Thursday, December 8, 2011

Pie Spy, LLC - Using Trig for Marketing?

In hindsight, it's clear that then-governor Sarah Palin of Alaska spent the months between her defeat in the November 2008 national election and her resignation in the summer of 2009 positioning herself to cash in.  Her sudden celebrity status was worth millions.  Think about that - literally, millions. 


Trig Palin, the most famous Down syndrome one-year old in the world, was integral to her marketability. She was one of a kind - former VP candidate who had a disabled baby and fit into size two designer clothes.  Far right conservatives everywhere identified with her, ridiculously seeing her as being like themselves. Huh?


This cauldron of political and personal brew produced not only SarahPAC but Pie Spy, LLC.  The former we think we understand, and it's made millions, just as expected. The latter never got resolved to anyone's satisfaction, nor did interest ever really take off, in spite of brief mentions by Huffington Post, Rachael Maddow, other media, and all the anti-Palin blogs.   


I've done a review of what we now know, and I think the purpose behind Pie Spy is pretty clear. It was Sarah's legal means to make big money for and off of Trig's celebrity.  By the time you finish reading this, see if you agree with me that Bristol is likely not the only one of the Palin kids marketed to the public after John McCain's folly.


Chronologically, these events play into the story of Pie Spy, LLC:


October 2, 2008 John McCain's campaign pulls out of Michigan. Sarah Palin claims later she was not consulted or even notified, and with her team hatches a scheme to take their bus into Michigan. John McCain's aide says she's "going rogue."


October 29, 2008 With less than one week to go and polls showing the McCain/Palin ticket is behind,  Sarah tells Elizabeth Vargas "I'm not doin' this for naught."


November 4, 2008  Palin learns the American public rejected her. She had many resentments, including and maybe especially, toward the president-elect.


January 20, Barack Obama sworn in as President of the United States


March 5, 2009  President Obama hosts a White House Forum on Health Reform, taking steps to make good on a campaign promise, and getting national attention.


March 12, 17, 23, 31, and April 6, Health Care Reform is continually in the news with five White House Regional Forums held around the country, starting in Michigan.  ( Vermont, Iowa with South Dakota, North Carolina and California follow.)


April 3, 2009   Thomas Van Flein, attorney for Sarah Palin, files papers to create Spy Pie LLC, categorized as a “marketing” enterprise in the area  of “elderly and disabled persons.”


July 3, 2009  The Governor of Alaska announces she will quit at the end of the month. 


July 31, 2009  Huffington Post notes that Sarah's five days of silence on Facebook is causing her followers distress and curiosity


August 7, 2009 Sarah breaks her silence and comes out swinging against the President that she resents. In "baracuda style" she bares her teeth and targets Obama's health care with a Facebook post destined to make history:


"The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's "death panel" so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their "level of productivity in society," whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil."


Then, Sarah is out of sight spending time with her ghost writer for "Going Rogue," using the snide remark dating back to the campaign's decision to pull out of Michigan as her title, in typical Sarah-gets-even style.


November 18, 2009 "Going Rogue" book tour begins, starting from Michigan.


December 28, 2009  PolitiFact deems the "death panels" charge by Sarah Palin the "Lie of the Year."


During the book tour, Trig Palin is presented to his adoring public. He is dragged onto and out of buses, bookstores, and airplanes. He is barefoot in cold weather. He is set down on parking lot pavement. He is underdressed when others have coats and caps. Is this really necessary?  You betcha! The book tour was only a beginning.

Connect the dots, folks. Pie Spy was a stroke of genius. Through this private corporation, Sarah Palin could, and presumably did make a ton of money for herself and for Trig.  He may even be wealthier than Bristol. We'll never know, but we can consider whether it's likely that Sarah would do the following things. 


Have Pie Spy provide the services of and charge a fee for every appearance of the disabled clientele they represented. Trig Palin wasn't "doing it for naught," whether he was at a book tour stop, political or not-for-profit event where his mother spoke about Death Panels, or told her right-to-life story, or talked to groups about Disability Rights.


