# Palin got travel expenses for being at home **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 9, 2008, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-got-travel-expenses-for-being-at-home/462855 "2008-09-09T21:53:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-got-travel-expenses-for-being-at-home/462855/1 "2008-09-09T21:53:48Z")
Just to let you know… [http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/washington/AP-Palin-Travel-Expenses.html](http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/washington/AP-Palin-Travel-Expenses.html) > [@](#): > > Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has charged her state a daily allowance, normally used for official travel, for more than 300 nights spent at her home, The Washington Post reported Tuesday. > > An analysis of travel statements filed by the governor, now John McCain’s Republican running mate, shows she claimed the per diem allowance on 312 occasions when she was home in Wasilla and that she billed taxpayers $43,490 for travel by her husband and children. > (…) > Palin spends little time at the governor’s mansion in Juneau, especially when the Legislature if out of session, and instead prefers to live in Wasilla and commute to her office in Anchorage. > (…) > Palin took her daughter Bristol to New York in October for a conference on women and leadership, a tour of the New York Stock Exchange and various meetings, the analysis shows. Travel costs included three nights in a hotel room costing more than $700 a night. ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-got-travel-expenses-for-being-at-home/462855/2 "2008-09-10T00:22:53Z")
Could she really be [Kwame Kilpatrick](http://freerepublic.info/focus/f-news/1997811/posts) in disguise? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-got-travel-expenses-for-being-at-home/462855/3 "2008-09-10T00:28:26Z")
You do know Wasilla is about [800 miles](http://www.mapquest.com/directions/main.adp?go=1&do=nw&1n=&ct=NA0&1y=US&1a=701%20E%20Bogard%20Rd&1c=Wasilla&1s=AK&1z=99654&2y=US&2a=10014%20Crazy%20Horse%20Dr.&2c=Juneau&2s=AK&2z=99801) away from Juneau? I have no idea if the addresses in the link are Palin’s residences or not, but it gives you an idea of why she might have had “travel expenses.” Anchorage is about 45 minutes away from Wasilla, as far as I can tell. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-got-travel-expenses-for-being-at-home/462855/4 "2008-09-10T00:32:09Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > You do know Wasilla is about [800 miles](http://www.mapquest.com/directions/main.adp?go=1&do=nw&1n=&ct=NA0&1y=US&1a=701%20E%20Bogard%20Rd&1c=Wasilla&1s=AK&1z=99654&2y=US&2a=10014%20Crazy%20Horse%20Dr.&2c=Juneau&2s=AK&2z=99801) away from Juneau? > > I have no idea if the addresses in the link are Palin’s residences or not, but it gives you an idea of why she might have had “travel expenses.” > > Anchorage is about 45 minutes away from Wasilla, as far as I can tell. Well sure, but don’t the taxpayers pay for the Governor’s mansion in Juneau as well? Why should they be hit twice because she chose to live in Wasila while working in Juneau? If this is SOP, I guess it’s fine, but it just sounds…off. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-got-travel-expenses-for-being-at-home/462855/5 "2008-09-10T00:32:28Z")
Well they give her a home in Juneau and she chose not to use it. And “per diem” is not travel, it’s for daily essentials like food. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-got-travel-expenses-for-being-at-home/462855/6 "2008-09-10T00:35:17Z")
She doesn’t live in Juneau when the legislation is out of session. I don’t know about Alaska, but in Florida, the state legislature is only in session for January and February. I can imagine in Alaska they meet during different months. :eek: Still, it’s like working in Florida and having your home in South Carolina. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-got-travel-expenses-for-being-at-home/462855/7 "2008-09-10T12:17:36Z")
For whatever it’s worth, you’ll find a fair bit of discussion and links in [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=482491) GD thread. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-got-travel-expenses-for-being-at-home/462855/8 "2008-09-10T12:43:59Z")
Since the same topic is being discussed in GD, I’m locking this thread.