She never tells the truth about anything.

The Dame's a serial liar.

That's not mavericky reform we can believe in.

$68,000 a year? I'll keep my job, thanks.

And had the town buy her a $24,000 SUV AND hired a full time "special assistant" at $40K+ to help her with her mayoral duties.

So much for that Iowa poll showing it "tied" that state is offically off the map. If Minn and Wisc fall in line next few days I think we might be seeing the beginning of the end for pinocchio palian and Mcoutinleftfield

Sorry guys, this is kind of a shaky story. $64,200 in 1996 dollars is $68,127 in 1999 dollars, when her salary was only $68,000. Check it yourself.

It's not unreasonable to say she took a pay cut. This is a despicable person, but we've got to pick our battles.

At least she didn't say she took pay cuts.

Sure she took a cut...then hired a city manager.

"Ya know boss, I'd be willing to take a $10,000 a year pay cut for the good of the company if you'd be willing to hire a new guy to do all my work, and I'll just hang out and take credit for whatever goes right."

Think that would fly? Wanna buy a bridge?

Sarah Palin in the Whitehouse? "Thanks but no thanks."

Isn't even 50,000 a little HIGH for a Mayor's job, especially one of a town the size of 6000?

I live in a town of about 20,000 and our mayor doesn't get NEAR that.

I recieved this email today-

STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES
Thought Provoking. A lot of Americans have become so insulated from reality that they imagine that America can suffer defeat Without any inconvenience to themselves.
Pause a moment, reflect back.
These events are actual events from history.
They really happened!!!
Do you remember?

1. 1968 Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed by
Muslim male extremist between the ages of 17 and 40.
2. In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and massacred by Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 and 40.
3. In 1979, the US embassy in Iran was taken over by Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 and 40.
4. During the 1980's a number of Americans were kidnapped in Lebanon by
Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 and 40.
5. In 1983, the US Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 and 40.
6. In 1985 the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked and a 70 year old American passenger was murdered and thrown overboard in his wheelchair by
Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 and 40.
7. In 1985 TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens, and a US Navy diver trying to rescue passengers was murdered by Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 and 40.
8. In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by
Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 and 40.
9. In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 and 40.
10. In 1998, the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by
Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 and 40.
11. On 9/11/01, four airliners were hijacked; two were used as missiles to take down t he World Trade Centers and of the remaining two, one crashed into the US Pentagon and the other was diverted and crashed by the passengers. Thousands of people were killed by Muslim male extremists between the of 17 and 40.
12. In 2002 the United States fought a war in Afghanistan against
Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 and 40.
13. In 2002 reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by-- you guessed it-- Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 and 40.
No, I really don't see a pattern here to justify profiling, do you?
So, to ensure we Americans never offend anyone, particularly fanatics intent on killing us,
Airport securit y screeners will no longer be allowed to profile certain people...
Absolutely No Profiling!
They must conduct random searches of 80-year-old women, little kids, airline pilots with proper identification, secret agents who are members of the President's security detail, 85-year old Congressmen with metal hips, and Medal of Honor winner and former Governor Joe Foss, But leave Muslim Males between the ages 17 and 40
Alone lest they be guilty of profiling.

According to The Book of Revelation:
The Anti-Christ will be a man, in his 40s, of MUSLIM descent, who will deceive the nations with persuasive language, and have a MASSIVE Christ-like appeal....the prophecy says that people will flock to him and he will promise false hope and world peace, and when he is in power,
He will destroy everything.
And Now:
For the award winning Act of Stupidity Of all times the People of America want to elect, to the most Powerful position on the face of the Planet -- The Presidency of the United states of America
A Muslim Male in his 40s!

Say what you want, he was born a Muslim (and is still considered a Muslim by his family), to a Muslim father. His mother remarried, yep another Muslim so what makes you think she didn`t raise him as a Muslim? His African family is Muslim, he attended a Muslim school. Have the American People completely lost their Minds, or just their Power of Reason?
I'm sorry but I refuse to take a chance on the'unknown' candidate who will probably appoint as many as 4 Supreme Court Judges.