Sarah, the owner and only "member" of Pie Spy, LLC, could also hire Chuck and Sally Heath to work for Pie Spy as marketing agents, making money off of (and for) her parents when they made appearances at events where Sarah mentioned, even once, Death Panels for the elderly.  Sarah's parents, as she said on Facebook when she started her private businessperson life, are examples of people threatened by "death panels." Use her own parents to market a lie?  You betcha!

Of course, anyone helping take care of the product being marketed, ie Trig, would also be paid by Pie Spy and their related travel and expenses for the 24 hour care would be a cost of business to be  billed to the organization that wanted to have him appear.  And you know, if they wanted Sarah Palin, and she wanted Trig to appear, then it happened. You know it.

All of the above would financially reward Sarah’s family members (Willow, Britta, any of 'em and all of 'em) while adding to her own “take” for each and every event. While the Supreme Court may consider Pie Spy LLC a “person” we know that profits made through this shell game are in the pocketbooks and bank accounts  of real people. People who live in Wasilla, Ak.  


Does it sound too greedy? Padding her already obnoxious take of $100,000 + or – in  “speaker’s fees” and milking organizations like women's groups, parent's of disabled children, colleges, etc. for even more money?  Yes, folks, Sarah would do that. If you don't believe that, you need to do your own research. If I started with examples I couldn't finish this post today.


SarahPAC's third quarter filing in 2010 showed that Pie Spy, LLC reimbursed the PAC $3863 for airline tickets. 


Must be Sarah wasn't carrying the right checkbook one day. Oh well, no problem. A simple accounting adjustment. But it gives us our one and only factual piece of information about the type of expenses Pie Spy has. And it fits the theory just fine.


After nearly two years, Pie Spy, LLC changed it's purpose by filing a legal notice in Alaska in January, 2011.  


The original purpose was described in the state filings as:

” NAICS 624120: Services for the Elderly and Persons With Disabilities . This industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in providing nonresidential social assistance services to improve the quality of life for the elderly, persons diagnosed with mental retardation, or persons with disabilities. These establishments provide for the welfare of these of individuals in such areas as day care, nonmedical home care or homemaker services, social activities, group support, and companionship, “


to this: 




“NAICS 711510: Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers . This industry comprises independent (i.e., freelance) individuals primarily engaged in performing in artistic productions, in creating artistic and cultural works or productions, or in providing technical expertise necessary for these productions. This industry also includes athletes and other celebrities exclusively engaged in endorsing products and making speeches or public appearances for which they receive a fee. “

I can't say I know why Sarah changed her purpose for Pie Spy, LLC. But it seems to me that around that time, people on blogs began to ask "Where's Trig? Has anyone seen Trig?" 

Just coincidence?  Sarah Palin doesn't believe in coincidence. Why should we?  


25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why oh why don't these people who adore her stop giving her money. Her dad, mom, toad face, bristol and Sarah are all laughing behind their backs. I can hear daddy saying wow this is such an easy way to make money.

Dis Gusted said...

OMG.....I never looked at it that way, but you are so right.

She will be marketing the kids as athletes next - remember, Tripp has been roller blading since he was two...

That gosh darn Bristol, she can do everything - it's amazing what she has accomplished....barf.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm. I think a lot of this is a stretch. I agree that Sarah cashed in as ANY intelligent person would do. In June 09, she had 3 dependents including a special needs child. Smart decision # 1 down.

Other than that, I see no hard evidence for anything. She was in demand and could charge 6 figures so why not? No one got hurt. People got what they wanted: the chance to see/meet her. Personally I wouldn't pay more than 20 bucks to see anyone because I don't hold any one person in higher regard.

About HCR: her fb post wasn't a lie. There were/are very real problems with that bill. There are real problems with single payer. Her post was not the first time those sentiments were discussed. She just made it big. Remember, until this past spring, Trig had a nanny and he has therapists. That costs money. Her new "job" is justified. She puts her family first.

About MI: she has family there and they are still close to Tracks host family from hockey. That alone would make her appreciate the state.

