Legal Commentary

I See A Pattern

By Professor University of Miami School of Law

The GOP stopped being the party careful with public money no later than when they started being the party that told itself government is funamentally illegitimate.

• Boston Globe, Alaska paid for Palin daughters to travel,

  “Governor Sarah Palin charged the state for her children to travel with her, including to events where they were not invited, and she later amended expense reports to specify that they were on official business.

• Politico, RNC shells out $150K for Palin fashion,

  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.

If government is illegitimate, if taxes are theft (rather than the price of civilization), why not milk it for all you can get?

That said, Palin is a piker. She should get lessons in how to steal billions from Cheney.

But of course, it’s the party elite, not the rank and file, who get the cash. Which is why we read stuff like Republicans Disgusted By RNC Spending On Palin. Tin-eared GOP spokesperson Tracey Schmitt didn’t help matters with the implausible claim that, “It was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign.” Which makes Palin sound even more like Marie Antoinette.

Full post as published by Discourse.net on October 22, 2008 (boomark / email).