Palin Accepted $25,000 in Gifts, Alaska Records Show

[ThePhoenix]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/09/25/ST2008092504011.html

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who has made a crackdown on gift-giving to state officials a centerpiece of her ethics reform agenda, has accepted gifts valued at $25,367 from industry executives, municipalities and a cultural center whose board includes officials from some of the largest mining interests in the state, a review of state records shows.

The 41 gifts Palin accepted during her 20 months as governor include honorific tributes, expensive artwork and free travel for a family member. They also include more than $2,500 in personal items from Calista, a large Alaska native corporation with a variety of pending state regulatory and budgetary issues, and a gold-nugget pin valued at $1,200 from the city of Nome, which lobbies on municipal, local and capital budget matters, documents show.

About a quarter of the entities bestowing gifts on the governor are represented by one of Alaska's most influential mining lobbyists, who said in an interview that she was not involved in the tributes. The lobbyist, Wendy Chamberlain, has a relationship with the governor's family through the friendship of their teenage daughters.

[d_b]

1. the gift that keeps on giving.

[barbtries]

2. a liar AND a hypocrite!

who'da thunk it?

[Democat]

3. Family connections lead to more ethics problems for Palin?

It's a shame that Obama can't run advertising for every McCain and Palin ethical or legal problem, but he would go broke trying. I hope Obama at least sends a copy of this article out to everyone in the media.

Biden should also have this info in his head in case he gets a chance to hammer her with it during the debate.

Poor Biden, imagine trying to keep every Palin ethical lapse and stupid comment in your head during the debate. It must be giving him a headache already!