Former Alaska Governor and Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin is scheduled to give a speech at California State University in June. The contract for her appearance calls for $75,000 plus an estimated $18,000 in travel expenses; total equals $93,000. The event is the 50th anniversary gala at Cal State Stanislaus. One payment of $37,500 has already been made. University officials and Palin tried to keep the fee secret but it was revealed by an insider. The arrangements are being made through a Washington DC speaker’s bureau.
Sarah Palin was chosen as a running mate in the 2008 election by the then Presidential candidate, Senator John McCain. In retrospect, it appears his choice was made primarily because Palin is a woman and there were gender and racial issues surrounding the Presidential campaign. McCain hoped to attract more women, maybe some that had been supporters of Senator Hillary Clinton, to his side. Obviously, it did not work; at least not well enough.
McCain went down in defeat. One reason could well have been because he chose Sarah Palin as his running mate. Yes, she was the governor of Alaska, but she really had no experience, background, or education that would qualify her to be Vice-President of the United States and a heartbeat away from the Presidency. Voters realized this. She had not even completed one term as governor. She never did. She quit on the people of Alaska who had elected her. Besides, she was the governor of a state having a large amount of territory but few people. The population of Alaska is less than that of the City of Indianapolis. So, McCain asked the people of this country to elect him with a running mate whose only real qualification was that she was female.
Now Palin is the darling of a wing of the Republican Party. The “drill, baby, drill” bunch loves her. Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and our own home grown, Peter Heck, love her. She preaches conservatism and advocates “family values” while all the while having one of the most dysfunctional families going. Her speeches are filled with cliques, re-used and re-hashed platitudes, and rah-rah. She has become more a TV/movie star celebrity with an adoring, cheering fan club rather than being a leader of substance and experience; the kind we really need.
Now, Sarah is making money hand over fist from her appearances and her best seller book. Good for her, but there is a big problem with this particular engagement at California State University. It reveals her true character. The State of California and its educational system are broke. Yet, she will be taking $93,000 from a foundation whose purpose it is to fund scholarships and education. To earn the cost of the Palin engagement back in a year, the foundation would have to invest about $1,860,000 at a 5% annual return. Just how many scholarships could this be funding in the meanwhile?
Sarah Palin has vehemently criticized others for corruption and greed. She preaches the need for a new kind of politician: one who has the best interest of the country over personal gain. She preaches fiscal responsibility yet is willing to charge an outlandish speaking fee to those whose purpose it is to use available funds for education of students. This is greed. This is hypocrisy. If some private company or group wants to pay her any amount of money; no problem. This is not such a case. If Sarah Palin’s values are what she preaches, she would forego any fee over, perhaps, the expense of her travel. What is the cost of an airline ticket from Alaska?