Governor Palin charged my state for a $60 phone call to FOX News. How did that benefit the state of Alaska again?

The Governor, for instance, charged the state of Alaska a $60 per diem expense for an appearance on Fox News on November 9, 2008. A few weeks later, she billed taxpayers another $60 for a "phone call with Sen. Elizabeth Dole." (Dole had lost her reelection bid weeks earlier). On the 26th of November, Palin again turned in a $60 meal/incidental expense per diem report for "Phone call with Gov. Rendell, interview."

Here is the November report, and here is the December report.

Taken as a whole, these expenses constitute a drop in the bucket compared to the thousands of dollars Palin charged for the work she did while living at her personal home. They also seem to fall within the legal confines of appropriate per diem billing (though Alaska taxpayers may take umbrage with that). On a broader lever, the expenditures offer a fascinating window into how Palin -- thrust into the national spotlight -- balanced her work as governor with growing media attention.

There are, for instance, interviews conducted on the same day in November with "Entertainment Tonight" and the New York Times, and, a week later, The Weekly Standard and "Larry King Live." A few days after speaking with Rendell, she filed a $60 per diem expense for a photo session with "UAA Men's & Women's teams" -- likely University of Alaska Anchorage's basketball squads. In mid-December, meanwhile, she met with Alaska Senator-elect Mark Begich, followed by an interview with Human Events (for which she filed a per diem expense of $60). On the next day came a phone call with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for what was, ostensibly, a federal matter that pertained to Alaska.

$60 dollars for a long distance phone call? How long did Sarah Palin have to talk to come up with that number? And how come it seems that every single call she makes costs the State of Alaska sixty dollars? Could it be because that is the most that she can ask for? You betcha.

Which I guess also explains how she came up with the $60 dollar per diem for a "photo session with UAA Men's & Women's teams". Did she do this telephonically as well? Or is that her going rate to be photographed these days. (Is that how much she charged People magazine?)

This whole thing stinks like a trunk full of dead salmon. (I made that part all Alaskan-y for my out of state visitors.)

Essentially this woman is treating her job like a bottomless credit card that she can use to pay for any little thing that strikes her fancy or furthers her national political aspirations.

I am very interested to see the expense reports for January, just for the opportunity to see how much of the costs this "SarahPAC" of hers is picking up in order to keep this shallow woman living in the lifestyle in which she has recently grown accustomed to living.

Speaking for the Alaskans that I know, we are absolutely over this goddamn woman and cannot wait until she is voted, impeached, or thrown the hell out.