Saks Fifth Socialism

Democratic "socialism:"

Tweaking the tax code to shift the enormous tax break President Bush gave to his "base"–earners in the top 2% of the country–to those struggling to put food on the table and send their kids to college.

Republican socialism:

Taking $150,000 of money at a time when your candidate is taking public financing for a presidential election to buy an over-priced new wardrobe for the vice presidential nominee.

palin-no-public-funding.jpg

Republican communism:

Using $150,000 for new duds while receiving public financing when your own family doesn’t pay into the presidential public finance fund.

Update: Corrected to reflect that this money came out of RNC funds, not McCain funds.

Update: Saks corrected to spell it like people who shop there would spell it, per brendanx.

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87 replies
  1. Leen says:

    Palin really moves around that world like a natural thief.

    The fat cats are more than willing to share their losses and have tax payers pay for their expenses.

    Forget sharing the profits. Selective “socialism”

  2. Leen says:

    Chris Matthews ripped up Palin again last night.
    Palin’s statement to the second and third graders in regard to the responsibilities of the V.P.
    Palin to the second and third graders “They’re (the V.P.) in charge of the United States Senate if they really want to they can get in there with the Senators and make a lot of good policy changes that make life better”

    When Pat Buchanan tried to make light of her statements by saying that she was talking to second and third graders Matthews responded “she is talking LIKE a second grader”

    Chris Matthews also had Bill Maher on to discuss the Bachman, Palin “anti-American” politics.

    Bill Maher on Matthews interview with Palin last Friday “I love it when you give enough rope to dumb people to hang themselves”
    Maher referred to the Palin/Bachman politics as “being pulled out of Joe the Plumbers crack”

    If you did not watch Hardball last night sure worth it

    I did feel that Matthews missed the opportunity to pound on Cheney and the “barnacle” branch that he has been illegally operating out of. Wonder how many times Palin has met with Cheney? Where did she get those ideas about just what the responsibilities of the V.P. are? I guess those ideas could have been from that boat load of “horny neo-cons” Or from the way she has operated as the Governor of Alaska.
    reply

    Last night’s Hardball basically focused on Palin and Bachman
    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/

  3. Quzi says:

    “Caribou Barbie”

    Green Tea Latte $5.95

    Saks Fifth Avenue: $49,425.74

    Nieman Marcus: $75,062.63

    Private Tutor/Civic Class: $200 an hour

    Being ready for whatever the RNC throws at you: Priceless.

  4. pretzel says:

    All three, Matthews, Olberman and Maddow blistered her last nite on the VP issue. Was well worth watching it.

    I did see the Maher interview. I wish Matthews didn’t hog the camera and let Bill answer the question before he jumped in with another.

    • Leen says:

      I agree. Although I do appreciate Matthews persistent willingness (I really believe he is attacking her because of her lack of understanding on very serious issues) to hammer Palin.

      • readerOfTeaLeaves says:

        FWIW, I didn’t feel Matthews was ‘hammering’ Palin as much as he was peeling her like an onion: this layer = bullshit; the next layer in = more bullshit + stupidity; the next layer in = vapid stupidity…

        Just kind of statement, by statement, by statement.
        I was thoroughly disappointed in Buchanan, but when Matthews sticks to the statements of Palin (and others) he can unpeel some of the b.s. He does it best when he stays cool-headed.

        But wow, was Heather Wilson unbelievable, or what…? I don’t think she can get her head around the reality of Republican socialism.

        Nor does Heather Wilson recognize that K-Street and the McSame lobbyists are really a form of Republican communism.

        ____________
        OT, but worth a click: Google Voter Page now up and functioning. Of interest to most eWheelies: http://googlepublicpolicy.blog…..ation.html

        • Leen says:

          What ever you want to call it he has been “peeling that onion” for weeks now. Weeks. More like since the beginning of Sept

            • Leen says:

              I have been watching him go after Kristol, Frum, Bolton like this after he realized he had been duped back in 2003. ( I swear these guys will not come on his show). Wonder if MSNBC has invited Sarah on Hardball. Would really like to see that one. If Sarah can not face Chris how could she face Putin?

  5. scribe says:

    Her wardrobe cost more than my house.

    And that $5k for makeup? That’s for materials – it’s in line with the prices of them – not the makeup artist. A friend of a friend does makeup for TV and movies (art and artists you’d know and have seen). She would not have been working for the last 7 weeks for only $5k – pros earn far more. Likely the makeup artist is a full-time gig for someone, under a different line item in the campaign.