'Stupid Is As Stupid Does'

Oh dear little boy, did you not ever study elementary logic?

Some Muslims kill people
Person X is a former Muslim

Greg Sargent should have noted that the pay raise was well under inflation. I see from an online calculator that prices rose by roughly 14% between 1996 and 2002 - much more than her 5.9% hike.

Sargent might have compared the generosity of Palin's compensation package to other mayors.

This story could have been handled better.

Inflation calculator:
http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

That said, Sargent is usually an awesome reporter. And the inaccuracy of Palin's characterization of her tenure is worth noting.

PBS has an online poll on whether you think Palin is qualified to be VP. Wanna weigh in?
http://www.pbs.org/cgi-registry/poll/poll.pl

So it's a half-truth.. That's progress we can believe in.

If she wanted to spin a story, she should have talked about what she would have been making under typical merit increase scenarios. A 3.5% increase year-over-year would be pretty typical. Assuming she started at $64,200, then after six years, she'd be somewhere around $82,000. Then again, maybe they froze merits and she got none along with everyone else...now there a good story.

She took two pay cuts. What's the problem? Of all the things Palin's done or not done, don't you have anything more important to talk about?

Over at RCP, Dvorak claims to have rebutted this post as such

Well, yes, but did Sargent take inflation into account? According to any number of inflation calculators out there, if Palin's original $64,200 was adjusted for inflation throughout her tenure, she would have left office making around $72,000. As it was, she left office making $68,000. Just to make sure, Wasilla's city council confirmed that Palin's salary numbers are not adjusted for inflation.

Of course, like most Palin supporters, he has his facts wrong. According to the inflation calculator at http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl, $64,200 in 1996 was equivalent to $68,169.02 in 1999. So, even adjusting for inflation, her pay was only "cut" $169.02.

Sexist? Please explain using more than one word. If you make a claim like that, you must explain how, in your opinion, that is sexist.

According to the inflation calculator at http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl, $64,200 in 1996 was equivalent to $68,169.02 in 1999. So, even adjusting for inflation, her pay was only "cut" $169.02.

For those keeping score, this turns on whether you compare 1996 and 1999 - the date of the last pay raise, or 1996 and 2002 - the date that Palin left office.

I quote myself:

Between October 1996 and October 2002 prices rose by 14.5%.

Between October 1996 and October 1999, the date of her last raise, prices rose by 6.3%, more than the cumulative 5.9% pay hike.

Apparently every word that comes out of her mouth is a lie including "a" "and" and "the."

No, sometimes she just BSs us. After all, she did give herself a pay cut, before she acceded to a pay raise.

Incidentally, I find Palin's lack of experience to be appalling, but that says more about the guy who chose her.

Her flat-out and uncorrected lies regarding the Bridge to Nowhere are deeply disturbing though. Modern conservatives who look the other way on this matter lack a certain moral stamina, in my view.

A few things:

Alaska has no state income or sales tax. The people there don't pay as close attention to what the government is spending.

Local areas rely on a property tax. However, towns can implement a sales tax. Wasilla did this during Palin's tenure. And it was a pretty big 2.5% tax when no tax existed before. Fairbanks has no city sales tax and I don't think Anchorage does either.

Inflation rates may be different in Alaska, it was my experience that prices didn't change as much. Gas prices hardly fluctuated at all when I lived there.

Alaska does have a higher cost of living, salaries are higher there than other places I have lived.

One last thing, but I am not sure this will make any difference. The Stupid is as Stupid Does poster above said this: "The Anti-Christ will be a man, in his 40s, of MUSLIM descent..." Well, I am leery of arguing with a fool, but there weren't any Muslims (nor would there be for hundreds of years) when Revelations was written. So, who is the stupid one?