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Palin Plane Not Sold on e-bay, not for a profit, sold to GOP contributor

Posted by JAZZ SHAW, Assistant Editor in Politics.
Sep 5th, 2008 | Comments

Just today, for one of the few brief minutes we got to see Sarah Palin in public, John McCain enthusiastically related the story of how she took the former Governor’s plane and sold it on e-bay “and she made a profit on it.” Apparently… not so fast.

One of the compelling anecdotes about Sarah Palin is that she auctioned off the Alaska governor’s jet on eBay after taking office — a swift move made by a reformer hoping to clean up the excesses of her predecessor.

But in fact, the jet did not sell on eBay. It was sold to a businessman from Valdez named Larry Reynolds, who paid $2.1 million for the jet, shy of the original $2.7 million purchase price, according to contemporaneous news reports, including a story in the New York Times.

Dan Spencer, the director of administrative services for Alaska’s Public Safety Department, said that the Republican speaker of the Alaska House, John L. Harris, brokered the deal.

It also appears that Larry Reynolds was a repeat donor to the GOP. Now, let’s get down to business. She ran on a promise to get rid of the plane, and she certainly did. However, with our GOP nominee for president out on the trail today still telling this story, how well did he really know Sarah Palin? And how closely has he checked into the various stories she has told?

UPDATE: Reader SilverTEE e-mails with an at least partially pertinent point.

I hope you have some sort of proof that John McCain already knew the plane was sold privatly (sic)

If I wasn’t clear enough above, fair enough. This is not a story about John McCain. It’s a story about Sarah Palin. If you watch the video (which is now flying across the MSM and will certainly be on the blogs shortly) you will see that McCain is at a campaign stop today, Friday, Sept. 5, 2008, telling this story with Sarah Palin standing behind him smiling and cheering. The story was originally perpetrated by Palin and has swept across the media. I’m more than willing to admit that McCain doesn’t use “The Google” (though he is aware of the Internet) and probably had no idea. The point of this story is that Palin allowed him to tell the story to the cheering crowd without correcting him, knowing that it was a falsehood. Again… not a McCain story – a Palin story.

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Ron Beasley

She is the perfect modern Republican - a pathological liar.

Jazz

Ron, it's not just that. Watch the footage on CNN of McCain's speech. (Which should be all over the blogsphere shortly, since it's on CNN and MSNBC right now) McCain told the story with Palin standing RIGHT NEXT TO HIM smiling and cheering. And she knew the story was a lie.

GeorgeSorwell

I was hoping for something a little more substantial than a blog post, even one from the Washington Post.

So, the Post has a link to a contemporaneous account (dated August 25, 2007) in the New York Times that says the following:

In December, barely a week after being inaugurated, Ms. Palin said the plane would be sold on eBay. One serious offer was posted, for a similar price, but the deal fell apart when the state hesitated on the terms and the prospective buyer found another jet, said Dan Spencer, director of administrative services for the Public Safety Department.

A report at the Politico says Palin only claimed to have listed it on e-Bay, and McCain exaggerated the rest.

As for McCain's claim that the used plane was sold for a profit, that seems on its face like a claim that you can sell your used car for a profit. Pretty dumb.

I'd say this is about McCain's tendency to exaggerate. That's something I find troubling about him. But I imagine he'll be given a pass by most people.

I don't think the claim that this proves McCain is a liar will, er, fly.

Though this is another little problem Palin has lead him into.

lurxst

Here's a nice local article on Palin. The reporter lives in Canada but reports on Alaska quite a bit. Reminds me of the kind of reporting in my local indy paper, which despite its hyperbole, usually contains many threads of truth.

http://thepoliticalcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/

*discovered its from the political curmudgeon blogs, changed the link.

D. E.Rodriguez

Joe, good post.

I see several possibilities:

1. Palin flat out lied about it...(what else has she lied about, and what else will she lie about? )

2. Palin mis-spoke...(What else has she mis-spoken about?)

3. Palin was misconstrued, taken out of context, mis-understood , mis-quoted (How often do we hear that from politicians?)