    A decent dye/touchup job and haircut adjustment, nicely worked in so it isn’t too obvious? Easily a thousand.

    It should be obvious why the McSame campaign was so bent out of shape with that cover photo (was it Time or Newsweek – I forget) that showed her crows-feet…. They felt they should have gotten more for their money.

  6. wavpeac says:

    That 150,000.00$ would save me from my predatory lender, who is fearlessly increasing my fees while in chapter 13 bankruptcy, refusing to endorse an insurance check for 4600.00$, (where I have spent well over 5000.00$ of my personal funds), where they plan to foreclose on my loan the minute my bankrupty is finished. That 150,000 would save me from this nightmare of fearless home stealing.

    I sure as hell wouldn’t be spending that money on clothes.

  7. moistenedbink says:

    Sounds like the spokesperson saying that the plan all along was to donate the clothes to charity is a bit of a concession that they are going to lose. After all if they win Sarah will need something to wear in the White House.

    (Do the girls and Todd have to give their clothes back too?)

    • scribe says:

      Well, for Bristol, it’s not like she’ll be needing those preggers frocks for a while, so she can get rid of them.

      And as to Todd – this will likely be the last time he wears a suit and tie (as opposed to a snomobile coverall) for quite a while. At least until the trial. (Old joke – Q. What do you say to a [insert football school name here] football player in a three-piece suit? A.: The defendant will please rise.)

      Here’s betting Palin buys the clothes from the charity to which their donated come the end of the campaign, at a donation price, using Alaska money. And then post hoc decides they were official business and, using her governor’s super-law-rewriting powers, abandons them as worthless and keeps them.

      • Ishmael says:

        Maybe she’ll put them up on Ebay in a post-election defeat garage sale? Actually, I’m thinking that there might be some significant tax implications for her if she keeps them after the RNC used tax-deductible contributions to buy them for her (or, alternatively, reimbursed Cindy for them on her Amex SuperPlatinum Card.) Nancy Reagan got in trouble when she was First Lady for clothing issues: From Wikipedia’s Nancy Reagan page….

        “Her elegant fashions and wardrobe were also controversial subjects. In 1982, she revealed that she had accepted thousands of dollars in clothing, jewelry, and other gifts, but defended herself by stating that she had borrowed the clothes and that they would either be returned or donated to museums,[66][63] and that she was promoting the American fashion industry.[67] Facing criticism, she soon said she would no longer accept such loans.[67] In practice, in addition to often buying her clothes, she continued to borrow and sometimes keep designer clothes throughout her time as First Lady, which came to light in 1988 based upon statements of several designers,[68] for whom the arrangement was good for their businesses[68] as well as for the American fashion industry overall.[69] After first denying any such activity, none of which had been included on financial disclosure forms,[68] Nancy acknowledged that she had “broken her little promise”[69] by continuing to take loans and expressed through her press secretary “regrets that she failed to heed counsel’s advice” on disclosing them.[70] Such gifts and fashion loans were later determined to be worth about $3 million;[71] the non-reporting of loans under $10,000 in liability was in violation of a voluntary agreement the White House had made in 1982, while the non-reporting of more valuable loans or of any clothes not returned that thus constituted gifts was in violation of the Ethics in Government Act.[68][70][72]

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Reagan#Fashion

  8. Leen says:

    “150,000″ on a wardrobe since Sept. Those Christian values shining bright.

    Has anyone heard anything about our Vets sleeping under bridges or poverty since Edwards screwed himself by screwing whats her name? Obama so focused on the middle class, the poverty issue has been swept under the bridge along with some of our Vets.

  9. Ishmael says:

    Let’s face it, clothing and makeup are legitimate expenses in the TV campaign age, it’s a cost of doing business, but this is over the top and bad messaging, like AIG and the $400000 hotel bill. But, live by the sword, die by the sword. The fauxtrage hissy fit over John Edwards $400 haircut reflected the subtext from Ann Coulter that he was a “faggot”, and it was amazing to me that the RNC was so blind to the culture war that they sent Palin to Neiman Marcus and Saks. It was like she won one of those Queen for a Day Instant Makeover contests instead of running for VP, and the RNC figured they would never get any crap for it despite the huge expense.

