So our Sarah is building a chateau nextdoor to the house Todd built and has designs on another adjacent house...
OK. She can do that. She could build an island in the middle of lake Lucille and put a castle there, it would look great, really regal!
But these things cost a lot of money and I'm worried Sarah may have some trouble with that. A real state developer from Alaska estimates the price of the plot where the construction is going on at around $200,000. Add the cost of materials and contractors and we're talking big money. These things always cost more than the initial estimate, don't they?
Sarah Palin made a few dollars with one of her thousands speaking engagements, but that would cover just the purchase of the land. Yes, she may have pocketed a handsome advance for her book, but she would have to sell a pile of books to earn the advance before she makes any actual money out of the deal. Since "Going Rogue" went on pre-order sale, the price has been slashed to less than half of the original cover value and Newsmax is offering free copies to people who subscribe to their magazine. It doesn't bode well.I'm not sure her appearance at a Milwaukee right to life gig will bring in enough badly needed dollars. According to her Linkedin profile, she's looking for job opportunities. Let's not forget that Todd is unemployed, which is not very helpful when paying for building materials and contractors. At least I expect they're paying the contractors on this occasion. Their original house was built by Todd and his buddies, but in the absence of building permit requirements in Wasilla, we don't know exactly what happened there. Well, Sarah is nothing if not transparent...
Another source of dollars is the Alaska Fund Trust. Yes, yes, it was supposed to pay her legal fees, but the wording of the trust document is somewhat vague and it could really be used for anything, provided the trustee approved. The trustee is beauty queen, dairy industry expert and real estate agent extraordinaire Kristan Cole. She would approve anything Sarah Palin asked for, no questions asked.The accounts and list of donors were supposed to have been made public in July. Has anybody seen them? Me neither. I find the whole thing a bit odd. Sarah wrote "thank you" notes to a number of donors to the fund with which she had no involvement but her trustee failed to disclose anything about any of it as promised on the official Sarah Palin legal fund website. The last we heard about it was that it was frozen and they had not touched a cent of the money, pending some investigations regarding the legality of the legal fund itself.
I know it's rude to discuss other people's money troubles, but I'm curious...
Sarah Palin owed half a million dollars in legal fees. Is her lawyer still waiting for his money? Did she pay him out of the book advance she hasn't earned back yet? Did she pay him with the money she was paid for the Hong Kong speech? How did she pay for the land nextdoor to her house? If she's going to buy the white house, where is the money going to come from? How did she pay for the materials for the chateau? Are the contractors being paid?Unless Murdoch considers her book advance a gift and doesn't expect the sales to earn the money back, it doesn't seem prudent to be spending at the present rate...
PS - Are there any tax experts/book contract experts who could help clarify the conjectures about tax-free gifts and clauses that may be included in book contracts regarding advances? Your input is most welcome...
(Kristan Cole photo: AP)
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