Sarah Palin

[Rex Kickass]

Her appointee isn't her. Unless she was part of the decision.

 

And while I certainly think that the kits SHOULD be free, this was an unfunded state mandate. $12,000 a year is not a small number for the Wasilla Police Department. Not saying that the chief's refusal was good - it wasn't - but I hope people realize that the money isn't insignificant for a department like that.

 

I don't like Palin, and I think in the long run, she will end up making a lousy VP pick. But unless she herself participated in the decision to charge for the kits, then I think this is a stretch.

 

And before someone says it, a mayor does NOT necessarily have the power to tell the police chief how to do their job. It depends on the way the city/locality's charter is set up.

 

Her appointee opposed the decision. She sure supported the appointee, managed his run for mayor of Mat-Su borough after that decision was made.

[Rex Kickass]

Good point. Odds are she is enacting government business, even when she is at home.

 

If your whole raison d'etre is ending government waste, billing the state a per-diem to sleep in your own bed is pretty ridiculous - legal or not.

[southsider2k5]

If your whole raison d'etre is ending government waste, billing the state a per-diem to sleep in your own bed is pretty ridiculous - legal or not.

 

Its not something I like for those reasons, but it makes it legal.

[BigSqwert]

Its not something I like for those reasons, but it makes it legal.

But you've been calling Obama a hypocrite for the past 18 months. "He's just like any other politician"

[thedoctor]

No, it's a substitute for the "irony emoticon."

 

It's difficult to "factually rebut" an opinion, so I don't see what purpose your post serves.

 

oh, ok. so it is just your opinion (from watching on television many miles away) that palin delivered the speech without the help of a teleprompter. got it. i can see this just being an opinion, as there is no evidence that suggests it actually happened. thanks for clearing that up for me.

[southsider2k5]

But you've been calling Obama a hypocrite for the past 18 months. "He's just like any other politician"

 

If she has gone on record as being against government waste, so is she. This isn't mutally exclusive.

[Rex Kickass]

Its not something I like for those reasons, but it makes it legal.

 

That's great. It's legal. It's still everything she claims to be against. And not a decision she made years or decades ago. It was a decision she made consistently for her entire tenure as Governor.

 

What upsets me as an interested observer to politics is when people talk the talk and don't walk the walk.... and it doesn't matter to people who like the talk. Every politician talks a talk, and every politician has their stumbles on walking that walk. You kind of have to when it comes time to making things work with our current system. The question is: does that person generally walk the walk on balance?

 

I see that in Obama. I see that in McCain, although to a lesser degree - the longer this campaign, the more he seems to pander in my eyes. With the VP candidates, that judgment is decidedly more mixed. I feel that Biden is a better supporter of the issues that I care about, but he'd probably sell my interests out in a minute. He's always seemed more concerned with protecting money than working for his citizens. I'd support him (he's pretty solid on foreign affairs) but with some reservations. With Palin, she claims she's against the very thing she really supported. Earmarks seem to be a prime example.

[BigSqwert]

I'd just like to note that after 29 pages in this thread it would be very difficult to find a whole lot of substantive reasoning for Palin being a good selection other then political reasons to win on November 4th.

 

EDIT: What happened to "Country First"?

Edited September 9, 2008 by BigSqwert

[CanOfCorn]

That's great. It's legal. It's still everything she claims to be against. And not a decision she made years or decades ago. It was a decision she made consistently for her entire tenure as Governor.

 

What upsets me as an interested observer to politics is when people talk the talk and don't walk the walk.... and it doesn't matter to people who like the talk. Every politician talks a talk, and every politician has their stumbles on walking that walk. You kind of have to when it comes time to making things work with our current system. The question is: does that person generally walk the walk on balance?

 

I see that in Obama. I see that in McCain, although to a lesser degree - the longer this campaign, the more he seems to pander in my eyes. With the VP candidates, that judgment is decidedly more mixed. I feel that Biden is a better supporter of the issues that I care about, but he'd probably sell my interests out in a minute. He's always seemed more concerned with protecting money than working for his citizens. I'd support him (he's pretty solid on foreign affairs) but with some reservations. With Palin, she claims she's against the very thing she really supported. Earmarks seem to be a prime example.

