G.O.P. Paid Almost $55,000 for Palin Fashion Stylist
By Michael Luo
NY Times



Updated A woman who appears from campaign finance records to have been
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s fashion stylist was paid $54,900 by the
Republican National Committee, according to a new report filed with the
Federal Election Commission.

A charge for that amount to “Lisa Kline & Co.” for “Consulting-Campaign”
appears on Oct. 17 in the R.N.C.’s latest campaign finance report. Ms.
Kline is a New York stylist whose name had previously appeared alongside
some of the much ballyhooed $150,000 in charges for clothing and other
“campaign accessories” from luxury stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and
Neiman Marcus.

Repeated calls to her home and office in New York over the last month or
so since her name first appeared in reports were not returned.

The newest report appears to show about $23,000 in additional charges
labeled as “campaign accessories” from a variety of stores, including
Saks, Neiman’s, Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, Macy’s, Victoria’s Secret,
Brooks Brothers, Ann Taylor and Target.

Republican officials have said that all of the clothing is now in their
possession and will be turned over to charity.

In addition, the McCain campaign paid Ms. Palin’s traveling hair stylist
and makeup artist more than $110,000 for roughly two months of work,
according to campaign finance records.

As in the previous shopping charges, it appears from campaign finance
records that people who initially purchased the clothes, or at least
footed the charges, were subsequently reimbursed by the R.N.C.

Interestingly, in the newest charges on campaign finance records, many
of the people who initially footed the charges were campaign staffers,
including Andrew Smith, Ms. Palin’s chief of staff, Christopher Edwards,
who was in charge of advance for Ms. Palin, and Kristi Pulsfort, a
member of the traveling press staff.

Mr. Smith apparently footed the bill for more than $3,000 in charges at
Aldo (a shoe store chain), Bloomingdales and Macy’s, all in Orlando, as
well as Home Optics, a glasses and contacts store in Chugiak, Alaska,
about a half hour from Ms. Palin’s home in Wasilla.

A woman named Jeannie Etchart, who appears on the McCain campaign’s
payroll, picked up the most in charges, totaling more than $14,000 from
places like Banana Republic, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom.

The appearance of the staffers’ names in the records matches up with an
account in Newsweek’s book on the campaign that was the first to report
that there were additional charges for clothing beyond the initial
$150,000 and said Ms. Palin used low-level staffers to purchase some of
the items and put them on their credit cards. Newsweek said the McCain
campaign discovered this just before the election when they sought
repayment.

Update | 9:26 p.m.: Meghan Stapleton, a former senior adviser to the
vice presidential
campaign, sent a strongly worded e-mail statement:

Governor Palin is focused on her duties as governor of the state of Alaska.

With that said, news reports concerning purchases of services and
accessories are disappointing considering Governor Palin did not
authorize the expenditures made on behalf of the vice presidential
campaign. The Governor was not consulted about these immaterial and
inconsequential decisions as she was busy focusing on the substantive
areas of the campaign and running the state of Alaska. The decisions
reflected in this disclosure are financially poor decisions made by
campaign staffers hired by the campaign and not the Governor. The
Governor expected judicious decisions to be made and they weren’t.

She is absolutely appalled at the news and the amount of money
reportedly spent on the vice presidential campaign. To this day, the
Governor has not seen a list of expenses for the campaign and its staff,
and she does not know who benefited from all the expenditures reported.

The campaign has now ended and Governor Palin has moved forward and is
concerned with tackling the challenges confronting the people of Alaska.
- - -


Sarah Palin, the gift that keeps on giving and giving.

On Fri, 05 Dec 2008 22:57:00 -0500, Boater wrote:

....another cut'n'paste about Sarah. He doesn't seem to realize the
election's over.
--
John H.

JohnH wrote:
On Fri, 05 Dec 2008 22:57:00 -0500, Boater wrote:

...another cut'n'paste about Sarah. He doesn't seem to realize the
election's over.


Gears have shifted...
It's important that the GOP nominate Palin in 2012 so another loss can
be guaranteed.

On Dec 6, 6:37*am, Boater wrote:
JohnH wrote:
On Fri, 05 Dec 2008 22:57:00 -0500, Boater wrote:

...another cut'n'paste about Sarah. He doesn't seem to realize the
election's over.

