Kyle,

I know all about the reimbursement process.  I do it for conferences
at least twice a year.  The one last April to Hawaii was a bear, but I
figured out a way to manage it.  My Dad was in a similar position to
Palin's with travel 20 years ago when he commuted 150 miles from his
home base to his job (he was dean of Wyoming's medical education
programs).  He never charged per diem when he was in either location,
although others who were in similar circumstances did.

As far as canonization or demonizing, we'll hear that about every one
of the candidates for the next 55 or so days.  As far as the issues
from a "pissed-off Palin neighbor," when a relative unknown like Palin
surfaces, that's what we're left with.  At least the things that were
written by the "neighbor" were verifiable, to an extent, unlike some
of the innuendo that has circulated about other candidates.


On Tue, Sep 9, 2008 at 4:35 PM, KE Cleveland <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Kendall,
>
> I have to agree with part of the author's statement that *per diem *stipends
> aren't that unusual--at least they weren't back when states' coffers were
> full.  I would agree that $16K is excessive, but I also know that Anchorage
> to Juneau is a haul--and there is no road into Juneau from the north.  It's
> only air or water, and in the winter, just water.  So why not stay in the
> Governor's Mansion instead of the commute?  Maybe that's what she should
> have done.  I guess it depends on whether or not it would have cost Alaskan
> taxpayers more to keep the gubernatorial manse up and running 24/7/365 than
> it would to ship the family back and forth.
>
> *Per diem *stipends are a thing of the past for most civil servants (like
> me).  Used to be that you would get your stipend up front and then make good
> money by staying at Motel 6 and eating at McDonalds.  That's not the case
> anymore--at least not where I work.  Travel has been cut back--wa-a-a-y
> back.  If you want to go to a conference, for instance, you have to write up
> a justification that's darn near perfect (I should know, because I have to
> write travel justifications for everyone in my agency--no kidding.).  If the
> travel request passes the manager's and director's red pen then it goes
> before a board for approval.  If they approve it then you have to bring
> receipts in for reimbursement--meaning that you better have a lot of slack
> in your personal credit card account because you personally pay for
> everything up front and then your application for reimbursement goes back to
> the same board for approval.  It can take up to three months for your
> reimbursement to appear, and they don't cover the interest you're racking up
> on your card.  That's why I don't use American Express--I could never afford
> to pay off a trip in one month.
>
> I used to work for OCLC (Online Computer Library Center), a non-profit
> academic library data service in Dublin, Ohio.  I travelled around the globe
> installing local library cataloging systems (written in MIIS--look that one
> up!).  I almost doubled my salary in *per diem* money while I was
> travelling, but that was almost twenty years ago.  I hear they run a tight
> ship these days.
>
> Anyway, I think we're going to hear that Palin is an angel and a demon.
> Truth is probably somewhere in the middle.  I just heard over the weekend
> that some guy accused Obama of doing crack cocaine and having sex with him
> in the back of a limo.  Might be true, might not--nobody knows the truth
> except two people.  I'm not going to take the word of some Duluth crackhead
> any more than I am the word of some pissed-off Palin neighbor.  No one is
> unstained in this world.  You just have to pick who you think will serve the
> interests that are closest to your own heart and let the chips fall.
>
> Time for chow!
>
> Kyle
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, Sep 9, 2008 at 1:09 PM, Kendall D. Corbett <
> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> Saw this in the WashPost and thought it was interesting....
>>
>>
>>  *Palin Billed State for Nights Spent at Home*
>>
>> Taxpayers Also Funded Family's Travel
>>
>>
>> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/08/AR2008090803088.html?wpisrc=newsletter
>> --
>>
>>
>> Kendall
>>
>> An unreasonable man (but my wife says that's redundant!)
>>
>> The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one
>> persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress
>> depends on the unreasonable man.
>>
>> -George Bernard Shaw 1856-1950
>>
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>>
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>>
>
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>



-- 


Kendall

An unreasonable man (but my wife says that's redundant!)

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one
persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all
progress depends on the unreasonable man.

-George Bernard Shaw 1856-1950

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To change your mail settings or leave the C-PALSY list, go here:

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