So called "leadership PACs" run by past and current elected officials are little more than slop troughs for politicians to poke their snouts into. And Sarah Palin's SarahPAC is no exception. Slate published a list of SaraPAC's recent expenditures:
- $230,250 on consultants, including $80,500 to longtime aide and PAC treasurer Timothy Crawford
- $139,932 on direct mail, produced by conservative fundraising firm HSP Direct
- $128,482 on postage, printing, and related supplies
- $82,213 on travel and accommodations, including airfare, hotels, car and SUV rentals, travel agents, and taxis. The Waldorf Astoria in New York City ($4,562) and Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas ($797) were two particularly pricy line items. The $3,854 SarahPAC paid a New York–based limousine company came on Feb. 19, right after Palin appeared at the staging of Saturday Night Live's 40th anniversary special, where she sat in the audience next to musician Taylor Swift.
- $48,000 on speech writing, mostly to Aries Petra Consulting, a small limited liability company registered in Virginia and based in Los Angeles
- $37,354 on Internet fundraising through Austin, Texas–based Harris Media LLC, which works for numerous conservative politicians
Less than 4% of SarahPAC's overall expenditures went to candidate contributions, even though the PAC's appeals for funds makes a big deal about how contributions will be used to "fight against the liberals like Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders," or "stop the illegal invasion," or help "defund and investigate Planned Parenthood."
Unfortunately for Sarah Palin, her gravy train is grinding to a halt. Fox News did not renew her commentator contract in June, the subscription-based Sarah Palin Channel online video site ($99.95 a year) is shutting down this week, and the SarahPAC bank account is at a low-water mark. Again, from Slate:
While SarahPAC's $562,000 cash-on-hand figure is better than what most political committees could boast, it's the PAC's lowest total since mid-2009, the year Palin founded the operation. Since late 2009, SarahPAC has almost always carried more than $1 million on its books and never less than $800,000.
What scheme will this small-town Lonesome Rhodes hustler cook up next so she can keep riding in limos and staying in fancy hotel suites?