I don't believe Bristols personal "career" decisions have anything to do with Sarah. While Sarah/lawyer may have opened doors by name, Bristol makes her own decisions. Remember she had a fulltime job in the summer 09, a job she loves, temporarily left at july 2010 end and current works at now.

Sarah is not alone in her being the breadwinner for her family and possibly family members. Due to how this country operates, she's not in the wrong either.

These arevery grateful people who value family and full lives.

Anonymous said...

Anon at 4:27, you sounded reasonable until you connected HCR with single payer. Single payer was REJECTED even before debate began and the bill as passed preserves the current multiple-payer system. Whatever problems there are in reform, they most certainly do not include any issues related to a single payer system.

Anonymous said...

Anon at 4:27, seriously?
Bite me, troll. At least now I know why we were pretty free of you today at IM.

Also, despite the pleasant and grammatically correct wording, your post boils down to the sentiments of good old Chuck Heath (Sr.) when he blurted out "You can't prove that !" about Babygate.

your bottom line?
"Other than that, I see no hard evidence for anything...they are grateful people who value family and full lives..."

FALSE. Also, too, transparent.
Something in today's post must be getting a little too close to home.
SunnyVee.

Anonymous said...

I agree that Sarah cashed in as any amoral person would do.

Fixed that little slip up.

Loyalty to the voters who were dumb enough or fooled enough to to vote for her? Not when they can donate a second time to the MegalomaniacPac.

You left out riding around in their trucks to Applebees and hey wait I recognize this shit!

Allison said...

Anon 4:27. Trig had a nanny- you claim to know this and some other things such as Bristol's job. I believe both. However , it makes Bristoll a liar (People mag graduation article) and supports what Levi said in his book (there was hired help for Trig fr the day he came home). Thanks for weighing in on that. No surprise that there was a nanny in the house. That whole article on Bristol graduating was lie-packed and designed as a foundation for her phony abstinence/exhausted/hard-working' single mom image.

Allison said...

Anon@ 1:52. Ha ha, Amoral ! Good one.

Viva said...

I believe you mean 'Politifact'; 'Politico' barely has the wherewithal to determine what is a lie.

Allison said...

Viva - you are absolutely correct, I'm changing it. Thanks!

Bscharlott said...

Brilliant, Allison! Bingo.

The new category can cover Sarah as a writer and Bristol (and later Willow and Piper) as reality show actors, etc. Trig has outlived his usefulness to her.

The troll's comments are useful – they show Sarah is paying attention.

Anonymous said...

That change from marketing disablilities to marketing actors and celebrities worked out real well for Willow. Allison, you nailed it. Willow spent all that time in LA when Bristol and Tripp were filming. Now it makes sense beyond keeping her sister company. Through payments to Pie Spy the production company probably foot the bill. Tripp was and independent actor and he had babysitting needs and who knows what else. As you said Allison, this Pie Spy think was brilliant.

And I used to wonder when Willow would start to cash in. There it was under our noses all the time.


Maybe Willow will use her "earnings" to go to college. (That's a joke, friends, a joke.)

GinaM said...

waving at Gov Dirty* @ 4:27PM

What's up Dirty! I see you are hanging out on Allison's blog...got ran off the other blogs....your lies about your family just got to much for you defend on IM huh?

Well it's okay at least that animal you had on your head still likes you...what's that you say...Oh you shot it!

I'm sure that you don't mind that your own family laughs at you continuously...you are such a joke...but they love the money you provide with your bad wigs and ill fitting clothes....sometimes I want to feel sorry for ya' Dirty but then I read this shit you wrote here and the vile nasty shit that was coming out of your mouth talking about President Obama...when EVERYBODY knows that you want that man so desperately and he won't even acknowledge you.

Why would he look at a balding, dried up old hag of woman such as yourself? You really are insane Dirty...my favorite picture of you is when you were trying to get to the President and your old friend Lieberman blocked you from getting any where close to the President...I laugh and laugh and laugh everytime I look at that picture....it use to be my avatar and soon I will change it back to that so you have that to look forward to Dirty!

Happy Holidays you old crazy bat!

Anonymous said...

