Roll Call: Palin's PAC Raises $733,000 in Six Months. Donated a total of $10K to two Republicans.

[flpoljunkie]

Palin’s PAC Raises $733,000 in Six Months

By Shira Toeplitz
Roll Call Staff

July 13, 2009, 1:39 p.m.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s (R) federal political action committee reported raising just less than $733,000 since it was formed in late January, but it only donated a total of $10,000 to two fellow Republicans.

http://www.rollcall.com/news/36725-1.html

[livetohike]

1. $733 K doesn't sound like much for someone who supposedly

is the darling of the GOP. I don't believe any of the hype the media is pouring on her chances at being a star in the GOP. The more Palin talks, the more obvious it is that she is an idiot.

[flpoljunkie]

2. I think it is a considerable amount for someone who's, at the moment, not running for any office

[livetohike]

3. Was the PAC set up for her, or to fund those who are running

for office :shrug:.

[flpoljunkie]

8. SarahPAC:'Dedicated to building America's future, supporting fresh ideas and candidates who share..'

SarahPAC is dedicated to building America's future, supporting fresh ideas and candidates who share our vision for reform and innovation.

www.sarahpac.com/

How will contributions be spent?

Your support of SarahPac will make it possible for Gov. Palin to continue to be a strong voice for energy independence and reform. By supporting SarahPac, you will allow Gov. Palin to help find and create solutions for America's most pressing problems; priority number one is building a strong and prosperous economy that recognizes hard work, innovation and integrity by rewarding small businesses and hard working American families. SarahPac will support local and national candidates who share Gov. Palin's ideas and goals for our country.

http://www.sarahpac.com/faq/

[livetohike]

9. Innovation

:rofl: Thanks for the link :hi:.

[flpoljunkie]

11. Edited the link to add a bit more from SarahPAC faq's on how money will be spent.

[asjr]

4. When she gets a couple hundred million dollars

will she say I quit again and take the money and run?

[Thrill]

5. Looks like Romney is going to have to spend millions more of his fortune

to lose another primary

[ecstatic]

10. LOL nt

[LiberalFighter]

6. How much has been spent besides the donations?

[FSogol]

7. When will the IRS look into the Palin family shenanigans? n/t

[flpoljunkie]

12. More from Politico on who got the $10K plus expenditures, etc....

While Republicans are hopeful that Palin will be a big fundraising help for them, her PAC hasn’t exactly been a campaign-finance ATM. Since its formation in late January, it appears to have made just two political contributions — $5,000 to Palin’s 2008 running mate, Sen. John McCain, and $5,000 to Alaska’s Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski.

The majority of the money raised by SarahPAC so far has come in the form of “unitemized contributions,” meaning donations of less than $200 each. PACS are not required to name those small donors in their filings with the FEC. The remaining money came through more than 700 different $200-plus contributions made by donors from all around the United States.

According to its FEC records, SarahPAC’s biggest expenditure during the reporting period was the more than $103,000 it spent on EDonation.com, a Virginia-based firm that specializes in online fundraising.

When Palin leaves the governor’s office at the end of the month, she’ll be able to use SarahPAC to underwrite the cost of politically related travel and appearances – as well as to donate up to $10,000 each to federal candidates.


http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/24866.html#ixzz0LAPnNEbC&D

[Catshrink]

15. I thought she hated Murkowski

There was some talk she was going to run against her for Senate. Maybe she realized she'd actually have to do some work though.

[Perky]

13. This is not surprising given where we are in the election cycle.

[LisaM]

14. She probably plans to donate the rest to Neiman Marcus

once she can get her hands on it.

[starroute]

16. It's a "leadership PAC" -- it's supposed to be helping other candidates

Politicians are not supposed to spend the money they raise through leadership PACS on themselves -- in fact, John Doolittle got into trouble for paying his wife fundraising commissions out of his own leadership PAC. They're intended to build personal influence by donating to other politicians, and if Palin isn't doing that, it would be interesting to know exactly what she is spending the money for.

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/robert-schlesinger/2009/01/28/why-sarah-palin-has-launched-her-new-pac-sarahpac.html

SarahPAC is a leadership PAC, a fairly common (the Center for Responsive Politics counted 340 of them in the last election cycle) vehicle for pols who want to play on a national stage. Obama had one, as did Hillary Clinton, and all of the leaders of both parties.

They serve two purposes: Leadership PACs give politicians a fund from which they can make contributions to candidates around the country, building political chits for down the line (a sure sign that Palin is gearing up specifically for a presidential run will be SarahPAC making contributions to New Hampshire and Iowa state-level candidates and parties); and the leadership PAC will also cover her expenses as she flies around the country fundraising and campaigning for Republicans, again stockpiling political chits.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_action_committee#Leadership_PAC

A leadership PAC in U.S. politics is a political action committee that can be established by a member of Congress to support other candidates. The funds cannot be spent to directly support the owner of the PAC's own campaign (such as mail or ads), but may fund travel and make contributions to other campaigns.


http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/industry.php?txt=Q03&cycle=2006

Politicians collect money for their own campaigns — we all know that. But many of them also raise a separate pot of money, commonly called a leadership political action committee, to help other politicians. By making donations to members of their party, ambitious lawmakers can use their leadership PACs to gain clout among their colleagues and boost their bids for leadership posts or committee chairmanships. Politicians also use leadership PACs to lay the groundwork for their own campaigns for higher office. And some use their PACs to hire additional staff—sometimes even their family members—and to travel around the country or eat in some of Washington's finest restaurants.

[mitchum]

17. "Does this orange jumpsuit make my ass look big?"