4, Palin was lied to by her satff (She has been good at firing folks, for lesser reasons...let's see if she fires this or these ones)

5. Palin forgot about it (That doesn't speak well of her memory, a memory she desperately needs to complement the top of the ticket)

6. The blogs and the media are lying (It has happened before)

7. Palin didn't know about it/ wasn't informed about it (She is not such great an executive as she claims to be, if this is the case...she should have known about the sale of a a $2.7 million Alaskan government asset, and then at a loss)

I am sure folks will agree with one or more of these possibilities, perhaps according to their political leanings, perhaps not, or that they will come up with additional opitions.

Whatever happens, it is just another blemish the governor--and McCain-- will have to tend with, as a result of his desperate, shoot-from-the-hip attempt to "balance the ticcket."

elrod

I think there's a Clintonian truth to this. Palin "put the plane on eBay." But she failed to sell it on eBay and ended up selling through traditional means for a loss. McCain lied when he said she "sold" it on eBay.

Considering how tone-deaf they are on the Bridge to Nowhere, however, I bet she says she "sold" it on eBay tomorrow.

Ricorun

They all need intelligent bark collars.

JSpencer

Is it really so hard to tell the truth???

Lurxst, I read the article from that link. Rather disturbing...

Rico, I get positive results using high value treats like hot dogs and smoky links when training my own dogs. . . oh wait, you're talking about people. Nevermind...

onleyone

what really gets me PO'd is that she claims (and i assume, believes) she is a practicing christian. having been raised in the Assembly of God church myself, i can recall no single place in the bible or other literature where it allows special exceptions for "Thou shalt not bear false witness".

if she is as "saved" as she claims, she should walk the walk. i have no respect for anyone who uses their faith as a selling point, and utterly loathe those who besmirch it it to suit their own purposes.

AustinRoth

Again, the smearing from the Right. She never said 'sold on e-bay'; she said 'listed on e-bay'. So, by the time it gets to McCain, it gets jumbled up (no surprise there to anyone who played they grade school game of 'pass the message around the room'.

So, is it 'McCain was given incorrect information'? No. Was it 'The story got garbled'? No. Except for GeorgeS, who was reasonable why pointing out the problems of the statement, was it "McCain/Plin exaggerated"? No. It was that favorite term of the Left towards ANY misstatement from the Right, 'A LIE".

How long until we hear how many people died from this lie?

And again, what a wonderful level of discourse on this issue by some - "a pathological liar"; questioning her right to call herself a Christian.

Bah. Humbug.

moddoctor

Regardless of how this story became an untruth. It's not a true story.

The Right has become legendary for their inability to tell the truth about the simplest things. Whether a malicious lie or an uncorrected untruth ceases to be relevant in the face of repeated breaches of trust.

AustinRoth, why is it so much to expect that even the simplest things can be related in ways that relate reality rather than jumbled messes if not outright lies? Don't we all deserve better regardless of religious affiliation?

onleyone

AR:

yes, "humbug", that's exactly what we're discussing here. however the claim came about, however it has morphed, and whether mcCain knew it was an untruth or not, the lady herself knew it, just as she did with the "Bridge to Nowhere" story that somehow ended up in her convention speech the other night.

SHE is the one who represents herself as a christian. leftist bias, humbug, call it whatever you wanna call it, but she has borne false witness, not once but several times already, publicly....

and sure, call commentators on THEIR discourse, and THEIR tone, use all the little pet names you like for the people you disagree with -- it's the easiest way to escape having to admit your favored candidate is in the wrong. how can you fault others when she fails by her very own set of standards?

imagine for a moment if obama said he was FOR the surge, when he was actually against it, no matter what the evidence plainly showed; or, that a surrogate in his campaign made the claim, and obama failed numerous times to correct the obvious mistake. would you argue so vociferously that it mattered little because, after all, no one died because of that lie? or would you claim that it gave us a glimpse into his character, and that maybe, just maybe, he didn't take his faith as seriously as he says he does?

i would be very pleased if you could answer that hypothetical in a straightforward manner, with no references to "left-wingers", the "level of discourse", or any other distraction that doesn't deal directly with the rightness or wrongness of the perpetuation of an explicit falsehood. so, if you please....

daveinboca

The usual suspects here are starting to show their desperation. Has anyone even tried to get the story on how Barack got money for his wife's cushy $350K job at the U. of Chicago Hospital by scoring USG grant money? Or how BHO really got that piece of land paid for by Rezko in a million-dollar home.