Gears have shifted...


Your noble observance happens to be correct.

"But, Mye Lourde, Promises and Pye-Crusts - are made to be broken"
Jonathan Swift


Promises of 'Change' Already Being Broken by Obama Administration?
By Jamie Lober, 12/3/2008 7:49:57 AM

After dedicating the past 16 months to sending an American hero to the
White House and not too long ago, a year to my own run for mayor, I
met a lot of people. Some shared my vision for our country and
communities; others certainly wore a different pair of glasses.
Disagreements did not bother me; they enriched the open discussion.
Those who do not keep their word are the topic for another book or
this article.

On November 4, 2008, president-elect Barack Obama pledged to keep the
promises he had made and change the tone he believed to be partisan in
Washington. He stated: "in Washington it is acceptable to say or do
anything it takes to get elected…but I don't think it is good for our
country." Well, I don't think it is good for our country either. Was
the spirit of bipartisanship accomplished by appointing Rahm Emanuel
as Chief of Staff who is famously known for slamming down a steak
knife as he named a list of Republicans followed by the word dead?
Emanuel is a self-described Vince Lombardi Democrat who said that
"winning is not everything; it is the only thing." That sounds like
the say or do anything to get elected politics that Obama claimed to
reject.

This was followed by the announcement of Greg Craig as White House
Counsel. Craig defended John Hinckley, Jr., the man who tried to
assassinate former President Ronald Reagan. Obama said we would be
supporting our troops. Is that why Craig defended the President of
Panama's legislature, Pedro Miguel Gonzalez, when he was indicted by
the U.S. for the murder of an American soldier? I value family very
much; I learned that from my upbringing and experiences. Craig values
family too; he learned that during his close friendship with Elian
Gonzalez, who he defended for being in the United States illegally and
took the radical stand that all of his friends should come here too to
keep him company.

Americans were promised that lobbyists would not find a job in his
administration. Now, we have lobbyist Tom Daschle as Secretary of
Health and Human Services. Can someone who has made a living helping
government lobby for healthcare be a voice for us, the people? I don't
think so, and at one time, Obama did not think so either.

Not to mention that all of these insiders do not represent change we
can believe in, we have another insider, Larry Summers, chairing the
National Economic Council. He is known for his reputation of clashing
with and belittling other people and had to step down from being
President of Harvard after too many controversies.

Summers went out of his way to describe the ways women are lacking in
math and science skills and used that as the reason he did not offer
many women jobs while at Harvard. Harvard was blessed with a PEPFAR
grant from President Bush, one that could fund incredible AIDS
research. Unfortunately, this project was deterred by Summers who went
as far as to remove the few people who had the compassion and
dedication to carry it out. The School of Public Health at Harvard
made a public statement that Summers' behavior was not representative
of the university's values, and they are not consistent with mine
either.

Equality needs to be our priority, and someone who boldly makes the
statement that Native Americans are responsible for disease and
describes the violence that formerly took place in colonies as no big
deal is not deserving of this position. Summers has a record of
advocating bringing what he calls dirty industries to third world
countries because he feels that moving low industries to
underdeveloped countries makes sense. Can't we all prosper?

Obama said common ground could be reached between the pro-life and pro-
choice communities, even citing decreased abortions under President
Bush. Why not leave the issue alone? Was common ground declaring the
Freedom of Choice Act, a bill that will federally legalize all
abortions and remove legal restrictions, the first bill to be signed?
This is coming from someone who as recent as April 2008 was unsure if
life begins at conception. This sounds a lot like another issue Obama
was apparently undecided on, our right to bear arms. Obama said he
supported the second amendment while on the campaign trail. Now, he is
proposing a federal gun ban.

As Thanksgiving just passes us, I continue to be thankful to live in
what I believe to be the greatest country on earth. I am thankful for
the appointment of Bill Richardson as Secretary of Commerce, as maybe
Obama will accept his guidance. Most of all, I am thankful for my
family, friends, supporters across the country and for our troops who
selflessly make sacrifices for our freedoms. Let's make a commitment
to be informed as transitions continue to transpire, to lead, to be
empowered and to be heard. May God bless you and may God bless
America.

© 2008 Jamie Lober