 

Well said...

 

/thread.

[Steff]

Believe it or not, I think some people do NOT understand the reimbursement or payment thing for business travel. Plus, the dynamics are slightly different from company to company.

 

 

Company policy variances aside, you think there are people who don't understand that if they travel for their company they wouldn't get reimbursed? If you do, that's perfectly fine, I however don't believe that for one second.

[Steff]

I'm not sure what all that is about, but something like 3 other people said basically the samething. It seemed as if people were comparing notes on business travel to me. If that was not the case, I sure missed it. But OK.

 

 

The others seemed to understand the point of not charging for sitting on your own couch.

[Steff]

When I pull back into my driveway I can still be on the clock. It depends on what you do for a living and what your companies policies are. In a lot of telecommuting jobs or people who have to support a home office, the lines between the home and work blur a bit. It requires personal restraint and knowing what is truly you being on the clock. My home office is a full extension of my work office. My work phone moves over to my work phone in my office when I log in at home. My internet is 100% expensed every month. I have expensed some meals at home. Yes its my house, but when you get impacted on your weekend for an unexpected critical issue that takes up 36 hours of your time, I think a 10 dollar meal is more than palatable to ask.

 

 

It sure does. My husband is NEVER off the clock as he gets phone calls at ALL hours of the night and answers emails until midnite many nights. However he gets paid a salary and that salary covers the nature of the beast and if that beast rings the phone at 10pm, he answers it, WITHOUT logging and charging the call to the company.

 

 

[southsider2k5]

The Swiftboating of Palin

 

http://www.newsweek.com/id/157986

 

We've been flooded for the past few days with queries about dubious Internet postings and mass e-mail messages making claims about McCain's running mate, Gov. Palin. We find that many are completely false, or misleading.

 

Palin did not cut funding for special needs education in Alaska by 62 percent. She didn't cut it at all. In fact, she tripled per-pupil funding over just three years.

 

 

She did not demand that books be banned from the Wasilla library. Some of the books on a widely circulated list were not even in print at the time. The librarian has said Palin asked a "What if?" question, but the librarian continued in her job through most of Palin's first term.

 

She was never a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, a group that wants Alaskans to vote on whether they wish to secede from the United States. She's been registered as a Republican since May 1982.

 

Palin never endorsed or supported Pat Buchanan for president. She once wore a Buchanan button as a "courtesy" when he visited Wasilla, but shortly afterward she was appointed to co-chair of the campaign of Steve Forbes in the state.

 

Palin has not pushed for teaching creationism in Alaska's schools. She has said that students should be allowed to "debate both sides" of the evolution question, but she also said creationism "doesn't have to be part of the curriculum."

 

We'll be looking into other charges in an e-mail by a woman named Anne Kilkenny for a future story. For more explanation of the bullet points above, please read the Analysis.

 

Analysis

Since Republican presidential nominee John McCain tapped Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate, information about Palin's past has been zipping around the Internet. Several claims are not true, and other rumors are misleading.

 

No Cut for "Special Needs" Kids

It's not true, as widely reported in mass e-mails, Web postings and at least one mainstream news source, that Palin slashed the special education budget in Alaska by 62 percent. CNN's Soledad O'Brien made the claim on Sept. 4 in an interview with Nicolle Wallace, a senior adviser to the McCain campaign:

 

O'Brien, Sept. 4: One are that has gotten certainly people sending to me a lot of e-mails is the question about as governor what she did with the special needs budget, which I'm sure you're aware, she cut significantly, 62 percent I think is the number from when she came into office. As a woman who is now a mother to a special needs child, and I think she actually has a nephew which is autistic as well. How much of a problem is this going to be as she tries to navigate both sides of that issue?

 

Such a move might have made Palin look heartless or hypocritical in view of her convention-speech pledge to be an advocate for special needs children and their families. But in fact, she increased special needs funding so dramatically that a representative of local school boards described the jump as "historic."