And the quibbling nitpickers here are all agog about how she sold the state plane, which was an exercise is getting rid of corrupt overspending by the state govt.

Barack has as many corrupt uninvestigated friends like Rezko & this bunch is p-o'd about selling an expensive jet to save money.

You all are whistling past the graveyard----looks pretty grim for Obama & his uninvestigated pals. Oh yeah, and his broken promise to run on public funding---doesn't bother this crowd, cuz breaking a promise and lying is okay for the entitlement crowd.

Hypocrites!

onleyone

daveinboca:

i think my request might apply to you, as well. "the usual suspects" indeed. for me to be a hypocrite, it would require that i deny democratic falsehoods while asserting those about republicans. i have done no such thing.

obama did indeed break his word about public spending. he went back on his word when he supported the FISA do-over. yes, the home sale was shady, but rezko had not come under the spotlight yet, and even obama didn't have full knowledge of his crooked dealings. and etc, etc. (though when you make real, factual claims like that, generally it's best to present sources, as jazz did when posting.)

let me make it clear. i am not a democrat. i simply dislike the republican party -- at this point in time -- less than i do the democrats. lesser of evils and all.

i have yet to see you post anything substantive. anything to say besides simply cheering your team and ignoring factual arguments that you disagree with?

CStanley

Good thing you found something to move on to, since it doesn't appear that the last one has panned out:
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/09/05/another-p...

You know, I did hear that Palin was once fined for fishing without a license. Better get moving on that one, it hasn't gotten much play yet.

StockBoySF

I have two thoughts on this.

1.) The State of Alaska, wealthy from oil revenues (taxes) and all that money they get from the federal government can't afford a jet, whereas the McCains have their own private jet (probably worth more than the one Palin sold).

2.) Where is Joe Lieberman when McCain needs him whispering corrections in his ear?

3.) (I know I said I had two thoughts, I lied- so sue me.) This whole conversation about whether McCain knew the real circumstances or not is absolutely ridiculous. Of course he knew. The point of the story is to show how management savvy Palin is (not!). the story didn't come out of a vacuum... he and his campaign (including Palin) went through her record to cull out any piece of information they could present favorably to the public. Not much there so they have to embellish and make up stuff. McCain didn't think the public would find the truth. Remember McCain is the man who denied ever saying something, when there is film footage showing him saying exactly what he denies. And what more convincing does one need when Palin heard him tell the story about the plane and supported it.

AustinRoth

Hey onleyone - why don't you actually know what the F you are talking about before try to you call people out on their positions? If you really were anything other than a newbie troll (now I calling people trolls! It's contagious), you woul dknow I have been consistant in saying she was a terrible choice.

FYI - get a spellchecker. It's either onlyone, or maybe you meant lonelyone!

AustinRoth

Wow SBSF, my opinion of you just went way up. Re: your item 3. I didn't know you had such an in to the McCain campaign. You part of the inner circle discussions?

D. E.Rodriguez

austinroth is right when he says:

"She never said 'sold on e-bay'; she said 'listed on e-bay'. "

Just two comments:

1. Palin is a very smart woman. Didn't she realize that by saying that, people would assume--as most of us in fact did--that the plane was actually sold on e-bay?

2. When McCain gleefully "reported" that his new-found Messiah sold the airplane of e-bay AND at a profit, the new rock star applauded and cheered him on. Couldn't she, as stockboy suggested, have done a Lieberman and whispered in his ear the truth?

jwest

I had to check the byline twice on this article.

