Wednesday 23 March 2011

Will Sarah Palin's personal finances be revealed?


Moseyon suggested a post about presidential candidates personal financial disclosures. I had a look at the legal requirements and they are:

Personal Financial Reports Filed by Candidates

The Ethics in Government Act, as amended, requires candidates for federal office to file disclosure reports of their personal finances. 5 U.S.C. §101(c). This is a requirement only for individuals who have met the statutory requirements to become candidates. As defined in 11 CFR 100.3, an individual becomes a candidate for federal office when either the individual or a person authorized by the individual to conduct campaign activity on his or her behalf receives over $5,000 in contributions or makes over $5,000 in expenditures.

A personal financial disclosure report must be filed within 30 days after the individual becomes a candidate or by May 15 of the same calendar year, whichever is later, but in any event at least 30 days before the primary or general election. 5 U.S.C. §101(c). Candidates should contact the appropriate office listed below for further information on forms and filing requirements. In addition, Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates must file copies of these reports with the Federal Election Commission. 5 U.S.C. §103(e).

House Candidates: House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, HT-2, The Capitol, Washington, DC 20515 (202/225-7103). Senate Candidates: Senate Select Committee on Ethics, 220 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510 (202/224-2981). Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates: U.S. Office of Government Ethics, 1201 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20005 (202/482-9300).

Candidates who voluntarily register as a candidate with the FEC even though they have not crossed the $5,000 threshold should notify the appropriate Ethics Committee of their voluntary registration.

Sarah Palin's financial disclosure for the 2008 vice presidential campaign:



The income and assets required by the FEC are those of the candidate and the spouse. The reports filed with APOC (Alaska) included income earned by Sarah Palin's children as well:



Will we see Sarah Palin's personal financial reports for 2011?


Considering that her speaker fees are shrouded in mystery and that America by Heart didn't do so well, would she want to make the information public? We would find out if her fees are inflated in public but much more modest in reality, we would find out how much money she made in royalties... we would learn a bit too much, don't you think?

Is he going to run or is she just going to carry on collecting speaker fees, money for her Fox News appearances, donations to her Sarah Pac and other bits and bobs for as long as possible and keep the information about her earnings all to herself?