We all heard the Palin’s attempt to beef up her “executive experience” credentials the other night when she said “That luxury jet was over the top, I put it on eBay.” Well it turns out that wasn’t a total lie, but it does show the lengths the Republican Party will go to deceive and manipulate facts to make Palin sound like she is more important than she really is. It is true the plane was put on eBay, but it didn’t sell, so it was sold at an ordinary brick-and-mortar brokerage. So I guess my question is, why insinuate you sold it on eBay? So you listed something on eBay, good for you, so what. Exactly how does that make you qualified to be Vice President? News flash…it doesn’t. If you’re going to take the time to tell a national audience you’re using eBay, at least give them the full story and stop trying to deceive the American people.
John McCain on the other hand, chose to go above and beyond deception, and instead just outright lie. Here’s what Senator McCain said: “You know what I enjoyed the most? She took the luxury jet that was purchased by her predecessor and sold it on eBay — and made a profit.” Does the Republican party really believe they can continue to deceive and lie and get elected? Apparently so and it’s simply shameful
Here’s the full article as reported on CNN.com.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNN) — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin bolstered her fiscal-conservative credentials early in her term by putting her predecessor’s state jet up for auction online.
“That luxury jet was over the top,” she told Republican National Convention delegates when she accepted the party’s vice presidential nomination Wednesday night. “I put it on eBay.”
Since Palin was chosen as Arizona Sen. John McCain’s running mate last week, the story has become a cornerstone of the Republican effort to paint Palin as a reformer who took on her own party establishment.
“How many saw her speech a couple of nights ago? Wasn’t it fabulous?” McCain said Friday during a campaign stop in Cedarburg, Wisconsin. “You know what I enjoyed the most? She took the luxury jet that was purchased by her predecessor and sold it on eBay — and made a profit.”
But it turns out the twin-engine Westwind II was a tough sell on the Web — and the state eventually pulled it offline and sold it through an ordinary brick-and-mortar brokerage, for a loss, a spokeswoman said Friday.
“Governor Palin has been correct in saying that she put the plane on eBay,” McCain campaign spokeswoman Maria Comella told CNN. “They did end up selling it for $2.1 million. but not on eBay.”
Palin’s predecessor, Frank Murkowski, bought the jet for $2.7 million in 2005. The following year, Palin unseated Murkowski in the state’s Republican primary and became governor: Upon taking office, she wanted to unload what former aide Meg Stapleton called “a symbol of corruption.”
Stapleton told CNN that Murkowski paid too much for the jet, and that it was costing taxpayers money just sitting in the hangar.
“Eventually you had to concede and say, ‘How often are we going to pay these bills and waste more state dollars?’ ” she said.
When putting it on eBay failed, aircraft broker Rob Heckmann was called in to sell the jet. Businessman Larry Reynolds bought the five-passenger jet for sold for $2.1 million. And Reynolds is now seeking another $50,000 from the state for unexpected maintenance issues with the aircraft.
– CNN’s Sara Lane contributed to this report
September 5, 2008 -
Posted by
Bob Sacamano |
Barack Obama, Current Events, John McCain, News, Politics, Religion, Sarah Palin, Uncategorized |
|
7 Comments
Obama HQ
you missed the point dumb ass. It was sold. She got rid of it.
Have you ever heard of sarcasm?
If you buy a plane in 2005 for 2.7 million, and sell it a year or two later for 2.1 million, you probably have indeed made a profit.
The plane was “driven off the lot”. It was used for a period of time. The costs of keeping the plane were eliminated when it was sold.
To determine the value of the plane when Palin sold it, you would have to study the selling price of comparable used planes. There must be some kind of Kelly Blue Book for used planes. Somebody knowledgable ought to have a look and inform us, since CNN is not able to do that, it appears.
It looks very much like Palin was telling the truth and CNN has mud on its face AGAIN.
As an Alaskan, this plane move was pure politics. If you overlay the state of Alaska over the US it would stretch from Missouri to California, not counting the Aleutians. A short hop via aircraft is about 350 miles here. Many of her constituents are only accessible by plane. The capitol is only accessible by plane or boat. A plane is needed in this state. The move was pandering to the greatest degree, much like the rest of her platform.
She did the right thing – no need for a plane.
There is ample supply of moose and elk. I’m sure
one of these can help her with transportation.
Think RUDOLPH ON STEROIDS.
It was a joke…Let me elaborate. If you watched the speech unbiasedly you know what I mean, if you haven’t watched it I strongly suggest you do before reading further. The context and way in which she made the statement “I put it on eBay” was meant to be a joke. That also means that she didn’t imply that it sold. If you want to infer that she implied that it sold, thats quite a stretch not to mention taking what she said out of context. Not to be mean…but: This “half-truth” would be like if you dug at concrete with a shovel for 5 minutes and pointed to the pile of dirt that you dug up…there wouldn’t be any dirt, just like there isn’t any here
I don’t think the big thing here is that she said she put it on Ebay when she actually sold it in a brokerage. I think the real issue is A) McCain’s comments on it (in the article you put there) is a deliberate lie and if he’ll lie about this trivial matter, what else will he lie about?
B) The Republicans are blowing this story up WAY bigger than it needs to be in order to paint Palin as a reformer. So she sold a plane, that does not a reformer make, especially when she’s being investigated for at least two different corruption scandals. She was the governor of Alaska for two years and while she sold a plane, she never dug into the bribery scandals that were going on right under her nose? The plane, I predict, will become symbol/talking point for the McCain campaign’s new message of bringing “change” to the White House.
She said she “put” it on Ebay, not that she sold it on Ebay. The former CEO of Ebay was in the audience; it was a humrous reference in deference to her. Who cares how it ultimately got sold? The point is, that she sold it. And she didn’t lie. If that’s the worst people can find on her, I say, “bring her on!”