 

According to an April 2008 article in Education Week, Palin signed legislation in March 2008 that would increase public school funding considerably, including special needs funding. It would increase spending on what Alaska calls "intensive needs" students (students with high-cost special requirements) from $26,900 per student in 2008 to $73,840 per student in 2011. That almost triples the per-student spending in three fiscal years. Palin's original proposal, according to the Anchorage Daily News, would have increased funds slightly more, giving intensive needs students a $77,740 allotment by 2011.

 

Education Week: A second part of the measure raises spending for students with special needs to $73,840 in fiscal 2011, from the current $26,900 per student in fiscal 2008, according to the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development.

 

Unlike many other states, Alaska has relatively flush budget coffers, thanks to a rise in oil and gas revenues. Funding for schools will remain fairly level next year, however. Overall per-pupil funding across the state will rise by $100, to $5,480, in fiscal 2009. ...

 

Carl Rose, the executive director of the Association of Alaska School Boards, praised the changes in funding for rural schools and students with special needs as a "historic event," and said the finance overhaul would bring more stability to district budgets.

 

According to Eddy Jeans at the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, funding for special needs and intensive needs students has increased every year since Palin entered office, from a total of $203 million in 2006 to a projected $276 million in 2009.

 

Those who claim that Palin cut special needs funding by 62 percent are looking in the wrong place and misinterpreting what they find there. They point to an apparent drop in the Department of Education and Early Development budget for special schools. But the special schools budget, despite the similar name, isn't the special needs budget. "I don't even consider the special schools component [part of] our special needs funding," Jeans told FactCheck.org. "The special needs funding is provided through our public school funding formula. The special schools is simply a budget component where we have funding set aside for special projects," such as the Alaska School for the Deaf and the Alaska Military Youth Academy. A different budget component, the Foundation Program, governs special needs programs in the public school system.

 

And in any case, the decrease in funding for special schools is illusory. Palin moved the Alaska Military Youth Academy's ChalleNGe program, a residential military school program that teaches job and life skills to students under 20, out of the budget line for "special schools" and into its own line. This resulted in an apparent drop of more than $5 million in the special schools budget with no actual decrease in funding for the programs.

 

Not a Book Burner

One false rumor accuses then-Mayor Palin of threatening to fire Wasilla's librarian for refusing to ban books from the town library. Some versions of the rumor come complete with a list of the books that Palin allegedly attempted to ban. The story is false on several fronts: Palin never asked that books be banned; the librarian continued to serve in that position; no books were actually banned; and many of the books on the list that Palin supposedly wanted to censor weren't even in print at the time, proving that the list is a fabrication.

 

It's true that Palin did raise the issue with Mary Ellen Emmons, Wasilla's librarian, on at least two occasions. Emmons flatly stated her opposition both times. But, as the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman (Wasilla's local paper) reported at the time, Palin asked general questions about what Emmons would say if Palin requested that a book be banned. According to Emmons, Palin "was asking me how I would deal with her saying a book can't be in the library." Emmons reported that Palin pressed the issue, asking whether Emmons' position would change if residents were picketing the library. Wasilla resident Anne Kilkenny, who was at the meeting, corroborates Emmons' story, telling the Chicago Tribune that "Sarah said to Mary Ellen, 'What would your response be if I asked you to remove some books from the collection?' "

 

Palin characterized the exchange differently, initially volunteering the episode as an example of discussions with city employees about following her administration's agenda. Palin described her questions to Emmons as "rhetorical," noting that her questions "were asked in the context of professionalism regarding the library policy that is in place in our city." Actually, true rhetorical questions have implied answers (e.g., "Who do you think you are?"), so Palin probably meant to describe her questions as hypothetical or theoretical. We can't read minds, so it is impossible for us to know whether or not Palin may actually have wanted to ban books from the library or whether she simply wanted to know how her new employees would respond to an instruction from their boss. It is worth noting that, in an update, the Frontiersman points out that no book was ever banned from the library's shelves.

