Palins' Assets Are Worth Up to $2.1 Million

[Nambe]

Source: The Washington Post

Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, have assets worth up to $2.1 million, and they paid $24,738 in 2007 income taxes on total income of $166,495, which came from her salary as governor of Alaska and money he earned as an oil worker, fisherman and snowmachine racer, documents released by her campaign yesterday show.

The tax returns indicated that Palin paid no taxes on $16,951 in state payments she received as meal and incidental expenses when she stayed at her home in Wasilla instead of at the governor's mansion in Juneau.

Alaska's director of finance has already declared that the state does not consider these $60-a-day payments taxable. Accounting experts and some tax courts have differed on the question of whether such compensation is tax-exempt. Yesterday, the McCain campaign issued a legal opinion from Washington lawyer Roger M. Olsen supporting the state's view that the payments are not taxable. ...

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/03/AR2008100303595.html

[summer borealis]

1. Yeah, she's joe six-pack all right

six pack of bullshit

[McPainsBrain]

34. six pack of bullshit

LOLL

good one!

[Oilwellian]

2. Interesting how WP changes the focus on those state payments

Perhaps they are tax-exempt, but the larger issue is, Palin obtaining those payments while staying at HOME.

[glowing]

3. So, Palin is like the ultimate welfare queen, riding around in her hummer

going from the beauty shop to her lover's house and then over to the gov's mansion to get her tan.. the bitch has a better tan than I do, and I live in Florida.

[Gillian]

4. Her fir$t book will be on shelves before Christmas, no doubt.

Our new Ann Coulter ri$ing.

[Realityhack]

5. Oh no... not another one. One Coulter per universe is toxic enough n/t

[Patchuli]

7. At least we know Sarah actually *is*

the gender she appears to be...

(I know I'm going to get in trouble for that but I'll take my lumps!):spank:

[Bluenorthwest]

13. Yep. She's a heterosexual

just like Coulter. I'm sure that's what you meant.

[Patchuli]

46. That's true

but not exactly what I meant...

[LeftyMom]

44. Any guesses on the ghostwriter?

My money's on Jerry Jenkins. That's the guy who actually writes the Left Behind books, the other guy just dreams up the crazy shit. Before he made a gazillion dollars on those he ghostwrote the "autobiographies" of semi-illiterate professional athletes.

Fundie, politically connected, used to fleshing out the blathering of morons... that's who I'd guess is getting the gig. They might even actually give him co-author credit.

[Lorien]

56. I was thinking the same thing the other day

I've lived in Florida for nearly 20 years now and I've NEVER been that brown because I've always had to WORK for a living!

[customerserviceguy]

6. While this is a lot of money to many of us

and I only make $36K a year, until my job disappears at the end of this year, this is not a massive amount of money in the greater scheme of things. Yes, the nearly $17K of reimbursements seems like a lot of money, but don't fool yourself that a lot of other over $100K-paid types don't also run a lot of expenses through their businesses and expense accounts.

This is just not a massive some of money to be the chief executive of a fairly well-off state, where costs generally run higher than they do in the lower 48. I've seen school superintendants make this kind of money.

[harmonicon]

12. yes, but consider this

that 16 grand is probably more than many full-time minimum wage workers earn in a year, and they don't have any benefits. That's just insane.

[customerserviceguy]

27. Yes, there are some very poor folks in this country

and some damned rich ones. She's probably closer to the Alaskan median than a lot of people think. Everything costs more there, it all has to be shipped in from elsewhere by things that use a fair amount of fuel. As a consequence, wages are higher overall, since you have to pay people more to relocate there.

Is she rich by many people's standards? Perhaps. But not so much more than the average person in America who would consider voting Republican. It's her views that make her completely out of touch with ordinary Americans, not the lifestyle that being paid an executive wage affords. Would we expect to see her living in an igloo?

[marshall]

22. She's a pauper by Washington standards

But give her a few years to write some books and make some inside deals.

[customerserviceguy]

28. That's what happened to the Clintons

they didn't even own a home when they got to D.C., but eight years later, things turned out fairly well for them. I guess that's what happens to those we put in positions of power, they find it easier to accumulate wealth, when just their mere presence at an event will pay them big bucks.

[llmart]

32. I saw a headline recently.....

maybe yesterday, on the Internet that said 50% of the people in the U.S. make less than $35,000 per year. That's not a lot of money.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

40. She's trying to pass herself off as "working class."

Someone with assets totalling $2.1 MILLION is not working class.

