Palin's full speaking contract revealed
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/05/13/art.palin.0505f.gi.jpg caption =" A judge has ordered the contents of Palin's speaking contract with a California school to be made public."](CNN) – So just what does it take to get Sarah Palin to speak at your fundraising gala?
A "deluxe" hotel suite, a first class ticket or a private jet ("Lear 60 or larger"), pre-selected audience questions, and "bendable" straws – not to mention the $75,000 in cash.
That's according to Palin's speaking contract with Cal State Stanislaus – ordered to be released by a California judge this week after the state school refused to make the document public last June.
California Attorney General Jerry Brown began an investigation in April into whether school officials were trying to avoid public disclosure laws by discarding documents. A state senator asked for the probe after he said the school refused to turn over some requested records concerning the event.
The university argued it was not compelled to release the contract because Palin was speaking at a fundraiser for the university's private, non-profit foundation.
But Stanislaus Superior Court Judge Roger Beauchesne disagreed, saying the foundation ultimately was a branch of a public entity and therefore documents relating to its business must be made public pursuant to public record laws.
"The reasonable inference from the evidence produced is that the university, in its official capacity, has 'used' the contract…in the conduct of the public's business; therefore, said contract is also a public record," Beauchesne wrote in his opinion delivered earlier this week.
Much of the contents of the contract had already been revealed: the school had previously disclosed how much it paid the former Alaska governor and portions of the contract were discovered in a dumpster by students last April.
Still, the document provides a revealing picture of the types of demands an A-list speaker can make, and serves as a reminder that no detail is too small to omit - from the lighting ("should be at a comfortable, but appropriate production level"), to the water ("unopened bottled still"), to the lectern ("no plexiglass or thin lectern please").
The June 25 speech came after months of controversy amid charges the financially-strapped school was paying too much to secure Palin.
But the Alaska governor's speech ultimately brought in record amounts of money for the foundation, and a school spokeswoman called the gala "the most successful fundraiser in the university's history."
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I do not understand as to why this wicked lady, and stupid brain on the news.....what is taking here???? She is totally stupid and bum....nonsense for the nation....no wonder this nation has been despised so much...by even third world nations...
The hockey mama grizzly can't live without her bendable straws.
Palin = Joke
Anyone who thinks Sarah Palin is out there for the good of the country is a fool and deserves to be separated from their money.
Palin is in this for Palin. She's cashing in before her moment in the sun fades.
"Look at my pretty hair and wonderful clothes – aren't I cute – look at me". That is her persona. Looks like the Republican Schmidt, McCain Campaign Director had it right : D I V A!
"Preselected audience questions" Really? You're kidding, Sarah Palin? Is that so she can write the appropriate talking point answers her people (you know, the ones who can actually read) feed her on her hand? Wow CNN, you almost have a record number of Palin stories on the Ticker today. Like I've often said, "Sarah Palin, brought to you by your friends at CNN. Sarah's personal news organization!"
The contract clause "pre-selected audience questions" pretty much says it all about this woman's level of intelligence.
The article forgot to include the other contract clause about not allowing any cameras to get close enough to see her cliff notes written on her palms!
Sarah – you are such a joke!
pre-selected audience questions?
sure is nice to know people are honest about
the issues they will face in public.
Big money, smart business, pea brain
And why is this so different than what other politicians demand when speaking at various events? Just ask Bill Clinton how much he charges, as well as other ex-governors and Vice Presidents!
Can you say "Prima Donna," boys and girls?
And how many tax dollars were wasted to "reveal" the specifics of a speaking engagement contract? This partisian nonsense has gotten completely out of hand. I don't care what side of the aisle you sit on, this is ridiculous!!
Okay, that is ridiculous. Who is Sarah Palin? A governor who quit her post before her tenure ended. This woman is not worth Monopoly money. I wish people would stop listening to her. She has nothing of substance to say. Now, repudiate that!
Such a DEAL! For HALF that price I'll come to speak to your group- and I even know geography and current events. I can't see Russia from my house, but remember I'll come for HALF of what she's asking!
Sorry my fellow Americans. This woman so called Sarah Palin is the money monger. (sorry I never thought I would use such words in my entire life, but am forced because of her behaviour)! If one would try to think that she was once a governor, she talked with various people before she quited her job. She was not charging not even a single penny then, how come after not having any responsibility she is going after the gold (money)! She is totally the person anyone can describe! Absurd!
Even though this should once and for all end the "She's one of us!" crap that her supporters like to endlessly repeat, they'll find some way to justify it.
And could someone please for the love of god inform this woman what the First Amendment actually means?
They got a good deal considering the money she brought in. of course her detractors hate her more than they care 4 education and any good the money will do. pretty evil of her to bring in that kind of money 4 a university. totally transparent scheme. right wing conspiracy if u ask me. 😉
Compare that to what Clinton gets for his appearances, and it's chump change. Good for you, Sarah. If you can get it, get it.
This compulsion and plain hatred towards one woman is indeed what I call a sickness that has gone beyond simply one woman running for office but something far worse in what seems to be a liberal desire to crush this woman no matter what. We have Trumka up in Alaska attacking her yet I seem to have missed her name appearing somewhere on the Nov. ballot. This contract would never have been in dispute with any other speaker, and only because it is her was it brought into question. As a woman, I don't agree with everything she says or does, but I certainly can not tolerate this blind hatred toward anyone. It is worse than what we witnessed Obama supporters do to Hillary Clinton during the primaries.
didnt she dispute and make fun of the facts of this when they were leaked? again, just looking out for number 1, no matter how many lies/fibs have to be told. don't want to seem fickle, sarah, your adoring public might find out the truth about you...
".....not to mention the $75,000 in cash."
In cash!! She demands CASH!! That's like being paid under the table; trying to avoid claiming the entire amount as income on her tax return. Oh, Sarah you are quite the greedy slickster! I wonder how many other speaking contracts she has signed for cash payments – probably all of them.
"You pay me $75K, I only claim $5K of it, then that leaves $70K I can hide from Uncle Sam. And if I did that for ALL of my appearances and speaking engagements, yippee Todd, we're rich!!!!!"
Some of these organizations that agree to pay her in cash are raising a red flag to their accounting and audit departments. Let's see Slick Sarah's tax return!! She'd most likely be under the jail for tax evasion or in a "deluxe" cell suite with "bendable" straws.
Just think, that $75,000 could have gone to students who have had their classes cut and graduation schedule completely dismembered leaving them further in debt, longer without a degree and stuck taking classes that hardly count towards something they find interesting. But hey, at least Sarah picked up some g's!
That's called sticking it to your followers. Palin is a female version of Lonesome Rhodes.
Yeah, she is just a "regular middle class person" right? You betch! (wink, wink)
I can't wait to read all the "Obama teleprompter" wing nuts trying to spin this story in Palin's favor.
This woman is a moron, it was ok for Dr laura to repeatedly use the n word but the word retard is off limits. Sarah Palin is a retard and no one can refudiate that