Jazz, I’m sorry to say you have disappointed me to no end. This could easily have been one of Shaun’s most balanced articles, but to be written by you, well, it’s sad.

A governor runs on a reform ticket and promises to sell the state’s jet.

She puts it on Ebay.

The state receives an offer, but doesn’t sell due to the terms and conditions.

The state ends up selling at a similar price to another buyer.

Summary: New reform governor sells state jet to save taxpayer dollars.

It takes a lot of contortions to make this into something negative, but I guess if someone is bound and determined to find something bad in every story, they can do it.

Once again, the list of credible authors shrinks.

CStanley

D.E., I'm guessing she did realize that, just as she probably realized that the point of the story was selling the jet, and no one really cares if it was sold via e bay or not. The only part of the story that's remotely relevant (and very remotely at that) is that perhaps the sale didn't yield quite as much as she had intended it to (though it's certainly not clear what the actual value of it was- getting less than the asking price doesn't prove that there was no profit, and it's likely that this still put cash in the coffers and saved on the operating costs of the plane anyway.)

D. E.Rodriguez

From a very positive article in the very reputable Dutch newspapaper "De Pers" (http://www.depers.nl/buitenland/241141/Sarah-de...

"Een moeder die als burgemeester haar eigen salaris verlaagde en als gouverneur het vliegtuig dat ze van de staat had gekregen, verkocht op eBay. "

Translation:

"A mother who as mayor lowered her own salary and as governor sold the airplane that she had gotten from the state, on e-Bay"

But, then again, the Dutch don't understand English very well.....

jwest

Just to clear up any question as to the jet’s value, that was determined on Ebay.

The bidding on Ebay was not restricted to rich, Alaskan GOP contributors. Everyone had an opportunity to bid, which (if sold) sets the price in an open marketplace.

Note to liberals who don’t understand economics: Something is worth exactly what a willing and able buyer will pay to a willing seller.

When the plane didn’t sell on Ebay, a buyer purchased it for a similar price to the high bid through a broker.

Note to liberals who aren’t very well versed in private jet purchasing: Out of all the objects someone may buy, a jet, with it’s myriad of paperwork, the need for a thorough inspection by reliable A&P mechanics and the legal/tax implications is one of the things someone would be a fool to do without the help of a competent aviation broker.

Ricorun

My understanding is that Palin's mayoral salary was reduced (from $68,000 to $64,000, I believe) when the town hired a supervisor to run the day-to-day operations of the town. I'm not sure why that was decided or how involved she was in those decisions. But I'm quite sure it reduced her workload.

onleyone

AustinRoth:

it only took you all night to think of that -- your parents must be so proud! my last name is Onley, btw. have you ever heard of a "play on words"? "now I calling people trolls" -- maybe you should take your own advice, re: spellchecker.

neither you nor your friend have addressed my question. i know it's a lot easier to call names than actually make a real argument, but you should really try it sometime.

AustinRoth

Sorry on the name thing onley, should have thought of that.

You should have read all my posts in this thread. I made my point about the issue. I also pointed out I am not, in any way, a Palin supporter.

I also didn't start the bomb-throwing between us, you did. If you cannot take it (and respond with some wit like ChrisWWW) go crawl back to Kos.

Lastly, I needed a grammar checker for the error you pointed out, not a spellchecker. You got that wrong, too.

onleyone

it may surprise you, but i'm not a big fan of the DailyKos.

AR: "I also pointed out I am not, in any way, a Palin supporter."

not in this thread, you haven't. but i don't give a d@mn where exactly you say you stand on palin. she lies. obama lies. politicians lie. i just want the smart people in charge.

and, no, you started the "bomb-throwing" by referring to one of my own posts, which appeared before either of yours. i read the thread before replying; maybe you should re-read.

but this is tiresome. ad hominem attacks solve nothing. why won't you respond to what i actually said in the first place? because, i think, you really don't have a response -- not a reasonable one, anyway.

ChrisWWW

AR is trying to disarm me with kindness...