[customerserviceguy]

47. It's a stretch, for sure

but that is at the high end of "middle class". Consider that the majority of their wealth is in their home, that's the case for a lot of people. According to the story, Todd Palin built it with some contractor friends, that's a decent way to get some sweat equity. I might have an on-paper worth like theirs if I hadn't gotten divorced three times!

And it might not be their net worth, many people have assets that total way above their net worth. That's especially true where high real estate inflation has taken place, and Alaska is one of those places. All I'm trying to say is that if Sen. Obama labels her 'rich' he's making that assumption about a lot of people in this country, who while well off and comfortable, would not consider themselves rich. It would make some of them who are intending to vote for him at least a little nervous. There are plenty of reasons to oppose the McCain-Palin ticket, but the financial statements released are not among the best of them.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

52. This AP article is more revealing.

Estimates show Palin assets top $1 million
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081002/ap_on_el_pr/palins_finances

"Sarah Palin formed a consulting business called "Rouge Cou" — French for redneck — but didn't pursue it." (Something about the Palins screams 'huckster' to me.)

I believe the Obamas, Bidens and Palins all have reported assets of under $2.5 million, so yes, playing the 'rich' card will not work. But again, Mooselini and Mr. Mooselini are not 'working class' either.

The Palins' total income last year was split almost evenly between Sarah Palin's white-collar job and her husband's blue-collar work. Sarah Palin's salary as governor was $125,000; Todd Palin took in $46,790 as a part-time oil production operator for BP Alaska in Prudhoe Bay, plus $46,265 in commercial fishing income and $10,500 in Iron Dog snowmachine race winnings. These figures do not include nearly $17,000 in per diem payments Palin received for 312 nights spent in her own home since she was elected governor; she also has received $43,490 to cover travel costs for her husband and children.

In addition, each member of the Palin family received $1,654 in state oil royalties paid to all Alaskans.

The Palins' assets seem enviable: a half-million-dollar home on a lake with a float-plane at the dock, two vacation retreats, commercial-fishing rights worth an estimated $50,000 or more and an income last year of at least $230,000. That compares to a median income of $64,333 for Alaskans and $50,740 for Americans in 2007, according to the Census Bureau.

(Three times? Good golly!)

[customerserviceguy]

60. Comparing apples to apples

Yes, the chief executive of the state of Alaska makes more than the median Alaskan. But in what state wouldn't that be true?

Found this reference: http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=207914

which shows that the Alaska governor salary of $125,000 is the one nearest the average governor's salary of $124,398. I'd be willing to bet that the majority of them have expense accounts like Palin, as well. That's up to a legislature elected by the people to decide.

Alaska is a resource-rich state with higher costs of living, it's not that unusual in this situation. Besides, Todd's income figures are the gross for the fishing and racing businesses, the net drops things down quite a bit. Attacking the Palins as being some sort of Rockefellers pretending to be po' folks is not going to get us anywhere. This is pretty much a non-story.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

49. Working, maybe; but class? None at all.

[napi21]

50. The question is NOT how much $$ is involved, but was it taxable

as income. I was an accountant for 40+ years, and of course I know there are a lot of things run through business expenses & expense accounts, but when and if they're questioned, they must be supported by documentation and proof that they are ligitimate "business expenses". That's much different than receiving money for "staying in your own home" just because you don't want to move to Juno where your office is!

The IRS questions people for much less than $17,000! I don't believe she would be found guilty of tax fraud or evasion because she apparently relied on the W2 issued to her by the State, but I do believe she will be charged the taxes due on the $17,000 because they will view it as ordinary income.

[madmom]

8. assets worth $2.1 mill. fffttt that's just one room in my mcmansion ....

:sarcasm: (just in case)

[Igel]

11. Or $880k.

Depends if you go for the highest possible, or the lowest possible.

Both extremes are unlikely.

[kestrel91316]

9. Does that include her Wasilla meth lab?

[Historic NY]

10. Wonder how many hockey moms have that kinda of money under the mattress?

[krkaufman]

14. Paid $25k taxes on $166k income? Does 15% sound low?

I seriously need to get a tax advisor.

[bertman]

15. My response as well, krkaufman. How many Americans end up paying only 15% federal tax on their

personal income?

My guess is that most are somewhere around the 20-25% range.

Can anyone help with this? It might make an excellent ad to run against Sarah Six-Pack.

[MilesColtrane]

17. If you're self employed (like me) you pay about 40%.

15% + 25% self employment (social security) tax

[bertman]

21. I'm assuming that the numbers on the Palins are Fed income tax, not including FICA.

It would be nice to have an apples-to-apples comparison to work with.

