Sarah Palin is no spendthrift

Do you remember the uproar about the $400 haircuts former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards received in 2007? I sure do, and that’s why news that the Republican National Committee has spent more than $150,000 on clothing and accessories for Gov. Sarah Palin

The Republican National Committee has spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August.

According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.

The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September.

The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in August.

The cash expenditures immediately raised questions among campaign finance experts about their legality under the Federal Election Commission’s long-standing advisory opinions on using campaign cash to purchase items for personal use.

Gov. Palin has tried to contends she represents America’s middle class, given her background, but as a member of the American middle class, I’d like to know how spending $150,000 on clothing and accessories in six weeks makes her representative of the American middle class. Heck, $150,000 is more than I’d make working full time for three years, and spending that kind of money on clothes and accessories doesn’t strike me as being representative of the middle class.

Now since I’m writing about Gov. Palin spending profligate amounts of money, I suppose I should mention the $21,000 Gov. Palin billed the taxpayers of Alaska for travel for her kids:

Gov. Sarah Palin charged the state for her children to travel with her, including to events where they were not invited, and later amended expense reports to specify that they were on official business.
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has charged the state $21,012 for her three daughters’ plane flights.

The charges included costs for hotel and commercial flights for three daughters to join Palin to watch their father in a snowmobile race, and a trip to New York, where the governor attended a five-hour conference and stayed with 17-year-old Bristol for five days and four nights in a luxury hotel.

In all, Palin has charged the state $21,012 for her three daughters’ 64 one-way and 12 round-trip commercial flights since she took office in December 2006. She also has charged the state for hotel rooms for the girls.

What’s more, Gov. Palin ordered changes to previously filed expense reports for her daughters’ travel only after after Alaska reporters asked for the records. Covering up some expense report shenanigans…that’s “mavericky!”