Under federal election law, political action committees can give candidates up to $5,000 per election if they meet certain conditions, including having at least 51 donors and contributing to at least five candidates. For other political action committees, lower limits of $2,400 an election apply. SarahPAC's official multi-candidate designation is in process, so it shouldn't have given $5,000, Crawford acknowledged.
"We jumped the gun," he said.
Translation: "Oops you caught us! Well it was not our fault of course, we were simply overly anxious to pay the hush money to Mccain and to bribe Murkowski not to point out how stupid Sarah's Facebook messages are to the public. Not that the bitch listened to us."
Crawford said SarahPAC uses election software, similar to TurboTax for income taxes, that walks aides through required disclosures. When they filed the mid-year report to the FEC, no violations were noted, so they thought they had done it correctly.
A PAC that brings in this kind of money is too cheap to hire an accountant? Damn! With supporters like these Sarah does not need any enemies.
The FEC wants more information about:
• The work people are being paid to do. The SarahPAC disclosure report used terms including "administrative" and "consulting." Crawford said the FEC wants just another word of explanation, such as clerical, or fundraising.
• Travel. If more than $500 was spent on a trip, payments need to be itemized. Meghan Stapleton, SarahPAC spokeswoman, said travel invoices didn't come in until after the report was filed.
• Fundraising expenses. The FEC wants to know whether the fundraising expenses listed in the report were for specific federal candidates. Crawford said the fundraising was strictly for SarahPAC.
SarahPAC collected nearly $733,000 in donations the first half of 2009 and spent about $276,000, according to the 265-page report.
I still cannot get over how little this PAC was able to collect. If this is all that Palin can attract for her very own PAC how does anybody believe she can be a fundraising tool for other GOP candidates?
And this was BEFORE she became a national laughingstock.
For all they talk about her fund-raising potential, this is a poor showing indeed. Her potential rival Bobby Jindal has collected millions simply for his reelection for governor campaign (still years away) and he doesn't have his "donate here" buttons splashed all over the internet.
ReplyDeleteanother epic fail. And the $700K is jack shit compared to mittens millions...
ReplyDeleteWhat is up with her? She is totally MIA.
I am so tired of the "We are green and just didn't know excuse"!
ReplyDeleteThey know, as many times as they have been called on the carpet for other violations at this point there is no excuse not to fine or punish legally in my opinion.
PS I also wonder how many unopened envelopes are sitting in a desk drawer so they don't have to be claimed? Hmmmmmm We just didn't know we had to open those right away.
Hi Meg/Ivey et al,
ReplyDeleteI know you read this blog. Keep up the good work. You 2 twits will be a huge part of the reason the quitbull will NEVER hold any elected office ever again.
Of course the speed of the leader is the speed of the pack. You understand that, right?
Thanks so much,
sjk from the belly of the plane
Has Sarah left for the comet? Maybe she was kidnapped by Phillip Garrido?
ReplyDeleteWe don't need a pitbull... we need a bloodhound to find her.
Sarah will be a failure at bringing in "big donations" for the GOP (or herself). Most of her devoted followers are uneducated and in the lower economic class...
Her beg-a-thon results are anemic.
I love your translation of "official" versions of events! You have a knack for getting to the real reasons behind statements crafted for public consumption.
ReplyDeleteThe rules regarding PACs are not that difficult. They just didn't try to find out what the rules are. It's easy to pick up the phone and talk to an attorney about FEC regulations.
I think the lack of effort made to comply with the law is a reflection of the lack of ethics of all involved.
Anon at 6:57 - IMHO, she can stay hidden away as long as she wants to. I'd much rather she be living on a remote private island than anywhere close to public office or public opinion.
ReplyDelete"the Creator has given me the ability to speak in the tongue of angels in order to provide a wake-up call that will in time include the salvation of the entire world."
ReplyDeleteWhen will Sarah quote Phillip Garrido in her twitter? I bet Phillip was a huge supporter of Sarah.
Many of Sarah's drone followers think this quote applies to her.
Sarah you can't raise money while hiding.
When the palinistas contributed to Scarah's pac, did they have any idea that thousands of their dollars would be given to McCain and Murkowski?
ReplyDeleteI doubt it - they are NOT fans of Mac and Murk at all! They slam Mac for "not letting sarah be sarah" and they slam Murk for criticizing the Queen (even as Murkowski has bit her tongue for the most part). SUCKAHS!
Quittypants, Quittypants,
ReplyDeleteHide your head.
There's no way
To fool "the feds."
Try Montana.