 

Moreover, although Palin fired Emmons as part of a "loyalty" purge, she rehired Emmons the next day, and Emmons remained at her job for two-and-a-half more years. Actually, Palin initially requested Emmons' resignation in October 1996, four days before the public discussion of censorship. That was at the same time she requested that all four of Wasilla's department heads resign. Palin described the requests as a loyalty test and allowed all four department heads to retain their positions. But on Jan. 30, 1997, three months after the censorship discussion, Palin informed Emmons and Wasilla's police chief, Irv Stambaugh, that they would be fired. According to the Chicago Tribune, Palin did not list censorship as a reason for Emmons' firing. Palin rehired Emmons the following day. Emmons continued to serve as librarian until August 1999, when the Chicago Tribune reports that she resigned.

 

So what about that list of books targeted for banning, which according to one widely e-mailed version was taken "from the official minutes of the Wasilla Library Board"? If it was, the library board should take up fortune telling. The list includes the first four Harry Potter books, none of which had been published at the time of the Palin-Emmons conversations. The first wasn't published until 1998. In fact, the list is a simple cut-and-paste job, snatched (complete with typos and the occasional incorrect title) from the Florida Institute of Technology library Web page, which presents the list as "Books banned at one time or another in the United States."

 

Closet Secessionist?

Palin was never a member of the Alaskan Independence Party – which calls for a vote on whether Alaska should secede from the union or remain a state – despite mistaken reports to the contrary. But her husband was a member for years, and she attended at least one party convention, as mayor of the town in which it was held.

 

The party's chair originally told reporters that Palin had been a member, but the official later retracted that statement. Chairwoman Lynette Clark told the New York Times that false information had been given to her by another member of the party after she first told the Times and others that Palin joined the AIP in 1994. Clark issued an apology on the AIP Web site.

 

The director of Alaska's Division of Elections, Gail Fenumiai, confirms that Palin registered to vote in the state for the first time in May 1982 as a Republican and hasn't changed her party affiliation since. She also told FactCheck.org that Palin's husband, Todd, was registered with AIP from October 1995 to July 2000, and again from September 2000 until July 2002. (He has since been registered as undeclared.) However, the AIP says Todd Palin "never participated in any party activities aside from attending a convention in Wasilla at one time."

 

There is still some dispute as to whether Sarah Palin also attended the AIP's 1994 convention, held in Wasilla. Clark and another AIP official toldABC News' Jake Tapper that both Palins were there. Palin was elected mayor of Wasilla two years later. The McCain campaign says Sarah Palin went to the 2000 AIP convention, also held in Wasilla, "as a courtesy since she was mayor." As governor, Palin sent a video message to the 2008 convention, which is available on YouTube, and the AIP says she attended in 2006 when she was campaigning.

 

Didn't Endorse Pat Buchanan

Claims that Palin endorsed conservative Republican Pat Buchanan for president in the 2000 campaign are false. She worked for conservative Republican Steve Forbes.

 

The incorrect reports stem from an Associated Press story on July 17, 1999, that said Palin was "among those sporting Buchanan buttons" at a lunch for Buchanan attended by about 85 people, during a swing he took through Fairbanks and Wasilla. Buchanan didn't help matters when he told a reporter for the liberal publication The Nation on Aug. 29: "I'm pretty sure she's a Buchananite." But in fact, she wasn't.

 

Soon after The AP story appeared, Palin wrote in a letter to the editor of the Anchorage Daily News that she had merely worn a Buchanan button as a courtesy to her visitor and was not endorsing him. The letter, published July 26, 1999, said:

 

Palin, July 26, 1999: As mayor of Wasilla, I am proud to welcome all presidential candidates to our city. This is true regardless of their party, or the latest odds of their winning. When presidential candidates visit our community, I am always happy to meet them. I'll even put on their button when handed one as a polite gesture of respect.