*********
This lie in and of itself isn't a big deal. It's about an inconsequential story. I would probably put it somewhere below Hillary's Sniper fib.

The problem is that it's one lie of many packed into an eventful two weeks. McCain has repeatedly lied about Obama's tax plan (FOX News and WSJ have even said as much). McCain and Palin have lied about Obama's bipartisan legislative record, claiming he has none. McCain and Palin have lied about the Bridge to Nowhere. McCain and Palin have lied about her opposition to earmarks and Ted Stevens.

After you strip away those lies, you see the true face of an ugly and cynical McCain campaign. You're left with a VP pick that has little reformist credentials AND little experience. You're left with an economic policy that apparently can't survive on the merits. You're left with a candidate that's rushing to trade in his integrity and respect in a bid to be President.

Leonidas

The plane was put on ebay, but it didn;t sell there. Sure Palin was technically incorrect, but trying to make something out of this betond that is kinda silly. How many of Biden's, Obama's, or McCain's claims on any issue doesn't have a similar bit of inaccuracy in it or worse? You can go over to fact check and find issue after issue after issue where the facts are misrepresented somewhat. Its not nearly as bad as, for example.

ChrisWWW

Leo,
Read my comment. This isn't just one lie, it's part of a pattern of lies.

D. E.Rodriguez

CStanley:

Points well taken, except for "The only part of the story that's remotely relevant (and very remotely at that) is that perhaps the sale didn't yield quite as much as she had intended it to..."

I believe that the following is very relevant, perhaps even more relevant than the "original little white lie," That is, that there is your Vice-Presidential candidate cheering and whooping it up when her mentor gleefully explains how is VP pick sold the plane on e-bay and made a profit on it (one must assume that the profit was also made on e-bay)

Thanks for your feedback

daveinboca

I lived in Chicago for ten years prior to moving to Florida a few years ago. Rezko was a notorious slumlord paying off politicians right & left, the Chicago Trib & Sun-Times intimated without making direct accusations. Rezko "had not come under the spotlight yet" but a State Senator like Obama would know that this kingpin of the slums was making hundreds of millions off poor blacks on the South Side because of the connivance of politicians. For Obama to accept financing & easement from this guy is on a par with Bill Clinton's relations with Monica Lewinsky, in a moral & ethical context.

The media strains every gnat concerning the Alaska governor's sale of a plane & firing a trooper who threatened to kill members of her family, tasered his stepson age 11, was caught drinking in his police vehicle, shot game out of season, and used a crooked union to get him reinstated after the head of the State Troopers had got him put on unpaid leave.

Yet the MSM swallows large camels when it comes to Rezko [whose financing is still opaque & perhaps from overseas], Ayers [who admits to felonies & served with Obama & is unrepentant about his terrorism activities] and Wright, whose racist rhetoric is on tape. Even Obama's spouse has bad-mouthed the USA. Yet she admitted on 60 Minutes last year that she thought black men were discriminated against because of their disproportionate numbers in prison. And how she was afraid her husband would be shot----on 60 Minutes, for chrissakes.
Not a peep from the Obamamessiah-adoring MSM.

Yet when Hillary said the same thing on a tiny SD radio station, it was a one-week wonder in the screeching headlines & talking heads----how dare Hillary mention RFK's assassination was in June, '68.

The MSM waxes delirious about every mote in Palin's eye with ignoring the beams & rafters in Obama's skeleton-filled closet.

ChrisWWW

Dave,
Is Obama even under any investigation for criminal wrongdoing? Was he even called to testify in the Rezko trial?

You're a mud slinger, pure and simple.

CStanley

Palin's husband friend gets a divorce and we have to go after his divorce papers- "Where there's smoke, there's fire!"

Obama has questionable real estate deals with a criminal slumlord and a terrorist- nothing to see here! Mentioning that is mudslinging!

ChrisWWW

CStanley,
If you got the goods, bring em. But you know you don't, because there is none.

