Pay(lin) to Play

By GottaLaff

In this economy, Barbie McLipSchmutz expects to rake in nearly $350 a head to endure her verbal runoff? Who knew unemployed Facebook bloggers could get away with charging more than the price of an iPhone? At $.00000349, she still wouldn't be giving them their money's worth.

Yes, EveryAmerican U.S.A. has to cough up that much cash for a glimpse of Stupidity Walking. Nice. Way to be inclusive, Barbie:

It will cost you $349 to hear Sarah Palin give the keynote address at the National Tea Party Convention in February.

I guess this is the new face of American wealth:

Key Reason Palin Gave For Quitting May Be False

By GottaLaff

Far be it from me to call Sarah Palin a liar.

I kid. It's not far or be it or from me at all. I call her a liar on a regular basis. See, Miss Personality Disorder? See how I did that? See how easy it is to tell the truth?

One of the chief reasons Sarah Palin has given for resigning as Governor of Alaska is that her state’s taxpayers are being forced to spend money defending her government against ethics complaints that would otherwise fund teachers, cops, and road repair.

But in response to our questions, a spokesperson for the Alaska governor’s office just gave us new information that casts serious doubt on this assertion.

Wuh-oh.

She said that money being spent on government lawyers to defend against these “frivolous ethics violations” could be “going to things that are very important, like troopers and roads and teachers and fish research.” [...]

But David Murrow, a spokesperson for the Governor, said in an interview that much of this money was budgeted to the lawyers in advance and would have gone to them anyway, even if state lawyers hadn’t been defending against these ethics complaints.

Oops.

[...] The money would have gone to the lawyers no matter what they were doing. The complaints are “just distracting them from other duties,” Murrow said. [...]

In other words, while these lawyers might have been free to do other legal work for the state, the ethics complaints have apparently not had the real world impact Palin has claimed, and didn’t drain money away from cops, teachers, roads and other things.

Sarah Palin invents on a daily basis. And lookee here, per Lawrence O' Donnell just now on MSNBC's Hardball:

"The media invented Sarah Palin."

So many inventors, yet so little product.

UPDATE: Seems taxpayers funded Mark Sanford's Argentinian trysts

By GottaLaff

UPDATE: Here is the Politico piece I referenced below.

Earlier, I posted that Politico was going to report on this, but this is from a different source:

Gov. Mark Sanford ranks in the top 50 [travel spenders] based on the total amount he spent on trips paid by his office and those paid by the state Commerce Department. Mr. Sanford has traveled to China, Argentina and Brazil through the Commerce Department, which has travel reports showing taxpayers covering $21,488 for those trips.

Mr. Sanford also spent $1,976 in travel through his office.

The Commerce-paid trips benefit the state, Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer said. For instance, in October, FITESA, a Brazilian fabrics maker, announced it would spend $120 million on a Laurens County facility and create 80 jobs.

Benefit the state? Talk about, er, blowing taxpayer money. Seems Sanford's little stimulus package wasn't turned down after all.

H/t

AP: IWRC* Palin Charged Taxpayers $13k to Attend Her Church

By GottaLaff

Here is the previous problem Palin had with bilking taxpayers for staying at her home.

Merge church and state much, IWRC* Palin? Via turneresq at DKos:

The camera closes in on Sarah Palin speaking to young missionaries, vowing from the pulpit to do her part to implement God's will from the governor's office.

What she didn't tell worshippers gathered at the Wasilla Assembly of God church in her hometown was that her appearance that day came courtesy of Alaskan taxpayers, who picked up the $639.50 tab for her airplane tickets and per diem fees.

An Associated Press review of the Republican vice presidential candidate's record as mayor and governor reveals her use of elected office to promote religious causes, sometimes at taxpayer expense and in ways that blur the line between church and state.

Since she took state office in late 2006, the governor and her family have spent more than $13,000 in taxpayer funds to attend at least 10 religious events and meetings with Christian pastors, including Franklin Graham, the son of evangelical preacher Billy Graham, records show.

Welcome to the world of Ms. Toast.

*"In What Respect, Charlie?"