    • emptywheel says:

      As soon as I saw Sarah and Cindy together greeting McCain at his plane in the Twin Cities, I was certain Cindy had taken Sarah on a shopping trip. Cindy just had the look of someone who was proud with her creation.

      So the problem is likely at least partly that Cindy doesn’t know you can spend less than $150,000 and dress nicely.

        • pretzel says:

          That’s a good way of putting it,

          My guess, Nieman Marcus and Saks are about 2 steps down for Cindy.

          But it’s 2 steps up for Palin.

          Imagine Cindy McCain at a mall nearest you.

          • bmaz says:

            Imagine Cindy McCain at a mall nearest you.

            ACtually, I have seen Cindy at the mall nearest me.

            Of course, that mall is where the Saks is located in Phoenix.

      • Leen says:

        Wonder how this number compares to what Biden has spent on his wardrobe since he became the V.P. running mate. Why do the girls have to spend more on there clothes than the boys?

        • skdadl says:

          Nobody wears French cuffs like Biden wears French cuffs, but French cuffs don’t cost 150 thou. I notice he hasn’t been wearing them on the campaign trail, though. (Yes, I’m a fan: why do you ask?)

  10. behindthefall says:

    Does anyone recall Nixon’s early-50s defense of his ethics by pointing out Pat’s “good Republican cloth coat”? Plain and honest, worthy to run with Ike, military hero. Here we have Palin, um, not quite up to Nixon’s standard. Then again, maybe McCain isn’t another Ike, so perhaps it all goes together. (We have fallen so far in just half a century …)

  11. klynn says:

    Hey EW,

    Sorry to go OT.

    I hope the emails had something useful on the campaign fraud issues in Ohio. I realize some of it could have questionable provenance.

    • Leen says:

      NPR said Secretary of the State Bruners site back up little damage investigation going on. They are getting hit hard with threats, white powder packages etc. WTF is wrong with people

  12. Leen says:

    Sarah’s shopping spree one of the number one issues on Firedoglake, Huffington Post, Crooks and Liars and Think Progress this morning. Still no stories in the number one position on these sites about the Iraq Vets Against the War who were protesting and arrested outside of the debate last week. Coverage of Joe the Plumber dominated the MSM and the internet after the debate. Our Vets are getting the shaft in the MSM the progressive blogosphere and by our candidates.

    We know the MSM has been ignoring Iraq, our Vets and the critical issues involved in the war based on a “pack of lies”. But it has gotten almost as bad in the blogosphere. (although Laura Flanders and Amy Goodman have been on it)

    Many of our Vets who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan are deeply bothered by what has taken place in regard to the wars. They are being ignored by much of the media
    http://ivaw.org/

    Vets living under bridges
    http://www.socyberty.com/Issue…..dges.82127

  13. perris says:

    the very concept of money IS socialism, it is a social project, we all contribute, we cannot opt out of the project

    socialism

    other socialism;

    roads, bridges, tunnels, electricity to your house, water to your shower, the police, the fire dept

    LAW IS SOCIALISM

    the court system is socialism, laws that keep poison out of your air and cancer out of your kids water is socialism

    public parks and beeches > socialism

    now, why do we have social projects?

    becuase they are services athat everyone needs and would be too expensive producing otherwise

    news flash;

    recovering out assets is NOT “spreading the wealth”, the tax gifts this president gave to the wealthy came from MY pocket and I want my money BACK.

    I am really pissed obama doesn’t use the proper frameing for recovering the middle class assets that were stolen from us

    he will NOT be “taxing the wealthy” he will be “returning middle class assets”

    man I wish he would get this

  14. bell says:

    socialism is the new word to go along side ‘liberal’ it seems…one more ’stupidity bullet’ to entice a few ignoramus.. never any mention of all the ’socialist’ money used to bail out wall st by these same “anti-socialists”… better to fantasize about joe the plumber then discuss hard facts i guess…

  15. Neil says:

    Mika Brzezinski and Chrystia Freeland on Morning Joe thought the clothing costs were entirely understandable. The show was deluged with email with sharp comments to the contrary, one from the Midwest which said, why are $300 dresses good enough for most professional women but not good enough for hockey mom from Alaska? She says she’s just like us but I don’t think so. Oh snap.

