-while-at-home/462778.md?page=6)