 

Though no reporter interviewed me for the Associated Press article on the recent visit by a presidential candidate (Metro, July 17), the article may have left your readers with the perception that I am endorsing this candidate, as opposed to welcoming his visit to Wasilla. As mayor, I will welcome all the candidates in Wasilla.

 

Palin actually worked for Forbes. Less than a month after being spotted wearing the "courtesy" button for Buchanan, she was named to the state leadership committee of the Forbes effort. The Associated Press reported on Aug. 7, 1999:

 

The Associated Press, Aug. 7 1999: State Sen. Mike Miller of Fairbanks will head the Alaska campaign chairman for Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes, campaign officials said. Joining the Fairbanks Republican on the leadership committee will be Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin, and former state GOP chairman Pete Hallgren, who will serve as co-chairs.

 

Still, after nine years, the truth has yet to catch up completely.

 

No Creationism in Schools

On Aug. 29, the Boston Globe reported that Palin was open to teaching creationism in public schools. That's true. She supports teaching creationism alongside evolution, though she has not actively pursued such a policy as governor.

 

In an Oct. 25, 2006, debate, when asked about teaching alternatives to evolution, Palin replied:

 

Palin, Oct. 25, 2006: Teach both. You know, don't be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important and it's so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both. And you know, I say this too as the daughter of a science teacher. Growing up with being so privileged and blessed to be given a lot of information on, on both sides of the subject – creationism and evolution. It's been a healthy foundation for me. But don't be afraid of information and let kids debate both sides.

 

A couple of days later, Palin amended that statement in an interview with the Anchorage Daily News, saying:

 

Palin, Oct. 2006: I don't think there should be a prohibition against debate if it comes up in class. It doesn't have to be part of the curriculum.

 

After her election, Palin let the matter drop. The Associated Press reported Sept 3: "Palin's children attend public schools and Palin has made no push to have creationism taught in them. ... It reflects a hands-off attitude toward mixing government and religion by most Alaskans." The article was headlined, "Palin has not pushed creation science as governor." It was written by Dan Joling, who reports from Anchorage and has covered Alaska for 30 years.

 

That E-mail Author

Switching gears: Almost 100 readers have written to ask us if the many claims made about Palin in an e-mail written by someone named Anne Kilkenny are true. We can tell you that Kilkenny is a real person. (She was quoted by the Chicago Tribune, as we said above.) According to the New York Times, she's a Democrat. According to Kilkenny herself, Palin "has hated me since back in 1996, when I was one of the 100 or so people who rallied to support the City Librarian against Sarah's attempt at censorship."

 

We're still analyzing Kilkenny's claims, and we will be posting something on this soon.

 

Republished with permission from factcheck.org.

 

Correction: In our original story, we incorrectly said that a few of the claims we examine here were included in the e-mail by Kilkenny. Only one of the claims – about the librarian's firing – was similar to an item in that e-mail. We regret the error.

 

Sources

Sutton, Anne. "Governor signs revamped education package into law." Anchorage Daily News, 28 Mar. 2008.

 

Holland, Megan. "Intensive needs funding examined." Anchorage Daily News, 12 Jan. 2008.

 

Cavanagh, Sean. "Alaska Legislators Overhaul Funding." Education Week, 29 Apr. 2008.

 

Hawkins, John. "This Is The Sarah Palin Bikini Shot You Are Looking For And, No, It's Not Real." Right Wing News, 2 Sept. 2008.

 

Godel, Addison. "elizabeth - american flag bikini rifle." Posted on flickr Web site, accessed 8 Sept. 2008.

 

Joling, Dan. "Palin has not pushed creation science as governor." The Associated Press, 3 Sept. 2008.

 

Hayes, Christopher. "Sarah Palin, Buchananite." The Nation "Capitolism" Web site, 29 Aug. 2008.

 

Palin, Sarah. "Letters from the People." Anchorage Daily News. 26 July 1999; 5B.

 

The Associated Press: "Forbes sets Alaska leadership team," 7 Aug 1999.

 

Kizzia, Tom. "'Creation science' enters the race." Anchorage Daily News, 27 Oct. 2006.