    The knuckleheads at the table with Mika and Chrystia were incapable of understanding why Palin’s poll numbers had gone so negative. One guest said it was a result of the financial crisis. They all nodded in agreement. We are lucky that Bush’s incompetence continued for the full eight years because I shudder to think that the press that cannot understand what is wrong with Palin’s candidacy, could not expose her flaws, and it ain’t the clothing bill.

    • Ishmael says:

      Actually, speaking as a Canadian hockey dad, it can be surprisingly expensive to have your son or daughter play hockey. The registration fees range from $300 to $500 for a season or more, and the equipment (especially for a goalie, which my son plays)can range from $500 a year to virtually unlimited if you want to go all out (you can spend $200 easy on a carbon fibre stick). Compared to the $50 it cost to play soccer for the summer hockey is not for the poor.

    • readerOfTeaLeaves says:

      Wow, interesting comment.
      FWIW, I got to visit over the weekend with a number of friends, several of whom wear rings worth more than Sarah Palin’s latest wardrobe costs.

      The comments turned to Obama, and almost all of them fall into that “over $250,000 income” category but they sure all sounded like they’ll be voting Obama. (These women tend to vote for moderate Republicans.)

      The general concensus was, “All right, so if Obama wins, then I’m going to get hit for taxes. That’s not the worst that can happen, and this nation is falling apart. After what I just lost in the markets in six weeks, what’s a little more money out the door?” The consensus (if I heard it correctly) was, ‘It would be cheaper to pay for some decent government — including FBI investigators — than to be expected to foot the bill for massive fraud and incompetence.”

      These women all worked hard for their money and investments, and they’ve had to deal with plenty of ambitious, smarmy opportunitists like Palin. They absolutely **loathe** Sarah Palin.

      • scribe says:

        Oh, yeah.

        I’ve been saying it since pretty much minute one that Palin is the woman other women live (and love) to hate. And, the more accomplished the woman, the more she’s going to hate Palin.

        • readerOfTeaLeaves says:

          That’s a kind comment; I’m sure that Palin and her supporters would strongly disagree, but your observation synchs with what I’ve observed.

          Leen,
          Some people create wealth via inventions: patents, trademarks. So I put wealth that derives from innovations in a different category from sweatshop owners.
          Clearly the tax laws since the early 1980s have taken money from working people and redistributed it upward to an increasingly smaller group.

          • kspena says:

            Just a reminder…Ben Franklin, among others, didn’t think one should be rewarded for one’s inventions. He made all of his inventions public knowledge without monetary return….

      • Leen says:

        always great to hear about people willing to share the wealth. Let’s be honest generally most people’s extreme wealth comes off the back of laborers in some form or another. Most of the wealth is often a direct result of someone down line not getting paid what they should or not having health coverage..some short cut.

        One of the things I admire about the Kennedy family is that they could be sitting on their pillows eating bon bons instead many of them dedicated to the poor, and the middle class. Hope Ted is listening. That man has especially been dedicated to the welfare of the masses.

      • Neil says:

        Many of my friends in the > $250 range feel the same way, mostly because they are social progressives and can’t imagine enduring four more years of Crazy Ivans from McBush.

        • readerOfTeaLeaves says:

          It is heartening, isn’t it?

          They’re a refreshing contrast to Joe the Plumber, who doesn’t seem to think that he owes anyone a damn thing. Government has its problems, but totally trashing and looting it is not a viable solution.

          And O.M.G — that video you linked to is too damn funny.

          skdadl, yeah, I might say something nice about Freep, but he might get BigHeaded or something. Besides, his football teams are doing way better than mine, so why give him more fodder to dish dirt my way ;-))
          Now must go check his Cafferty recommendation –

          kspena @77, yeah — Franklin would probably be an Open Source kinda guy if he were alive today, eh?

  16. Leen says:

    ot
    Happy Birthday skdadl
    Marilyn singing Happy Birthday. Bet she shopped at Saks She could have just as easily been butt ass naked in this video clip. When the cameras shift to the audience some real rubber necking going on to get the best view of her
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4SLSlSmW74

    Here in Appalachia we shop with sacks not at Saks

  17. TheraP says:

    Here’s my question. How exactly did this info leak? Does it mean that some republicans are actually trying to sink this lady and make sure she’s not their 2012 candidate? I honestly have begun to wonder if some people are working from inside to topple their own ticket.

