Former Governor of Alaska and Republican vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, will work for Fox News as an on air contributor.

Palin will provide political analysis and commentary for Fox News. She will also host a series called: "Real American Stories."

Continue reading Fox News Hires Sarah Palin as an On-Air Contributor

Fox News Hires Sarah Palin as an On-Air Contributor originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A governor's resignation: $40,000
The feeling afterward: priceless

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin's mid-term resignation is estimated to have cost the state's citizens at least $40,000. Among other expenses, it cost the state approximately $14,100 to swear in the current governor, Sean Parnell, on July 26, 2009, according to results secured by The Associated Press. The state spent another $3,328 to move Palin and her family out of the governor's mansion.

Continue reading Alaska spends $40k to ditch Palin

Alaska spends $40k to ditch Palin originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Now that she doesn't have to serve as Governor of Alaska anymore, former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin can get started on what really matters: making loads of money by capitalizing on her fifteen minutes of fame.

In other words, let the speaking engagements begin. From the "Some people will do anything for publicity files," Bloomberg reports that Palin will address CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets' global investment conference in Hong Kong, scheduled for September 21 to 25. William Pesek writes that "it's hard to know what intellectual fortitude she will add at an event attended by 1,300 fund managers from 32 countries managing more than $10 trillion of assets."

You're darn tootin" right, Mr. Pesek!

There's something unbelievably cynical about this. In her resignation speech, Palin quoted General MacArthur: "We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction." Right: She is moving out of the public service direction and advancing in the makes-loads-of-money-off-her-name direction.

Continue reading Sarah Palin set to speak at global investment conference

Sarah Palin set to speak at global investment conference originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading John McCain pledges to cut taxes and will still lose big

John McCain pledges to cut taxes and will still lose big originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

John McCain, losing ground, goes for broke tonight originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading What I hope Sarah Palin and Joe Biden say about the economy

What I hope Sarah Palin and Joe Biden say about the economy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This morning markets in Asia fell about 4% -- a relatively muted response to the 7% drop in the Dow Monday. Should we trust our increasingly fragile global financial system to the 73-year old gambler who claimed a victory in yesterday's failed vote on the bailout bill? One poll suggests that the answer is no.

A September 29th Gallup poll found that Americans have the least trust in the Administration's ability to handle this financial crisis and the most in Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), 47. Here is the percentage of Americans who approved of how various people were handling the economic crisis:

• Barack Obama (46%)
• Democratic congressional leaders (39%)
• John McCain (37%)
• Republican congressional leaders (31%)
• Hank Paulson and George Bush (28% each)

Our national decision is less than six weeks away.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter.

Who should we trust to lead us through this mess? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Get serious John McCain, dump Palin now.

Get serious John McCain, dump Palin now. originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Democrats, including this one, are betting that once Palin is no longer the flavor of the week voters will move onto more pressing issues such as the economy (and, of course, "American Idol"). The economy is in terrible shape. The federal budget deficit is soaring and unemployment is at record levels. Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers endorsed the second stimulus plan today in testimony before Congress.

Continue reading Will a second economic stimulus revive Obama's campaign?

Will a second economic stimulus revive Obama's campaign? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 10 Sep 2008 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Obama vs. O'Reilly should be a ratings blockbuster for Fox originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This charming pic-toon of moderation comes from one of my talented long time friends, Ron Overmyer, who has allowed me to share it with our readers. He does a weekly email blast and this is one of his tamer commentaries, one that might give us pause to consider what it means to be objective.

I thought I would take a moment to shout out to any moderates in the audience and say that I too have worried that some of my colleagues may have sacrificed their reputations for objectivity by writing some posts that could be viewed as borderline paid political announcements. Some readers have quipped that this should be included in the disclosure. However, on the occasion that this is true, it is usually so blatant that I would characterize such disclosure as redundant.

Several of my posts contain political commentary but I think our posts should be about investing, not swaying voter opinion. I especially avoid one-sided rationalizations that appear to have a specific agenda -- although I readily admit that on occasion the dividing line may be very fine indeed.

I still have not made up my mind about the upcoming election because I find some merit in the positions of each candidate. But to me the real question on our site remains: where do you put your money in the case of either candidate's success?

Continue reading Serious Money: The business of politics and vice versa

Serious Money: The business of politics and vice versa originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Since Friday's surprise announcement that John McCain picked Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his VP, numerous unpleasant facts have emerged which may make McCain regret his hasty choice. And since she has not been officially nominated by the Republican convention, it's not too late for McCain to pick Karl Rove favorite Mitt Romney instead.

Here are some of the reasons that McCain should reconsider his decision:

• Hearbeat away. She has had very little experience governing and none with foreign policy. This would be fine if McCain was in robust good health. Unfortunately, that is not the case. She could actually become President and it is far from obvious that she has the most executive experience among all the potential VP candidates that might need to step in if McCain could no longer do the President's job.
• No longer a shoe-in for Evangelical vote. She was strongly supported by the Evangelical wing of the Republican party due to her religious beliefs and her decision to keep her fifth child after she learned it would have Down syndrome. But with her 17-year old daughter having a child, some might question how strongly Palin believes in abstention until marriage.
• Corruption concerns. It is not clear whether McCain knew that Palin was under investigation for firing a public safety commissioner who refused to fire her brother-in-law. And did he know that she denied involvement with lobbyists in an interview with Maria Bartiromo, even though a TransCanada lobbyist played a central role in getting a $500 million subsidy for that Canadian company to build a gas pipeline she was pushing?

Continue reading Should McCain let Palin go?

Should McCain let Palin go? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 01 Sep 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yesterday I speculated that McCain picked Sarah Palin as his VP over the objections of his advisers. I thought that McCain -- who prides himself on fighting corruption in politics -- somehow saw himself in her. But both politicians have experience with the very thing they pride themselves on fighting.

In the case of McCain, his efforts to rid politics of the corrupting influence of corporate money followed his protection of Charles Keating who was securing a real estate deal for his wife, Cindy. The bankruptcy of Keating's S&L cost taxpayers $3.4 billion. More recently former McCain Finance Chair Tom Loeffler, a lobbyist for French company EADS, parent of Airbus, helped it and Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) to prevail in a $35 billion competition for airborne refueling Tankers in February over Boeing Inc. (NYSE: BA) before the General Accounting Office (GAO) concluded that the process was flawed.

Alaska's governor, Sarah Palin, knows a thing or two about lobbyists. The New York Times reveals that she won that post after taking on bribery charges from the oil industry against politicians -- her attack against such corrupting influences helped her prevail over former Alaska governor, Frank Murkowski. That's why it came as a surprise to learn that as governor Palin employed a lobbyist for an energy company for which she procured $500 million in state subsidies so it could build a gas pipeline.

Continue reading Palin and McCain share a love of lobbyists

Palin and McCain share a love of lobbyists originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 30 Aug 2008 08:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.