From The Seattle PI
By Leonard Doyle

On the campaign trail, Sarah Palin has complained of struggling to pay the bills and this week described herself as “an everyday, working-class American” who knows how it feels when the stock market takes a hit.

But the Palin family income reached comfortably into six figures in her 2007 declaration, capitalizing on valuable salmon fishing rights and a series of property deals. Her governor’s salary brought in $125,000 while her husband Todd earned almost $100,000 from his part-time job at BP, combined with income from commercial fishing. The couple appeared to be worth at least $1.2 million, including a $500,000 lakefront home, a Piper floatplane and two holiday getaways.

That probably does not seem like struggling to the average American family living on less than $50,000 a year and trying to pay off credit card debts of $9,840 (Palin has none).

The Alaska governor describes herself as a small-town pit bull, willing to stand up to special interests, but she has also been willing to benefit from her position of power.

An investigation into the Palin family finances by The Associated Press challenges the image of a workaday mother who is struggling to make ends meet. The findings were based on her 2007 declaration. A more up-to-date picture of her wealth comes today when she must file a new declaration to the Federal Election Commission.

The Palins’ wealth puts them on a par with her Democratic vice-presidential rival Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, well-off but nowhere near as wealthy as John and Cindy McCain with their billion-dollar fortune and Barack and Michelle Obama.

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