  18. Leen says:

    Chomsky on the “Bewildered Herd”
    People should vote against McCain and for Obama – but without illusions
    video clip
    http://www.informationclearing…..e21067.htm
    “all of the elevated rhetoric about change and hope and so on will dissolve into standards, interest and democrat policies”

    Love this mans brain

  19. brendanx says:

    Saks corrected to spell it like people who shop there would spell it, per brendanx

    I don’t think you meant this the come out this way, at least I hope not. I come off like one of those “elitists”.

    I don’t shop anywhere any more, by the way.

  20. skdadl says:

    Thank you Petrocelli, Leen, and bmaz. I just got back from a lunch that was nicer than I expected, nicer than I deserve — I may be too blissed out to do politics today.

    Leen, I remember that performance. I loved Marilyn, but it is hard to watch that appearance now. Those guys used her so terribly. There is other film of JFK himself watching and laughing — I admired him then, but I find it hard to keep my temper down now.

    Further OT, but I know there are many here interested: Our mostly secret Iacobucci inquiry — into the fate of three Canadians tortured by proxy in Syria and Egypt, kind of a rerun of Arar’s story, and related — reported yesterday, and the report is even more frustrating than these things usually are. As a friend of mine wrote, it’s as though the commissioner said Hi, I’m the new sheriff in town, but they won’t let me talk to anyone; they won’t give me a gun; they won’t let me arrest anyone; and the minister in charge has told me what I can and can’t say. (The minister in charge is a guy who believes that men walked with dinosaurs, and in his case, there’s a case.) Oh, and we think that the U.S., Egypt, and Syria did bad things, but we can’t prove that because they won’t talk to us.

    I will say a bit more when I get over lunch and read a bit further.

    • Petrocelli says:

      Don’t be modest, you deserve much bliss and love.

      If we don’t arrange a meet-up with Marcy after their elections, I will definitely meet you for a toast on behalf of everyone here.

    • readerOfTeaLeaves says:

      Heavens, the nicest High Tea in any of your lovely Canadian Railroad hotels would be only a fitting spot for your birthday. And freep has just left you several little goodies on this thread — like the vast numbers of Yanks who’ve already voted!

  21. freepatriot says:

    george bush has inspired THOUSANDS of Americans

    13 days before the election, and people are standing in line for TWO FUCKING HOURS to cast their ballots early

    ya think those people waiting in line are part of the 25% of America who support presnit numbnuts ???

    or part of the 75% that wouldn’t trust george bush to watch a pile of shit …

    took 8 years, but it looks as if bush has finally united the country

    gonna be awful hard to be a whinny assed titty baby repuglitard in the near future

  22. Leen says:

    Amy Goodman’s interview with Prof Mark Crispin Miller on the election.
    http://www.democracynow.org/2008/10/22/votes
    MARK CRISPIN MILLER: Well, I know because there’s been an audit of the vote in eighteen counties of Ohio by a researcher named Richard Hayes Phillips, who had his team literally scrutinize every single ballot that was warehoused in eighteen Ohio counties. They took over 30,000 digital photographs. This is not speculation, Amy. This is a meticulous, careful, specific and conclusive demonstration that John Kerry actually won some 200,000 votes in those eighteen counties only that were taken away from him. Bush’s official victory margin, you may recall, was about 118,000. So there is no question about it. Ohio was stolen.

    Many of things that Crispin is saying are things that Greg Palast has been saying since the 2004 election.

  23. freepatriot says:

    how can you spend $150,000 on clothes in two months. That’s my household budget for four years

    Cafferty smokes princess pandora

    I TOLD YOU she has a lot more to give …

    I know there are some pretty savvy political animals around here

    can ANYBODY think of a bigger WALKING TALKING DISASTER in national political history

    and Pat Paulson doesn’t count

    even Perot didn’t come close to this level of clusterfuckery

  24. Neil says:

    This clip made ma laugh so hard. Have you ever seen someone open there mouth and insert their foot. We all do it but in this clip McCain keeps digging in deeper and deeper. I laughed so hard I was crynig.

    VIDEO 1 min.

  25. Gitcheegumee says:

    I thought Matthews was pretty mavericky himself-and I’m for one DAMN happy to see him channel his OWN inner zeitgist,lately. I,too, wondered what kind of a salespitch Dick Cheney gave Palin about the VP . Maybe he and Mooselini traded stories about “hunting tales”{not tails}. Dick and his “anointed” successor, a D***less,Cheney.

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