Try SD, CA.
Quittypants, Quittypants,
SarahPAC won't pay.
Sarah is bucking for Glenn Beck's space - don'tcha know? If you think GB is bad, just wait until they give SP 2 HOURS to sit and stare at a red light (altho in my opinion, that one has seen MORE than her share of red lights).
ReplyDeleteI'm happy she's away. Perhaps she has beamed back up to Planet Klatu?
It's that special blend of coruption and incompetence, corompetence.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I never thought she would be a good fundraiser to begin with. Other than not knowing how to form a sentence, what the hell would she talk about? Her hatred for President Obama or Death Panels? Her intellect is so limited. That is probably another reason why some repukes are distancing themselves from her. After her big dramatic coming out (reading hate from a teleprompter) what kind of intelligent conversation can she have? She doesn't know crap about how the government is even run, never mind any kind of ideas running it. She probably can't even talk up her family, they're only props and background scenery for her.
ReplyDeleteSee? What comes around, goes around. Now it's Sarah's turn.
Why would you want anyone this incompetent running anything? Not the nation. Not a state. Not even a major city.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I'd even want someone this incompetent on my school board. They handle budgets too.
For those thinking incompetent or stupid or just plain lying, I say....why not all three?
When ethics complaints or lawsuits stay in the State of Alaska, that is one thing - but once the IRS or (in this case) the FEC gets involved, it is ICEBERG time, baby!
ReplyDelete"A million of these [correction letters] go out every month," Crawford said. "They send out a lot of them. Another idiotic statement from Sarah's, pheromonal followers.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that contributed to Obama's win was the successful way he put together an efficient team and a well run campaign. If Sarah's PAC is an example of how she puts things together, exhibits leadership and inspires people to work together as an efficient team, she has already flunked the test.
ReplyDeleteCan't remember which columnist (Kathleen Parker, I think) described how disfunctional Sarah's PAC really was; they couldn't even put together an office team or pick a location from which to operate.
It is really a pity that Sarah inspires continuing coverage in MSM. For that matter, it is ridiculous that everytime another crazy remark comes from Michele Bachman or any other loon, that gets covered, too. This is a pretty sorry bunch of people.
Ya know, she needs to pull up her big girl pants and 1. stop making excuses 2. stop making excuses and lying.
ReplyDeleteHow many times can she use the excuse, 'I didn't know before she is outed as either 1.a incompetent fool or 2.an unethical fool?
She is in the big leagues. She will not have her handpicked ethics committee to hide her funny quirky way of doing things. Well, her lack of communication and her inability to hire competent people to manage all that money given to her by others, cannot be blamed on the bloggers.
What will it take for people to see the real sarah???
You know, it takes skill and brains to "fix" those darn reports to make them look legal and we all know that Sarah and Meg lack both.
ReplyDeleteIf they've already spent about 39% of the monies begged, Sarah will have to definitely start showing up to those events that she didn't know about.
I wonder at what point are the Feds going to get tired of SarahPac's excuses?
We need a "Where's Sarah?" thread. No appearances, no video, no audio, just fake Facebook posts.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous @7:46 Thanks for the info. Just in case they visit, I offer.......
ReplyDelete-And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
-And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
-Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
-And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans?
-And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
Acts 2:4-8
-Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
-And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
-And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
-But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
-For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge, by the same Spirit;
-To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
-To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
-But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
-For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
-For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
-For the body is not one member, but many.
I Corinthians 12:4-14
-But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.
I Corinthians 12:18
-How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done by edifying.
I Corinthians 14:26
-For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
I Corinthians 14:33
-After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
Revelation 7:9
----
Gryphen, folks tend to twist words for confusion. No one group should exalt themselves over another. God always looks at the heart.
I don't know why we would be surprised. I have to say I have never seen such a kindergarten level form of anything/everything she is associated with. I agree that she has NPD but I am telling you that she has never grown up mentally passed the age of jr. high. If I were her I would move to an Island, change my name & haircolor and hope to god no one recognized me:)
ReplyDeleteFederal Elections laws are not that complicated. Couple of points of interest:
ReplyDelete1) Campaign Solutions provided the software for SarahPAC at an astounding cost of $106,000, however in April of this year CS & SP's PAC ended their business agreement, although there are itemized expenses as late as June.
1a) Of thousands of customer's Campaign Solutions has had very little complaints about their OS. SarahPAC is the 1st to report issue with the software, big surprise.