Most people put money away to send their kids to college! Not the Palin's....the put money away for the kids to learn how to grift! I suppose you could call it the school of hard knocks...Bristol did get bucked off that bull! I think they were all bucked off a bull or two and landed on their head.

It would be such a sacrifice if old Todd would have to go back to work on the slope. Peeping Tom work isn't too bad. Beats carrying a purse.

Pie in the sky...Pie in your eye. These people are scum. If it wasn't for scamming everyone they would be living on welfare. Work is a four letter word!

I hope the IRS has most of the dots connected and can bring them to court real soon. You can try to hide things Sarah, but these guys have ways to find it! Non of your brain-challenged high school buddies have any pull with the IRS just because they love money or cows.

Mrs Gunka

Anonymous said...

Oh, hey Brooklyn @4:27!
" I agree that Sarah cashed in as ANY intelligent person would do. In June 09, she had 3 dependents including a special needs child. Smart decision # 1 down."

So now quitting to cash in is smart decision #1? But, but, but, $arah has a $ervant's Heart & QUIT to PROGRESS ALASKA (and "United States", according to Bri$tol!) for which she does not need a title and whatnot! Now you are saying she cashed in cause it was the smart thing to do? I am crushed. So I guess you are telling us all that $arah was/is a lying grifter. Yeah, we kind of knew that already.

Re: "Death Panels", $arah won THE TITLE (!!!) from Politifact (Pulitzer Prize winning journal), of ☢☢☞ "Lie of the Year"☜☢☢ with that one! So, whatever problems you may perceive with the health care reform bill, $arah has a bigger problem with lying about it.

I don't know the Palin family like you do (close, personal friends, obviously!) but all of us see how she publicly treats her family, and SPAK let us see how some of her family treats her. Absolutely no one in that family shows any respect for anyone else, at least on TV. It hardly speaks to "gratefulness" or valuing family & full lives. No one cares if $arah is the breadwinner. We do object that she lies about her record, why she quit, and the way she exploits her kids, especially Trig, to make money. Oh yeah, and how hateful she is to the President and to Gabby Giffords.

Anonymous said...

GinaM -- Your snarky posts swatting at the trolls as if they are gnats make my day!!! I bow to you!

Southern Virginia Voter

GinaM said...

Anonymous said...

GinaM -- Your snarky posts swatting at the trolls as if they are gnats make my day!!! I bow to you!

Southern Virginia Voter
December 9, 2011 11:37 AM

LOL!! Why thank you Southern Virginia Voter...I do enjoy smashing "gnats"...

*waves at Brisdull*...

They are so annoying!

KatieAnnieOakly said...

While I don't have time right now, I will look later-on for expenses submitted TO $arahPAC FROM BSMP, LLC and Pie-Spy, LLC for reimbursement. I think they're on her $arahPAC filings and, I believe also, too on The Alaska Fund Trust.

Anonymous said...

@KAO Katie, I think they funnel $ to Bristol, Chuck & Sally & other family & friends through SaraPAC. Most of the PAC expenses go to about a half a dozen "consultants". These companies could all be contracting out "work" to BSMP, LLC, Pie-Spy, etc. Once removed from the PAC, there are no reporting requirements from these private companies. Remember the outrageous expenses she claimed for website design? They could easily be reimbursing themselves with the help of her consulting cronies.

Ivyfree said...

"Remember the outrageous expenses she claimed for website design? They could easily be reimbursing themselves with the help of her consulting cronies."

I remember that the web designer was astonished when somebody told him how much she claimed to have paid him. I thought: money laundering.

Anonymous said...

You might want to see this, also:

This is information regarding SarahPac and alleged contributions to other candidates of $65K. Look at this report: http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-b...

Every single penny was given on 6/29/11, many months after those candidates campaigned in the 2010 election, except for the Bob Corker 2012 campaign. I suppose she can lie and say the money was given to "retire their campaign debts", but that's another category. I think she should be in big time trouble with the FEC regarding her personal piggy bank called "SarahPac"; wouldn't that make sense? I mean, the FEC allows these people to get away with a hell of a lot, but this? She's simply covering her ass, but she didn't cover it quite enough at 4% of the total contributions she hauled in. Most of that money went for her own self-aggrandizement. Let's see if the FEC lets her get away with it. Or maybe the IRS will nab her. You know she's not reporting any of these perks she takes for herself and her family as income.

