Palin Says She's "Everyday Working Class" Despite $250K Income, 5 Properties, 2 Boats, And 1 Plane

[babylonsister]

And per KO, she defines herself as Joe Sixpack? How vice presidential. :eyes:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/30/palin-says-shes-everyday_n_130711.html


Palin Says She's "Everyday Working Class" Despite $250K Income, 5 Properties, 2 Boats, And 1 Plane
Jed Lewison
September 30, 2008 07:43 PM


This defines being out of touch. On Hugh Hewitt's radio show, Sarah Palin calls herself "an everyday working class American" -- but the truth is that her family income is $250K and she owns five properties, two watercraft, and an airplane.

Here she was on Hewitt's show:

Todd and I, heck, we’re going through that right now even as we speak, which may put me again kind of on the outs of those Washington elite who don’t like the idea of just an everyday working class American running for such an office.

The Washington Times (who'd have thunk it?) puts the lie to her claim:

Their combined income of nearly a quarter-million dollars last year was five times the median household income for Wasilla's 7,000 residents. They own a single-engine plane, two boats, two personal watercraft and a half-million-dollar, custom-built home on a lake that is worth three times the average of other homes in town. For the future, they also have a 401(k) retirement account compliments of Todd Palin's years as an engineer with oil giant BP.

So I guess the question is: who's more out of touch, Palin or McCain?

[davepc]

1. a plane isn't really that unusual in Alaska.

It's a big state without a lot of roads.

Then again, she dosen't exactly live out in the bush.

[babylonsister]

3. From the Times article...

a plane might not be unusual and I realize one might come in handy, but it seems not too many other people own one.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/30/wealth-makes-palins-no-ordinary-alaskans/

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has introduced her family to the nation as small-town common folk since she burst onto the scene as the surprise pick for the Republican vice-presidential nominee last month. A check of financial records, though, shows the Palins live anything but a common life when compared with their fellow residents of their hometown of Wasilla.

Their combined income of nearly a quarter-million dollars last year was five times the median household income for Wasilla's 7,000 residents. They own a single-engine plane, two boats, two personal watercraft and a half-million-dollar, custom-built home on a lake that is worth three times the average of other homes in town.

[MUAD_DIB]

5. What percentile of Alaska natives own planes?

[davepc]

8. Own? don't know. but there are more pilots in Alaska per capita then anywhere else in the US.

Air transport

...

Regular flights to most villages and towns within the state are commercially viable are challenging to provide, so they are heavily subsidized by the federal government through the Essential Air Service program. Alaska Airlines is the only major airline offering in-state travel with jet service (sometimes in combination cargo and passenger Boeing 737-400s) from Anchorage and Fairbanks to regional hubs like Bethel, Nome, Kotzebue, Dillingham, Kodiak, and other larger communities as well as to major Southeast and Alaska Peninsula communities. The bulk of remaining commercial flight offerings come from small regional commuter airlines such as Era Aviation, PenAir, and Frontier Flying Service. The smallest towns and villages must rely on scheduled or chartered Bush flying services using general aviation aircraft such as the Cessna Caravan, the most popular aircraft in use in the state. Much of this service can be attributed to the Alaska bypass mail program which subsidizes bulk mail delivery to Alaskan rural communities. The program requires 70% of that subsidy to go to carriers who offer passenger service to the communities. Perhaps the most quintessentially Alaskan plane is the Bush seaplane. The world's busiest seaplane base is Lake Hood, located next to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, where flights bound for remote villages without an airstrip carry passengers, cargo, and lots of items from stores and warehouse clubs. Alaska has the highest number of pilots per capita of any U.S. state: out of the estimated 663,661 residents, 8,550 are pilots, or about one in 78.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska

http://www.faa.gov/data_statistics/aviation_data_statistics/civil_airmen_statistics/2005/media/air5-05.xls

[October]

11. Most can't afford the insurance for private planes! /nt

[secondwind]

2. Sarah is out of touch with her Brain!!!

[liberal N proud]

4. That is the elite definition of everyday working class

The rest of us are peasants

[5X]

6. coz she doesn't make 5 million. n/t

[knowbody0]

7. ya forgot those skeeeeeeeeeeeeeedoooooos

dontcha know?

[torbird]

9. Does Obama own a plane? Does Biden?

I don't think they do. Anyone know?

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

10. WHERE are her tax returns?

And if she files separately, we need to see Todd's, too.

[Aloha Spirit]

12. They are coming out Friday.

[October]

13. Most couldn't afford the insurance on a private plane. /nt

[WindRiverMan]

14. Most Alaskans have a plane, a boat, or snowmachines

The state has no roads, and I mean NO ROADS. There are no county roads, no two-tracks- nada. Most people who live in Alaska do so for the outdoor experience. The fishing, the hunting, the camping, the boating, it is like nowhere else in America. A lot of the slope workers work two weeks on two weeks off, a bunch of them live in the lower 48. Those who stay, like to play. To enjoy Alaska, you need to access it. Therefore a boat, a plane, etc. I have a boat and a raft. Really, it is just like making another car payment. You can pick up a decent used boat for less than most cars. Planes....now they are expensive. A supercub will run you about 70K, however, many old timers have thier planes from long ago. They run, but they are not tricked out by any means.

I had a cabin cruiser boat, my neighbor had a plane, my other neighbor a camper, the guy across the street had a cataraft. The one guy down the street had a C Dory boat and a small plane. It is not uncommon. It is the way you live where there are no roads.