[davekriss]

24. Interesting that you pay nearly twice the self-employment ...

...social security taxes as required by law. By law, you pay 15.3% self-employment tax up to incomes of $102,000; above that, you continue to pay the 2.9% Medicare portion of that tax. I don't know where you can up with 25%?

[MilesColtrane]

38. Pilot error.

I was looking at 2005 tables and I reversed the fed and payroll taxes percentages.

My real rate for last year is 30.9%

Let's hear it for the Bush tax cuts!! Yay, I'm rich!!!

[hack89]

55. Subtract $23K for 7 personal exemptions

and toss in other deductions including mortgage interest and it isn't hard to get down to about $125,000 taxable income. The tax for that amount is about $25K

[hack89]

37. Sounds about right if you have mortage interest to deduct. nt

[krkaufman]

51. Wow. What total horsecrap that is. n/t

[hack89]

54. It reflects a taxable income of about $125,000

not hard to come up with 40K of deductions including interest and exemptions (that large family is worth $3,300 a head)

[Demeter]

16. That Might Just Cover The Criminal Defense Attorneys They Are Gonna Need

[redqueen]

18. What's a fishing leasehold?

Is that something middle-class people have? And a fishing business on the side?

[justgamma]

19. My questions

Is their house paid off? What are the motgage payments? What did they pay for their house? When did they buy their house and what were they making at the time? Their income doesn't seem outlandish, but their assets seem to be more than what their income could handle.

[frylock]

20. just a reg'lar gal..

sally housecoat millionaire.

[Xenotime]

23. And this bitch thinks she is middle class?!? DO NOT LET THEM BE ELECTED!

[HopeHoops]

26. I'll give her low class ;}

[HopeHoops]

25. Yeah, but how much does she have in an "undisclosed location"? (I know, I know - that can get rude)

[Wapsie B]

29. What? Did she do lapdances last week?

:shrug:

[Haole Girl]

30. Middle Class, my ass!

:eyes:

[happygoluckytoyou]

31. ya-betcha... winky wink... i'm just like you... only RICHER and powerful... and a cheating SKANK

[McPainsBrain]

33. That puts her in the top 0.1% among the

<90 IQ set.

[cap]

35. something is weird about her income

they make $166K and an Alaskan governor's salary is $122K. So Todd only made $44K last year as a steel worker? Something isn't adding up right.

[democracy1st]

39. she's using her power to seal deals in return she recieve's land,cars etc

it's the GOP way

[cap]

41. on $166K income, how can you muster up $2.1 million in assets?

this does not make sense.

[democracy1st]

43. yes being mayor/governor you can set zoning laws etc or pass legislation

and behind closed doors you will recieve a payoff,it's going on everywhere

[midnight]

59. That sounds like a similiar situation that they put Gov. Sielgman

in prison for.

[sarcasmo]

45. Could it be a payoff from an oil Lobbyist?

[cap]

57. my suspicions are that it has to do with the investigation into oil royalties

there's been a lot of corruption in the royalties office -- real juicy,too. Sex, cocaine, and payoffs.

Hmmm. I wonder if her real name is Payoff-lin.

[lonestarnot]

58. I read where they were withheld and no one here seemed to be interested in that.

:shrug:

[Paula Sims]

36. Hockey Moms aren't poor

Hockey is an expensive sport, especially organized hockey for kids and if she's a "hockey Mom", it costs more than Joe-6-pack can imagine.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

53. Unless Joe Sixpack has been laying down the plastic...

to keep up with the other Joe Sixpacks. I see a lot of that around me, but it all may be coming to a screeching halt.

[midnight armadillo]

42. 43 vehicles owned in 20 years

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/10/04/back_home_palin_lives_model_life_in_last_frontier/
"In the past two decades, the Palins have owned 43 vehicles, including at least 17 snowmobiles. "

That's still 26 cars in 20 years. The snowmobiles are understood since he's a pro snowmobiler.

[customerserviceguy]

48. Alaskan winters are hard on vehicles

they don't last as long there. Plus, out West (I used to live in Washington), things are farther away, you might have to put on a lot more miles to get the ordinary things of an upper middle class life. Let's not forget that trailers are registered "vehicles" and the snowmobiles use them.

I counted up the number of vehicles I've owned in the last 20 years, and I came up with about a half dozen, and that's only because my Mazda truck was incredibly durable. I wasn't counting the vehicles my spouse or significant others used primarily. Having a married couple, and three kids of driving age for the last few years, that will add the number of vehicles up rapidly.