Sarah Palin is not just a world-class liar; the Washington Post reports that she’s also quite a cheater when she wants to be:

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a “per diem” allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business.
[...]
Palin, who earns $125,000 a year, claimed and received $16,951 as her allowance, which officials say was permitted because her official “duty station” is Juneau, according to an analysis of her travel documents by The Washington Post.
[...]
During her speech at the Republican National Convention last week, Palin cast herself as a crusader for fiscal rectitude as Alaska’s governor. She noted that she sold a state-owned plane used by the former governor. “While I was at it, I got rid of a few things in the governor’s office that I didn’t believe our citizens should have to pay for,” she said to loud applause.

Speaking from Palin’s Anchorage office, (gubernatorial spokeswoman Sharon Leighow) said Palin dealt with the plane and also trimmed other expenses, including forgoing a chef in the governor’s mansion because she preferred to cook for her family.
[...]
She wrote some form of “Lodging — own residence” or “Lodging — Wasilla residence” more than 30 times at the same time she took a per diem, according to the reports. In two dozen undated amendments to the reports, the governor deleted the reference to staying in her home but still charged the per diem.

Incidentally, 312 nights in 19 months is an awful lot, more than 50%. The reason why Palin spent so much time in her hometown in Wasilla, 600 miles away from Juneau, is that she prefers to live there rather than in Juneau even when the legislature is in session:

Palin moved her family to the capital during the legislative session last year, but prefers to stay in Wasilla and drive 45 miles to Anchorage to a state office building where she conducts most of her business, aides have said.

So, although her official duty station is Juneau, she lives and works from Wasilla out of choice, and collects a handsome per diem into the bargain. That doesn’t quite pass the rectitude smell test, does it?

It’ll be fun to watch the McCain campaign spin this one. No doubt Tucker Bounds can do a lot better than Sharon Leighow.

***Update, 5:21 pm on September 10***

From the Anchorage Daily News:

Palin doesn’t require her cabinet members to live in Juneau, and most don’t. A check of records on Tuesday found at least one has charged the state for per diem while staying in his hometown.

It’s that old glass-half-full thing. Sounds like most of Palin’s cabinet stays at home but doesn’t charge the state for per diem.

And then there’s this: the per diem queen who collects per diem for staying at her own house was strongly critical of state legislators collecting a per diem for a special session of the state legislature in Anchorage last summer, including those who do not even live in Anchorage.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin charged taxpayers a per diem for her meals and incidental expenses as governor but was a vocal critic of a similar perk for state legislators.

The Washington Post reported yesterday that, during the first half of 2007, Palin billed the state a “per diem” allowance while she was working from her Wasilla, Alaska, home and away from the state capital in Juneau. She later amended her expense reports so they no longer included the phrase “Lodging — Own Residence,” but still kept the alloted money.

Yet when it came to a historic special session of the state legislature in Anchorage this summer, Palin sharply questioned granting per diems to law makers who traveled to it from distant parts of the state.

The Anchorage Daily News reported that, in July, Palin spoke out against costs associated with the seven-hour special session 600 miles from Juneau held June 26. Each legislator was granted a per diem of between $208 and $278 to be used on meals and hotels during the session. Anchorage sits just south of Wasilla.

That price tag, the paper reported, struck Palin as too high.

“That makes absolutely no sense, that a seven-hour meeting costs our Legislature over $100,000,” Palin said. “What the heck were they charging the state for then?”

Good question, lady! I think they were charging the state for board and lodging while required to travel on state business away from home. Your turn now. What the heck were you charging the state for?