 

Paulson, Michael. "Sarah Palin on faith, life and creation." The Boston Globe, 29 Aug. 2008.

 

Tapper, Jake. "Another AIP Official Says Palin Was at 1994 Convention." ABCNews.com, 2 Sept. 2008.

 

Tapper, Jake. "Members of 'Fringe' Alaskan Independence Party Incorrectly Say Palin Was a Member in 90s." ABCNews.Com, 1Sept. 2008.

 

Komarnitsky, S.J. "Wasilla Keeps Librarian, But Police Chief Is Out." 1 February 1997. The Anchorage Daily News, 8 Sept. 2008.

 

Stuart, Paul. "FROM THE ARCHIVE: Palin: Library Censorship Inquiries 'Rhetorical'." 18 December 1996. Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, 8 Sept. 2008.

 

White, Rindi. "Palin Asked City Librarian Whether She'd Ban Books." 7 September 2008. The Chicago Tribune, 8 Sept. 2008.

 

© 2008

[Rex Kickass]

A Timeline:

 

August 31

 

Maj. Gen. Craig Campbell, adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard, considers Palin "extremely responsive and smart" and says she is in charge when it comes to in-state services, such as emergencies and natural disasters where the National Guard is the first responder.

 

But, in an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday, he said he and Palin play no role in national defense activities, even when they involve the Alaska National Guard. The entire operation is under federal control, and the governor is not briefed on situations.

 

September 3

 

And while the Alaska National Guard operates a launch site for a US anti-missile system at Fort Greely, about 100 miles south of Fairbanks, the Alaskan governor is not in the site's chain of command and has no authority over its operations, according to Maj. Gen. Craig E. Campbell, the adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard who commands the roughly 3,800 state militia members.

 

"Our National Guard is basically just like any National Guard," said Maj. Gen. Craig E. Campbell, the adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard who commands the roughly 3,800 state militia members. Campbell, a native of Springfield, Mass., said by telephone. "You could call [Adjutant General] Joe Carter in Massachusetts and he would say he is organized the same way."

 

September 5

 

I'll tell you, in the last few days, I've been watching the press, and I've not been very pleased with what I've been seeing about the chastising of the National Guard by having it diminished by the insinuation that a commander-in-chief of the National Guard doesn't really control the military. The National Guard has 500,000 people in it around this great country, serving in states and overseas. National Guards are state military forces run by governors, and Sarah Palin does it great.

 

September 8

 

Before a formation of Alaska Air and Army National Guard members, the Alaska National Guard's top leader was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General yesterday in front of the Guard's headquarters building on Fort Richardson .

 

Lt. Gen. ( Alaska ) Craig E. Campbell, the adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard and commissioner of the Department of Military & Veterans Affairs, received his third star, signifying Governor Sarah Palin's support of the Guard and her commitment to reinforcing the cooperation between federal and state military assets.

 

Hmmm... August 31, Campbell says Palin has little control. September 3, Campbell says Palin has little control. September 5, Campbell says Palin has lots of control. September 8, Campbell gets promoted.

 

I guess Palin does have control, after all.

[Cknolls]

Palin Billed State for Nights Spent at Home

 

 

How much of what she billed was for lodging?

[whitesoxfan101]

I'd just like to note that after 29 pages in this thread it would be very difficult to find a whole lot of substantive reasoning for Palin being a good selection other then political reasons to win on November 4th.

 

EDIT: What happened to "Country First"?

 

I can't argue with the bold, but political reasons are the only thing that candidates in either party care about. And in terms of that, Palin (along with the convention) has given McCain a significant boost in the polls.

[EvilMonkey]

I'd just like to note that after 290 pages in this forum it would be very difficult to find a whole lot of substantive reasoning for Obama being a good selection other then political reasons to win on November 4th.

 

EDIT: What happened to "Country First"?

Fixed that for ya.

[BigSqwert]

Fixed that for ya.

I see you also have no faith in Palin.

[mreye]

This has been pretty funny, that's for sure.

