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Slush Fund?
SLUSH FUND?....Politico reports that the Republican National Committee has apparently spent $150,000 (so far!) to outfit Sarah Palin for the rigors of vice presidential campaigning. Her expenses included $5,000 on hair and makeup, $5,000 at Atelier for men's clothing (for Todd? Track? Levi?), and $140,000 on a series of shopping trips to Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Barney's, Bloomingdale's, and Macy's. Matt Yglesias comments:
I'm a little bit surprised to learn that expenditures of that sort are legal. They appear on the disclosure forms, so apparently they are, but this seems to open the door to candidates using party committee money as a personal slush fund.
This just goes to show how cynical our younger generation has become. I'm sure that after the campaign is over the RNC plans to donate the clothing to homeless shelters in small towns around the country where they don't have stores like Saks or Barney's. That's no slush fund. It's just people helping people.
You bettcha. Nothing makes ya prouder than standing in a soup kitchen line with a thousand other people wearing a suit from Barney's. Makes the soup taste better, too.
Leave it to liberals to not understand the importance of our candidates protecting us from terrorist attacks by looking good.
I thought the RNC might be selling certain used items on eBay so that they can recover their costs.
Unless I've been mis-informed, isn't she the Governor of Alaska? How did she get to be that, and not have suitable clothing?
I mean, if they had picked Elisa Doolittle for their VP candidate, having to buy her a bunch of clothes would make some sense.
Alternatively, couldn't Plain have just rummaged through Cindy's closets?
John McCain is so going to going to bust her ass for this on the campaign trail tomorrow!
What else is a maverick to do?
Kevin's sarcasm regulator seems to have popped. The dripping snark well is now a gusher.
McCain should demand his campaign manager and senior staff refund their salaries. I mean, how stupid can stupid get?
Wow.
That $5000 on hair and make-up puts John Edward's crappy little $400 hair cut to shame.
Sarah Palin does a heckuva job to stimulate the economy, and sadly, all Kevin can do is say pick and pick and pick.
Of course, this won't get 1/100th of the play in the MSM that they lavished on Edwards' haircut. Neither did the obscene amounts spent on McSame's makeup (which, arguably, raised substantive points about his age and health). It's better to be a Republican than the king when it comes to MSM coverage. And yes, the undeniably dishonorable campaign, and the documented serial lying, by McCain/Palin has resulted in less favorable coverage of McCain than he previously received, but obvious double standards are still applied. To take just one of dozens of possible examples--the Troopergate report has basically disappeared into the ozone. Imagine if a comparable report had concluded that Obama or Biden had abused thier public trust?
Who would have thought that lipstick (and more) for the pig would have cost that much.
But this isn't wasteful spending, it's investment. Sarah Palin is a historic figure. In another 10 years she will be an antique. All of this stuff will go up in value.
slush fund? slush fund? oh! I had to look that awful word up in the dictionary, and surely such a disgusting thing wouldn't be used by the RNC, a distinguished and selfless club in the business of funding statesmen and presenting the truth to rubes?
For some reason, this does not bother me. If we are going to be subjected to the mouthdrippings of that moron anyway, she might as well look good. I did laugh about the Eliza Doolittle comment. Does make you wonder what govs wear up in Alaska--Mukluks and housedresses? It certainly makes you think that the RNC was a little bit desperate to overcompensate (to bad there's no Neiman Marcus or fancy make-up that can cover up an ugly brain). It's okay with me if politicians, even political campaigns, spend lots of money on politicians' clothes and appearance. But let's hear no more about ANY Democrat's $400 haircut now that we've had GILFie Lumpenhead's $4000 haircut.
It was a signing bonus. And Ms. Palin was told she could preside over the Senate just to get her interested.
Matt just wishes he'd be gifted some red pumps and a red leather jacket. Meow!
I see a kind of pathetic, Stella Dallas movie scene, in which Palin, riding out of some big city in a taxi with Bristol, who by now is clearly feeling sorry for mom, tries to cheer her with this perky spin:
"Hey, kiddo! So it was a mad-cap carnival ride! No one really got hurt. I'll be okay! And, look, we got all these fun duds out of it, too, and, also, some great conditioner!"
It's that scene where someone is trying so hard to be optimistic in the face of heart break that I bawl everytime. Somehow, this time, I managed to type that without wetting the keyboard.
Gee, I wonder how long it will take the far right to attack John McCain and Sarah Palin for spending that kind of money. I mean, when Page Six falsely reported that Michelle Obama spent $400 on a fancy dinner they went crazy with faux outrage--I'm sure they will lose their mind over $150,000.
I'll just hold my breath and watch the clock until that outrage commences.
Do you think Atelier sells gold-plated condoms? An all-too-belated gift for the new son-in-law?
Kevin:
I do not write to defend Palin but rather to observe that this is the way of all politicians. I think close reading of disclosure forms will show that campaign money is used to purchase many personal items, to go to other candidates fund raisers, to attend golf outings and sporting events.
Lest we on the left laugh too loud remember our candidates spent money on new wardrobes, haircuts and other similar items.
Granted, we never claimed to be Joe Sixpack but this nonsense is truly bi-partisan
Maybe the NYPost will replace the bogus "Michelle Obama dines on $20K worth of Lobster, Iranian Caviar, and Krystal at Waldorf" story with this true one.
I've just run out of adjectives to describe the disgusting, dishonest nature of the McCain campaign.
