Was Sarah Palin's reality TV show government-subsidized?

Critics crow over the revelation that "Sarah Palin's Alaska" took advantage of state tax credits that Palin herself created

"Sarah Palin's Alaska" pocketed a state subsidy that the former governor herself set up, and that covered almost a third of the show's Alaskan production costs.
(Image credit: TLC/Gilles Mingasson)

Self-styled Tea Party queen Sarah Palin is probably the last person you'd expect to line up for a government handout. But it has emerged that her reality TV show, "Sarah Palin's Alaska," received a $1.2 million subsidy from the state, covering almost a third of the show's Alaskan production costs. The state subsidy was signed into law by Palin herself in 2008. Could the fact that Palin took a chunk of taxpayer money to fund her reality TV show come back to bite her if she runs for president next year?

Yes. This is just more evidence of Palin's self-interest: There's a phrase for this in Washington, says Timothy P. Carney at The Washington Examiner: "Feathering your nest." It's funny how, "like many politicians," Palin's view on what government should and shouldn't do "becomes more flexible as it comes closer to her own interests."

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