Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for September 12, 2008 BIRDS OF A FEATHER

OUCH!

If John McCain's campaign has been upset about Sarah Palin "smears", what is it going to say about Sarah being compared to the much-maligned Governor of Illinois???

While we are waiting for their response, it gives us time to contemplate Sarah's latest remarks concerning her expertise on Russia..."they're our next-door neighbors, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska ... from an island in Alaska." And when asked if the United States should/would go to war with Russia if it again invaded Georgia..."Perhaps so." Along with frequent assertions of "I'm ready" and "You can't blink", it gives one a lot to contemplate...and an urge to pray!!!

Once upon a time, I actually admired John McCain...thought maybe I could vote for him.

Talk about change!

Blagojevich, Palin birds of a feather when it comes to travel, experts say

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SPRINGFIELD — A governor who spends a lot of time away from the Capitol, whose family travels at state expense, who is criticized for not showing up at crucial legislative moments — the scrutiny of the travel and work habits of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin sounds familiar in Illinois, where Gov. Rod Blagojevich has faced similar criticism.

Both the Republican candidate for vice president and Blagojevich, a Democrat, continued living in their homes outside the capital city after being elected to lead their states. And with reports that Palin took expense reimbursements while living at home and flies family members at state expense to events, both have been questioned about how and where they work.

As with Blagojevich, at least one tax expert says Palin's travel reimbursements raise questions about whether the Internal Revenue Service would consider some of them taxable fringe benefits.

Blagojevich lives in Chicago, 300 miles from the capital of Springfield, and lawmakers have repeatedly criticized him for not spending enough time here, gathering support for his agenda.

Palin, chosen by GOP presidential nominee John McCain in part for her reputation as a reform governor, stayed in her home in Wasilla, just north of Anchorage and 600 miles from the capital in Juneau.

She called the Alaska Legislature into special session recently, but didn't show up, prompting someone at the Capitol to make buttons that read, "Where's Sarah?"

Spokeswoman Sharon Leighow said Palin is in Juneau when she needs to be.

"Her job as governor of Alaska takes her all across the state," Leighow said. "She travels quite extensively."

So does her family. Newspaper investigations have found the state regularly flies Palin's husband and children to events around Alaska and elsewhere, either on a state-owned turboprop plane or commercial flights.

Palin's husband and children have charged the state $43,490 to travel since she was elected in 2006.

And the governor has received nearly $17,000 in daily expense reimbursements for 312 nights she spent at home in Wasilla. That's appropriate because her headquarters is Juneau and she was "traveling" outside of the capital and working in her Anchorage office near her home, Leighow said.

Blagojevich has been known to take daily round trips between Springfield and Chicago, working in the Capitol and returning home that night. Aides have said Blagojevich's headquarters is in Chicago, not the capital, so any trip to or from the Windy City is a legitimate business flight, even if he conducts no business while there.

But during an Associated Press analysis of nearly 1,000 state flights last fall, tax experts said that the IRS likely would consider Springfield Blagojevich's headquarters, so if the state pays for him to fly to Chicago and he does no work there, that's a taxable fringe benefit.

Blagojevich also has flown his two daughters on state aircraft to events that experts said the IRS likely would consider not business-related and therefore taxable income to their father.

That could be the case for Palin as well, said Bob Kamman, a Phoenix tax attorney whose past work for the IRS included preparing tax returns for U.S. senators.

On one trip to New York, Bristol Palin accompanied her mother because she was invited, officials said. But she was not on business and performed no work for Alaskans, Kamman said.

"Her expenses are taxable compensation to her mother, no matter how much lipstick is used to make it look like something else," Kamman said with a reference to lipstick comments that have roiled the presidential campaigns this week.

The per diem Palin received while in Wasilla could be taxable, too, Kamman said, if the IRS determined she was staying at home and working in her Anchorage office for convenience, not necessity.

Leighow said Palin's travel is all official, and not subject to income taxes.

"I'm not aware of any taxable trips that she's taken," Leighow said, adding that even the Palin children could qualify for per diem, but the family has declined such payments of $4,461 through mid-summer.

Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero said he knew of no flights the Illinois governor has taken that would be taxable and that Blagojevich has not altered his travel arrangements since the analysis.

An IRS spokeswoman in Chicago said she could not comment on whether the agency is reviewing travel by either governor.