Oh, Palin is just a regular gal from a small town.
Spreading the wealth around is communism.
We're the party of Joe the Fucking Plumber.
We hate elites - but we do love their stores!
I cannot wait for Nov 4 - what could be better than watching these cretins finally get their well-deserved desserts?
And good riddance to the odious Sarah Palin.
I expect Rich Lowry to demand that she campaign in the nude henceforth.
"I thought the RNC might be selling certain used items on eBay so that they can recover their costs."
Well I hate to be disgusting about it but I'll bet they could get $10,000 from Rich Lowry for a pair of her unmentionables.
$150,000. Wow. Wow.
Maybe abuses of power, failure to pay taxes, nepotism, graft, wacko religiosity, divisiveness and general idiocy fly below undecided Joe Six-Pack's and Hockey Mom's radar, but maybe they will pay attention to this.
On the other hand, Cindy McCain's golden robes at the RNC didn't cause any outrage, so maybe the only people who will be offended are those that are already offended.
You guys do not understand. You want to deprive poor Rich Lowry of his starburst moment by dressing Sarah in rags.
For the record, Mika Brzezinski thinks it's horribly unfair for people to pick on Sarah about a $150k wardrobe. So there.
Shoot, I forgot to mention that Mika said we have no idea how much Barack Obama pays for his suits.
See, if you're going to criticize the RNC for spending campaign funds on clothes for Sarah, you should also criticize Barack for spending his own money on clothes for himself. Because it's equivalent.
The sad thing is that it's no joke - now they really are going to donate $5000 jackets to charity
"With all of the important issues facing the country right now, it's remarkable that we're spending time talking about pantsuits and blouses. It was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign," said McCain-Palin spokesperson Tracey Schmitt.
http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/10/sarah-palins-150...
"the RNC plans to donate the clothing to homeless shelters in small towns around the country where they don't have stores like Saks or Barney's. That's no slush fund. It's just people helping people."
Nicely put. Another example of "spreading the clothes around." Or perhaps trickle-down fashion. Either way, genuinely humanitarian on their part.
Palin really understands America - from 5th Avenue all the way to "Real America" Main Street. You betcha.
Okay, I would bet good money that Sarah went shopping with Cindy McCain and her stylist. Aside from really high profile events (like the nomination acceptance and the debate) I just can't believe she didn't have suitable clothing, or that if she didn't, she could not have gotten by with much cheaper duds. When you are not being televised in real time and are speaking to a large crowd, no one can see those "details" that are the dog whistle to fashionistas like Cindy McCain.
If they have any brains left at all, they will call "Dress for Success" immediately and make arrangements to donate the whole kit&kaboodle to the charity on November 5.
But if they had any brains they wouldn't be working for McCain.
BTW, Dress for Success is a fine charity and if any of you do have some used clothing still in good enough shape and style to be used by someone for a job interview, consider the donation.
I'm sure she bought a respectable Republican cloth coat, and I'd always tell her she looks good in anything.
Sarah will have the last laugh on all of us. After she puts McGeezer in the rearview mirror, she'll be off to make tens of millions of dollars each year. I mean, the possibilities are endless, starting with a full line of dress, sport, and under garments called, what else?, Sarah!
Get ready for a Sarah! model Cadillac, even a food blender. If you think she's going to spend much more time in Alaska, much less Wasilla, you're crazy. She'll even have her own reality show: "Guess Who's Knocked Up Now?"
Hey, you go try to find really good pantyhose in Alaska.
I'm sure that after the campaign is over the RNC plans to donate the clothing to homeless shelters in small towns around the country where they don't have stores like Saks or Barney's. That's no slush fund. It's just people helping people.
Once again, Kevin, your cynicism fails to keep pace with reality:
"With all of the important issues facing the country right now, it's remarkable that we're spending time talking about pantsuits and blouses," said spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt. "It was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign."
I'm sure that after the election, Sarah Palin will put it all on E-Bay. Jonah, she WINKED at you; surely that's reason enough to bid $2000 for a pair of her used panty hose.
Podunk Playhouse Dinner Theatre presents John McCain and Sarah Palin in My Fair Lady.
Eliza Palin: Do I get to keep the clothes?
IIRC, didn't Al Gore pay Naomi Wolf $15K a month as a consultant to tell him to man up by wearing earth tones?
didn't Al Gore pay Naomi Wolf $15K a month as a consultant to tell him to man up by wearing earth tones?
No. That was Dick Morris' speculation which quickly became part of the Village narrative.
She no more a fiscal conservative than Bush is. They spend like there is not tomorrow, todays un-conservative Republican Party - and they talked about Kerry and Edwards hair cuts? Jeebus.
Almost sounds like Charles Keating all over again as Keathing bought things for women employed in his business, but he used other people money and consider it a business expense.
Does the Checkers Speech mean anything?
Pat Nixon in a "plain republican cloth coat".
The only gift accepted was a "little dog for my daughters they named Checkers".
Oh, how the Rethuglicans have changed.
Why do Republicans need to spend so much money on their hose?
Track? There's a human being in this world named Track?
So Governor Palin didn't come with a ready-made campaign wardrobe? How many non0millionaires do?
It's been said that Senator Clinton's pant suits cost about $6,300 apiece. So what?
The odd thing might be that the GOP actually paid for the clothes. It's said that some candidates have no trouble convincing designers to donate their togs.