Then again, the govt doesn't seem to care about being ripped off much unless you're just an average working person and they'll go after you with a vengeance.

[Edit] If you scroll down to 2/624 on this itemized report, at A -Form/Schedule F3XN Transaction ID, you will find a notation that says that SarahPac did no advocacy for any candidate or committee. So, how does that square with the $65K given to those candidates and reported late?

Anonymous said...

This is the complete link to the above comment:

http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/com_supopp/2011_C00458588

Unknown said...

Anonymous said:

Hmmm. I think a lot of this is a stretch. I agree that Sarah cashed in as ANY intelligent person would do. In June 09, she had 3 dependents including a special needs child. Smart decision # 1 down.

Other than that, I see no hard evidence for anything. She was in demand and could charge 6 figures so why not? No one got hurt. People got what they wanted: the chance to see/meet her. Personally I wouldn't pay more than 20 bucks to see anyone because I don't hold any one person in higher regard.

=============================

The trolls are out! As someone who has seen Palin rake in the bucks for the last 3 years, I have to admit even I was shocked that she pulled the bus trip stunt, calling it a family vacation and charging it to her PAC when she could easily pay for it herself. Palin's numbers continued to drop as far as her approval rating went and I think a lot of it is because of outrageous stunts like this. How the hell do you tell your supporters you're setting up SarahPAC to help you travel to the lower 48 and campaign for others and then use it to support your family despite having enough personal income to support yourself? Not that many of us would sink that low, but Sarah has no problem doing it. She has given less than 5% of the money taken in to candidates and it's almost always last minute. Oops! I forgot, she did make a donation to the Down Syndrome Foundation for $1k. Pretty shabby considering her income that she uses PAC money to do her donating and even then, it's far less than she gave to most candidates. It speaks loudly and clearly regarding her feelings about Trig or should I say her lack of feelings? This woman has done nothing to help special needs groups, she even charges them her full fee to speak plus expenses when she could speak for free and let the PAC pay the expenses for travel.

As far as the "death panels" go, it's absolute bullshit. Sarah's hypocrisy is also overwhelming considering that during her administration the situation in the state’s Medicare- and Medicaid-funded in-home elder care program became so bad that the federal government had to step in and force Alaska to make necessary improvements.

In one 2 1/2 year stretch, 227 adults already getting services died while waiting for a nurse to reassess their needs. Another 27 died waiting for their initial assessment, to see if they qualified for help.

The feds had been tipped off to the systemic problems by doctors and other health care providers, who found the state unresponsive when confronted with their incompetence. No other state faced comparable problems.

Palin is all for private insurance companies and they are the ones that truly do have panels that determine whether someone will receive the care they need or not. They have been guilty of this type of behavior for 3 decades or more and yet,
Sarah thinks the best thing to do is to give them free reign so they can do as they wish. In her opinion, regulations are bad. All this coming from the woman who has had state sponsored or union sponsored health insurance coverage for years while her children qualify under the program set up for native Alaskans for free healthcare.

Either refute the above with facts or STFU because it's obvious you know nothing about the real Sarah Palin and her selfish, ego-driven ambitions.

GinaM said...

AKRNHSNC...I ALWAYS enjoy reading your post! I never skim or skip over your comments...because they are always informative and gut slicing!

After the first paragraph that stupid ass wonky eye troll has stop reading your comment because she's to stupid to realize that she needs to STFU!

She has NOTHING worth saying...she can keep on speaking her fantasies but commenters like you will have something to say about it....KUDOS!

Unknown said...

Thank you, Gina, and I must return the compliment because I never fail to laugh when I read your "Governor Dirty Wig" replies. You know she's spitting nails when she reads these posts and comments and she can't deny she reads them. Her behavior always reflects her having read the blogs. It's nice to know we can irritate her considering the damage she's done to our country.