2) She raised $733K in 6Mos, but has only donated $10K to 2 GOP folks (and donated in error as per PAC rulings/filing)
3) Poor Meg Stapleton only got $8K for 6mos of service, boy she is a cheap considering how much editing and writing she does for Sarah. If I was Meg I would be PISSED - considering the following expenditures:
Treasure Tim Crawford $36,000
National Spokes Person, Pamela Pryor $30,000
Special Note to Gryphen - since I am located in the DC area and have zero contacts in AK, here is a hat toss to you. SarahPAC has paid $32,450 to IzzyLene Consulting in Anchorage since March, even by DC standards that's a HUGE # for 3mos work.
QUITBULL. . . Bwaahaha. That is funny. Ivy, admit it! That is funny! You squirted green hateorade out of your nose when you read this! I KNOW YOU DID! ROTFLMAO
ReplyDeleteGryphen: check out Regina at Palingates' latest post.
ReplyDeleteAdding to my post @ 11:33AM.
ReplyDeleteI did some digging and found Campaign Solutions is part of the Donatelli Group. When I drilled down further - Campaign Solutions has the widely popular eDONATIONS.com domain and the reporting period is the same time SP's PAC paid for services.
A brief list of "clients" for either Donatelli Group and/or Campaign Solutions include:
RNC (yes the RNC)
RNCC
Katherine Harris (yes the same FL Harris of Bush Gore election fame)
Citizens United
David Horowitz Freedom Center
Jihad Watch
American Red Cross
The year is 2012. Sarah is apologizing for having just nuked Europe. "I didn't know that red button would nuke them. I thought it was the button I press when I want someone to bring me a latte."
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 11:33,
ReplyDeleteIzzy Lene is Meg Stapleton's consulting firm and I addressed questions of those pay outs a while back. You can read it here: http://tinyurl.com/mdnth3
Anonymous @ 11:33 - Meg Stapleton IS IzzyLene Consulting!
ReplyDeleteHow exactly do you make a contribution then months later when its found to be illegal you just say Oops,my bad,just change all the information and divide up the money so we can get away with it? Is that legal?
ReplyDeletePlease do not miss a bigger issue that few seem to notice !
ReplyDelete$733,000 collected, $10,000 contributed, $276,000 spent (including the $10,000 contributions.)
Ok, WHAT was $266,000 spent on ? Administrative and travel doesn't cover it !
Also, what is the remaining money (approx 450,000) to be used for now that she is no longer governor?
I dont know how her new civilizan status affects a PAC--is it legal for private citizens who are not running for office themselves to form a PAC?
If so, is there any requirement that a certain percentage of the money be used to help others campaign, or oneself? IF NOT, it looks like a tremendous percentage has gone to "salaries" even with travel and contributions. AND, that an very large percentage is not being used ( that we know of) so that raises the question of WHY the PAC needs to exist any longer.
I dont know what the law is concerning PACs so if you do, please post.
Arlen Specter told this great joke the other night. Guiliani, McCain and Palin were sitting around discussing the 2012 election.
ReplyDeleteGuiliani said, "I had a dream last night and God told me I would be the Republican candidate for President."
McCain said,"Funny, I had a dream last night and God told me I would be the Republican candidate for President and he told me I would win the Presidency."
Palin said, "I had a dream last night and I don't remember talking to either of you."
Let's not forget:
ReplyDeleteIn everything, there is a RIGHT way, a WRONG way...then there's PALIN's way.
She simply does things by her own set of rules-the ones she creates in her alternate universe!
drumroll.......IzzyLene?
ReplyDeleteI dunno. I think he could lose a few.
This the gang that couldnt shoot straight in spades...
Crawford said SarahPAC uses election software, similar to TurboTax for income taxes, that walks aides through required disclosures. When they filed the mid-year report to the FEC, no violations were noted, so they thought they had done it correctly.
ReplyDelete******************
So they thought they were buying immunity software? By the time they were filing the report, the contributions were already, allegedly made, so in essence, they were saying if the sofware would have detected something illegal, then they would have changed and fudged the report until they could get something legal through the software!
Did Murkowski & McCaim report getting a mathching amount from SarahPac?
"In everything, there is a RIGHT way, a WRONG way...then there's PALIN's way."
ReplyDeleteAnd I think it's time that the Palin way is starting to catch up with her.
Software?
ReplyDeleteThat's what they call that "drivel" between Sarah's ears?
Check out this Pali article in the Buffalo Beast:
ReplyDeletehttp://buffalobeast.com/138/MedicalExperts.htm
Eric & Meg Stapleton-Steenburgh's daughter = Isabella
ReplyDeleteMeg Stapleton's mother = Helene Stapleton
=
Izzy Lene
Isn't that the same excuse she used when they screwed up the Permanent Fund checks?
