Sarah and Todd Palin and BP: Conflict of Interest?

I support Sarah both as a person and as a symbol of the kind of person we need leading this country. If the new Republican President were to pass away unexpectedly, Sarah would do a good job as POTUS. Then, she would begin doing a great job, because her character and basic decency would attract wide support from the American people. Obviously, the woman is a sponge when it comes to soaking up wisdom.


I'D LIKE TO URGE EVERYONE WHO VISITS THIS SITE TO TAKE A LOOK AT http://palintology.com/, A SITE RUN BY TRISH IN ALASKA, A PERSON WHO STRONGLY SUPPORTS SARAH PALIN. SHE TALKS ABOUT A GOSSIP COLUMNIST AT THE ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS, ONE SHEILA TOOMEY, WHO WROTE OBVIOUSLY FALSE STATEMENTS ABOUT TRISH AND HER WORK. SHEILA TOOMEY SEEMS TO BE COMPETING FOR THE SCUM-OF-THE-EARTH AWARD, A TRUE GUTTER JOURNALIST CONSUMED WITH HATRED FOR SARAH AND WILLING TO GO TO ANY LENGTH TO TARNISH HER BETTERS. WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON AT THE ADN?

R. A. Dillion (see the link to his blog at the right) seems to be a good man and a fine journalist. However, he recently wrote about Todd Palin (Sarah's husband) going back to work for BP in a production job. Dillon wondered if this might not give the appearance of "conflict of interest" since Gov. Palin will be holding a special session to raise the taxes on oil profits, including those of BP. (There are three companies -- BP, Exxon-Mobil, and Conoco-Phillips -- who produce the oil on Alaska's North Slope. Long ago, I worked for Phillips, which has since merged with Conoco.)

When I read Mr. Dillion's piece, I went mildly ballistic and left him the following comment:

R. A. Dillon: "Let not Beltway thinking color thy views."

What do I mean by that? I mean that the Beltway thought is that such things as "conflict of interest" appearances (inventions?) are very grave. In fact, Sarah Palin and "First Dude" (Todd) are people of modest means who have to work for a living. Being of such means should NOT be a disqualifying factor in running for high office.

I realize that money isn't a problem with Senator Herb Kohl (who bought a Senate seat from WI), Jay Rockefeller (who bought the WV seat), John Corzine (who bought the NJ seat), John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi (married the super rich guy), Jane Harman (hubby maybe even richer than Pelosi's), and Dianne Feinstein. Mrs. Heinz-Kerry inherited hundreds of millions from her deceased first husband.

Anyone who wants to see how "The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" play out in Washington, DC, should go to the OpenSecrets site (link on my blogroll). You will find one Senator or Congressman (and the same is true of most governors) who is worth tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions. Most of this people inherited the money, never being called up to earn a dollar on their own. Sarah and Todd Palin are NOT among this group.

Hopefully, all candidates for high state and federal office will not have to be filthy rich in order to qualify for such positions. Ms. Heinz-Kerry never worked a day in her life. Neither have people like "Teddy" Kennedy or Jay Rockefeller, most of whose fortune derives from his grand-grandfather's oil fortune made at Standard Oil (the original company of which Exxon-Mobil is an offshoot). I predict that the next time you hear about Rockefeller having a "conflict of interest" will be a very warm day in Fairbanks, Alaska.

I know the "conflict of interest" (possible) line on the Palins is a natural one, but in fact it's something of a cheap shot. Once in great while it's nice to have a candidate whose husband (or wife) is a working stiff.

Is your point that Todd's job constitutes a possible conflict, while the vast stock and bond holdings and corporate tie-ins of the super-rich souls I've mentioned (and the many mega-rich people I've left out) don't? That doesn't strike me as fair at all.

In fact, it strikes me as case being made for Government by Plutocracy. You fell into a trap, but you aren't alone there. If BP prospers mightily in Alaska, the benefits (in the form of money from taxes on profits) go in significant quantities to the people of the state.

At the same time, no one in his right mind believes that Sarah isn't going to propose a large increase in Alaska's tax on oil profits. Nothing in her career indicates that she won't consider the people of Alaska first, last, and always. She has built her political life on opposing the kind of corruption that plays much too big a role in Alaska politics.

There is no conceivable conflict of interest with Sarah Palin. She's as far-removed from your usual sef-dealing politician as Jersey City is from Anchorage.


Here are the ranges of net worth reported by some of the individuals I've mentioned above. I think you can the problem. Is it possible for a candidate of modest means -- or even of somewhat immodest means -- to afford to run for a national office? Very few of the people listed below actually earned more than a small portion of their assets. People like Jay Rockefeller and Ted Kennedy inherited their great wealth, while people like Kerry, Harman, and Pelosi married into it. By the way, Mitt Romney's net wealth adds up to more than $250 million. The following is the link to opensecrets, which reflects the disclosures of net worth. Sociologist Thorsten Veblen once talked about "the sheer vulgar fatness of great wealth." Read and meditate on these numbers and you will see what he meant.

http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/overview.asp


Name
Minimum Net Worth
Maximum Net Worth

Herb Kohl (D-Wis)
$219,098,029
$234,549,004

Jane Harman (D-Calif)
$168,651,649
$289,045,000

John Kerry (D-Mass)
$165,741,511
$235,262,100

Darrell Issa (R-Calif)
$135,862,098
$677,230,000

Jay Rockefeller (D-WVa)
$78,150,023
$101,579,003

Donald H. Rumsfeld
$57,089,104
$174,672,011

Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ)
$38,198,170
$90,733,019

John McCain (R-Ariz)
$20,571,136
$32,043,011

Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ)
$19,978,175
$67,170,000

Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass)
$19,189,049
$93,043,004

Dick Cheney
$17,120,041
$79,588,010

John Campbell (R-Calif)
$16,504,086
$76,512,000

Nita M. Lowey (D-NY)
$14,987,069
$60,881,000

Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif)
$14,246,107
$54,085,000