[CanOfCorn]

It sure does. My husband is NEVER off the clock as he gets phone calls at ALL hours of the night and answers emails until midnite many nights. However he gets paid a salary and that salary covers the nature of the beast and if that beast rings the phone at 10pm, he answers it, WITHOUT logging and charging the call to the company.

 

Steff...a lot has to do with company policy and/or the job someone does. In every job I've had they always ask, are you ok with overtime and weekends? Why, because that's the nature of the beast. If I want to do it, that's part and parcel of the job. YET, if I travel for the company, like SS2K5, as soon as I walk out my door, I'm on the clock. Also, if I'm done with my day, and I'm called back in or called for another reason, even if I didn't have to go in, it gets charged. Because, I was done for the day.

 

We can't just throw everyone into a barrel and say, that's the way it is or that's not the way it is.

[BigSqwert]

Steff...a lot has to do with company policy and/or the job someone does. In every job I've had they always ask, are you ok with overtime and weekends? Why, because that's the nature of the beast. If I want to do it, that's part and parcel of the job. YET, if I travel for the company, like SS2K5, as soon as I walk out my door, I'm on the clock. Also, if I'm done with my day, and I'm called back in or called for another reason, even if I didn't have to go in, it gets charged. Because, I was done for the day.

 

We can't just throw everyone into a barrel and say, that's the way it is or that's not the way it is.

But how many places reimburse you for eating and sleeping in your own home?

[DABearSoX]

"No questions, please; Palin sticks to her script"

 

But none of the candidates in this race has been so shielded from the media, so protected from any spontaneous situation, and Palin's unvarying remarks give the impression that she and her message are being tightly controlled. As before her convention speech, McCain's campaign is briefing Palin for her first TV interview.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080909/ap_on_...r8hk9SpIQob.3QA

 

god, her being 2nd in line for the white house makes me sick...I cannot wait until the vice presidential debates as well as the presidential ones...

Edited September 9, 2008 by DABearSoX

[clyons]

When I pull back into my driveway I can still be on the clock. It depends on what you do for a living and what your companies policies are. In a lot of telecommuting jobs or people who have to support a home office, the lines between the home and work blur a bit. It requires personal restraint and knowing what is truly you being on the clock. My home office is a full extension of my work office. My work phone moves over to my work phone in my office when I log in at home. My internet is 100% expensed every month. I have expensed some meals at home. Yes its my house, but when you get impacted on your weekend for an unexpected critical issue that takes up 36 hours of your time, I think a 10 dollar meal is more than palatable to ask.

 

I'll try again. I work from home often too, and I charge clients for services I perform wherever I perform them: office, home, hotel, airplane, etc., "On the clock" is "on the clock," I get that. But when I'm home, I have to eat and I have to pay for the food I'm going to eat there anyway. I can't expect my clients to specifically reimburse me for for my dinners (or the gas and electricity I used to cook it, or the mortgage I pay to have the kitchen to cook that dinner in) just because I swap the sports page for their files, before, during, or after my meal. We're not talking about reimbursement for the internet or other work related "equipment" here; were talking per diem expenses for food and shelter, i.e., basic room and board. If your company allows this, consider yourself fortunate; in my experience your employer is extremely generous. But a good auditor would almost certainly urge them to "reform" that practice.

[longshot7]

Palin doesn't need to be swiftboated - she's a total disaster with just reprinting the truth about her record.

 

She's not a fiscal conservative (spending, earmarks, lobbyists, etc.)

 

She's lied on the stump repeatedly (the bridge, plane, chef, etc.)

 

She believes the Iraq War was sanctioned by God.

 

She's against abortion even in the cases of rape & incest.

 

She supports corrupt GOP Senator Ted Stevens.

 

Troopergate is real.

 

 

There's no media bias here - someone who is this bad at her job after only a year and a half is not a good choice for VP. The choice is clear.

[DrunkBomber]

I take it you don't remember the stink over Nancy Pelosi doing the samething with her family?

Or Blagojevich taking charter jets to Springfield every day because he didnt want to stay in the governers mansion.