Rape Kits Cheaper Than Palin's Per Diem

I reported earlier today that during Sarah Palin's term as mayor of Wasilla, AK, her police department had a policy of charging rape victims for the forensic evidence collection kits, or "rape kits," at a cost of $300-$1200 each. Then-Governor Tony Knowles told me, on today's press call, that Palin's jurisdiction was the only one in Alaska that used this practice. In 2000, Knowles signed a law protecting victim from having to pay for their own evidence collection.

This comes on the heels of the news that Palin billed the state over $16,000 in per diem travel expenses for nights that she spent at home.

A quick analysis of available crime statistics for Wasilla shows that, even at $1200.00 each, the town could have paid for all of the rape kits while Palin was in office, and still had a good chunk of change to give Palin for traveling around her home.

Never mind Palin's gratuitous and nervy per diem, do you really think Wasilla, with its $27 million in federal earmarks, couldn't have afforded the evidence collection for the 1 to 2 Wasilla rape victims a year?

This issue goes to the heart of the McCain/Palin ideology. When they talk about cutting "waste," they don't mean investigating contractor fraud in Iraq, or repealing irresponsible and unaffordable tax cuts for the rich. They mean denying regular Americans any shred of dignity that they can pick off and brag about during their endless campaign.

Tommy Christopher co-hosts "Unusable Signal", the #1 political show on BlogTalkRadio, every Tues and Thurs at 9pm, Wed, Fri, and Sat at 11pm. (Eastern) Click here for the Unusable Signal homepage.