ReplyDeleteYou just can't make this stuff up.
ReplyDeleteevery one should read this:
"Anonymous said...
Check out this Pali article in the Buffalo Beast:
http://buffalobeast.com/138/MedicalExperts.htm"
It is funny as hell.
So based on the breakdown I did, just in "Fundraising" and "Consulting", Sarahpac paid out $183,594.38
ReplyDeleteSo out of the total expenditures, which is $276,200.94, that leaves an additional $96,606.56 which was paid out for Administration, Donations, Internet, Legal Fee's, Travel for several people, Printing/stationary/postage, & storage.
Timothy Crawford is getting a good deal of money not only for "administration" purposes, but he was also paid for the "stationary,printing&postage", along with hotel arrangements, and he is the "treasurer" of this PAC.
I wonder what exactly the "Fundraising" expenses were for? I seem to recall the Palin worshipers whooping it up over the total donation numbers because they claimed Palin had done no "fundraising" at all, so that proved she was a force to be reckoned with, but it seems to me that she spent a lot of money on "fundraising" for someone who wasn't doing any of it. I mean nearly one third of all her expenses went for "Fundraising", so what was that money spent on if she did no fundraising?
It should also be taken into account that for a while the PAC was not accepting donations, but were directing them to the "Legal Fund", so what gives?
EOY
Well I posted the breakdown before my last post, but something must have happened to it. We'll try it again so you can see how the expenses are actually paid out and for what.
ReplyDeleteComplete Breakdown of SarahPAC Expenses:
Fundraising Expenses:
EDONATION.COM/Campaign Solutions: $106,519.38
First payment made:
last payment made:
Consulting Expenses:
Consulting/Pam Pryor: $30,000.00
First payment made: 02/03/2009
last payment made: 05/28/2009
Glebe Inc. 03/03/2009 $6325.00
(consulting and expenses)
Consulting/Meghan Stapleton: $8,000.00
Izzylene/Meghan Stapleton: $32,450.00
First payment: 02/04/2009
Last payment: 06/03/2009
Legal Fees:
Baker & Hostetler: 04/17/2009 $ 3,000.00
Diane E Cooley: 05/10/2009 $ 4,060.00
Administration:
Ms. Anahita Nemat: 03/06/2009 $843.75
Ms. Anahita Nemat: 04/10/2009 $571.50
Ms. Anahita Nemat: 05/10/2009 $367.50
Ms. Anahita Nemat: 06/16/2009 $ 812.50
Total: $2595.25
Aristotle International: 03/09/2009 $6,000.00
Ms. Cheryl Buford: 03/30/2009 $418.75
Ms. Cheryl Buford: 04/10/2009 $181.25
Ms. Cheryl Buford: 06/03/2009 $150.00
Total: $750.00
Timothy Crawford: 03/30/2009 $6,000.00
Timothy Crawford: 04/06/2009 $6,000.00
Timothy Crawford: 04/29/2009 $6,000.00
Timothy Crawford: 05/28/2009 $6.000.00
Total: $24,000.00
Miscellaneous Expenses:
Mr. Eric Steenburgh/Stapleton husband: 02/04/2009 $4,683.00
(no reason given for this expense)
Airline tickets/Meg Stapleton: 06/03/2009 $2,491.20
Travel, Storage/Meg Stapleton: 05/22/2009 $4,000.00
Aristotle International (Accounting Software) 06/24/2009 $6,000.00
Alaska Communication Systems (Internet) 03/03/2009 $30.00
Alaska Communication Systems (Internet) 03/30/2009 $30.00
Alaska Communication Systems (Internet) 04/17/2009 $30.00
Alaska Communication Systems (Internet) 05/28/2009 $30.00
Timothy Crawford (Stationary, Printing, Postage) 04/06/2009 $3,783.26
Timothy Crawford (Hotel Indianapolis) 05/27/2009 $ 657.40
Seward House (In-kind to Charity/Airline Travel) 05/28/2009 $8167.80
Lisa Murkowski for US Senate ( Campaign Contribution) 06/07/2009 $5,000.00
Friends of John McCain (2010 Primary) 06/23/2009 $5,000.00
EOY
SarahPAC collected nearly $733,000 in donations the first half of 2009 and spent about $276,00.
ReplyDelete--------------------------------------------
She cant fundraise. she is a political cardboard cutout.