Wednesday, July 22, 2009

More Palin Ethics Stupidity

I don't want to become an All Palin, All the Time blog -- I've noticed that many of my recent posts involved her.... But I read this article concerning the ethics complaint filed against Sarah Palin's legal defense fund to help pay for all the (again, she's been cleared of every one of them) legal fees pertaining to these frivolous, harassing, antagonistic ethics charges being filed against her by her political enemies. And I had to comment.

Palin has incurred more than $500,000 in legal bills, one of the reasons she listed for her abrupt resignation earlier this month before the end of her first term as governor.

Thomas Daniel, an investigator for the state personnel board, wrote the July 14 report, details of which were reported by The Associated Press on Tuesday evening. Palin established the fund a few months ago. An ethics complaint was then quickly filed about whether the governor was allowed to establish a legal defense fund.

In the report, Daniel asserts that Palin had an unfair fundraising advantage over ordinary citizens because she was a public official and her fund was raising money by trading on her status as governor by soliciting donations and contributions. He determined these donations could be considered improper gifts under Alaska law and recommended that Palin refuse to accept payments for the fund.

Instead, the report suggested that Palin seek reimbursement from the state for the cost of ethics complaints that have been dismissed.
It has nothing to do with her being governor, and everything to do with the assault on her character by her political enemies - due to her role in the recent Presidential election. Nobody's donated to the fund because she's the governor of Alaska. That charge is absurd on its face. Besides, if it were not for her high profile, she wouldn't be subject to this legal and, and effectively financial ... harassment.

This is about weaking the will of the citizen politician of lesser means than the normal political class. This is something we should not tolerate.

Why should the taxpayers be forced to pay the fees, when plenty of people are willing to donate volutarily to defray her costs? Which do you think is more ethical?

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