The Palin story is fresh, we don't know the extent of it. Obama's life is old news, he's been vetted by the media and the combined might of the Republican party and Clinton machine.

StockBoySF

AR, "Re: your item 3. I didn't know you had such an in to the McCain campaign. You part of the inner circle discussions?"

LOL, I wish.... (and I love your sarcasm). But seriously... the story is told to accomplish a goal. That goal is to show Palin has experience and good judgement. Camp McCain and Palin obviously talked about which of her decisions they could use.

StockBoySF

Look everyone, I don't care whether Alaska has one plane or a thousand. When I read that Palin had sold the plane my first reaction was surprise.... the Alaskan road system is not as developed as that of the rest of the US. Alaska is a rugged, wilderness and mountainous state larger than CA, MT, and TX combined. Juneau, the capital, is not even connected by road to the rest of the state, though there is a car ferry.

To me it makes a lot of sense that Alaska would have a plane and I wondered why Palin would sell it.

Of course she has her own plane so she didn't need the state jet. I guess her own plane is nicer so she kept it.

Here is a link with travel times/distances in Alaska.... as one can see many of these places do not even give travel times by land, many just have air travel time. So it seems that a lot of travel is by air. I would imagine that the State of Alaska would want a plane to travel to many of its cities. I suppose when Palin leaves office the state will have to spend millions more on another plane to reach those cities and towns more readily accessible by plane than ground... I also can't help but wonder how some other government officials travel around the state if the state doesn't have a plane and Palin uses her own.... I can see why she's made so many enemies.

http://www.anchorage.net/467.cfm

CStanley

By your own admission, then Chris, there are no 'goods' on the salacious stories about Palin, yet folks seem determined to spread the innuendo in the absence of fact.

Yet someone mentions some of the connections between Obama and known criminals (and you're right, we don't know the whole story, because he's being protected- for instance, the papers describing the activities of the education project that Obama and Ayers worked on were buried for long enough to certainly allow for scrubbing of any potentially embarrassing diversion or waste of funds) and you consider the mention of this to be mudslinging. The double standard is beyond ridiculous.

ChrisWWW

By your own admission, then Chris, there are no 'goods' on the salacious stories about Palin, yet folks seem determined to spread the innuendo in the absence of fact.

You're comparing apples to oranges. The Rezko and Ayers stuff came up months ago. There is simply no evidence that Obama did anything criminal. Continuing to bring them up even in the absence of evidence months and years after the fact is clearly underhanded smearing. It's not far removed from saying that Obama might be Muslim because of XY+Z in the past.

The Palin stories, on the other hand, are fresh meat to media investigators. Unlike Obama, who has been under ridiculous scrutiny for months, Palin has been on the national scene for less than two weeks. A lot of the reporting we see now is filling in the dearth of information left by the McCain campaign and her own misleading statements. If they actually gave us her story (without the lies and embellishments about earmarks, Ted Stevens and Bridges to Nowhere), then maybe there would be something other than ongoing investigations to report on.

By the way, why is she lawyering up no longer cooperating with the troopergate investigation?

CStanley

chris, I'm not sure if you're still reading this thread but if so...

In neither case (regarding any possible issues of Palin and Obama regarding their political positions) is there a question of criminal behavior, so why do you keep bringing up the lack of criminal allegations against Obama as a defense?

ChrisWWW

Abuse of power isn't a serious allegation? Wasn't that the case against Bill Clinton w/ Monica?

CStanley

Serious allegation doesn't equal criminal allegation- in all of these cases we're talking about ethical violations, not breaking the laws (although Clinton did end up committing perjury, but let's not get off topic here...)

IOW, since both the "Troopergate" issues and the Obama/ Ayers issue, as far as we know right now, don't involve any allegations of lawbreaking (just potential ethical misconduct) it makes no sense to say that any suspicion of Obama can be dismissed because he hasn't been charged with breaking the law. Neither has Palin (in fact it's quite clear that she had every legal right to fire the commissioner in question- even her detractors don't dispute that his position was a political appointment and that governors are within their rights to replace them at will.)

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