Posted on 01/26/2010 1:17:04 PM PST by iowamark
WASHINGTON— Want to buy a ticket to hear Sarah Palin’s speech April 17 at Five Points Washington? Sorry. The event is sold out.
Five Points Special Events Manager Brian Garnant said all 400 banquet/speech tickets were gone by 9:15 a.m. Tuesday, less than 24 hours after Palin’s appearance was announced.
About 560 speech-only tickets went on sale at noon Tuesday; all were sold by 2:10 p.m.
A waiting list has been established for banquet/speech tickets. Call 444-8423. Banquet/speech tickets were $200 each, or $1,500 for a table of eight. Speech-only tickets were $100 for main floor and $75 for balcony in the Caterpillar Performing Arts Center.
Palin, the former Republican vice presidential candidate and Alaska governor turned best-selling author and Fox News Channel political commentator, will be the first speaker in Five Points’ “Lessons from Leaders” series.
http://www.pjstar.com/featured/x1920338013/Palin-speaking-in-central-Illinois-in-April
“”Sarah Palin is coming to Five Points Washington on April 17.
The former vice presidential candidate and Alaska governor turned best-selling author and political commentator will be the first speaker in Five Points’ “Lessons from Leaders” series.
“You Don’t Need a Title To Make a Difference” is the topic of Palin’s 8:15 p.m. talk in the 1,000-seat Caterpillar Performing Arts Center.
Palin’s speech is expected to last for about 30 minutes. After her address, she’ll hold a 30-minute question-and-answer session with questions submitted in advance by audience members.
Prior to the Palin’s speech, she’ll be the guest of honor at a 7 p.m. banquet and private reception.
Ticket prices range from $75 to $200. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Five Points capital projects fund and provide scholarships for area students.
Five Points officials and Washington Mayor Gary Manier are ecstatic about landing Palin as the kickoff speaker for the series.
During a news conference Monday at Five Points, a black curtain was dramatically lifted off a poster announcing Palin’s speech.
“Our goal with this series is to bring in nationally known speakers once or twice a year to talk about what leadership means to them, and we’ve certainly done that with Gov. Palin,” said Sherril West, president of the board of directors that operates Five Points.
“Whether or not you voted for Gov. Palin in 2008, this is a home run for our city to get her to come here,” Manier said.
Five Points General Manager Vikki Poorman said she and her staff are excited about hosting Palin and the other series speakers.
“We’ve been getting a lot of inquiries, and we’ve sold several tables for the banquet already,” she said at mid-afternoon Monday, a few hours after the Palin speech was announced.
West would not reveal how much Palin is being paid to speak at Five Points, and she said no additional security measures are planned.
A committee that includes West and Manier is putting together the speakers series with input from John Morris, director of development for the Ronald W. Reagan Leadership Program and Ronald Reagan Museum at Eureka College. Morris was instrumental in bringing former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev to the college last year.
West said luck played a role in bringing Palin to Five Points.
“Our timing was good,” she said. “After Gov. Palin said last year that she was going to do more public speaking, we were one of the first in line.”
Palin, 45, resigned as governor July 26. Earlier this month, she signed a multi-year contract with Fox News Channel to provide political commentary.
West said series speakers are being sought whose leadership philosophies can be used by all audience members.
Besides public service, speakers from worlds of business, education, sports and other pursuits will be part of the series.
“And each talk will benefit a worthy cause,” West said.
Tickets for the banquet and Palin’s address are $200 each, or $1,500 for a table of eight. Included in the price is an autographed copy of Palin’s book, “Going Rogue: An American Life,” which was No. 1 on The New York Times Best Sellers list for six weeks late last year. About 400 can attend the banquet.
Approximately 500 speech-only tickets will be sold starting at noon Tuesday. Prices range from $75 to $100.””
In before the Palin haters.
rules?
I guess Palin plays well in Peoria!
Well, I guess she does play well in Peoria.
Gee, did Ø have any empty seats at his SOTU?
I’m betting the CAT CEO will be there, maybe he can update everyone on how much rehiring he’s done after the Porkulus was implemented.
What does security measures costs of any relevance?
And this is just the media being dumb again.
Palin had both eggs and tomatoes thrown at her during her book tour.
It’s a hop, skip, and a jump to worse things happening.
And the media trumpets that no extra security will be there.
Hello loony Palin haters, come on in and disrupt our event!
Thanks, reporter.
That’s what I saw the reporters motivation as. I didn’t know she had eggs and what not thrown at her.
What a failure she is. /s
Two isolated events (2 people) at 30+ book signings.
Probably John Birhcers, maybe even whack job freepers. Comments in the past week make me as suspicious of them as whack job lefties.
This recent uproar really got started with the CPAC/John Birch/Tea Party Convention flap. Then the McCain announcement, news of demonstrations by the Ron Paul nutjobs at Palin speaking events and today the Politico story that the Leftist strategy is to divide the GOP and the tea party.
The purists and the 0.03 percenters are playing right along.
Just to be clear, I am no fan of the current GOP leadership but what's happening right now is insane.
But this can’t be! I thought Palin was unpopular with conservatives now?
A few vocal ankle biters don’t impact overall popularity.
(((PING)))
Cat, others criticized by Obama administration for cost estimates
Caterpillar said it would take a $100 million hit on its first quarter earnings due to new health care legislation.
»
By PAUL GORDON (pgordon@pjstar.com)
Journal Star
Posted Mar 26, 2010 @ 04:23 PM
Last update Mar 26, 2010 @ 09:35 PM
PEORIA —
Caterpillar Inc. and other large companies are being criticized by the Obama administration for reporting now that they will take millions of dollars in hits to their earnings because of one portion of the new health care legislation.
Caterpillar and Deere were accused of being “premature and irresponsible” by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke for saying a change to Medicare Part D laws would hurt their earnings in the present quarter.
Those companies are also being questioned about the amounts they are claiming — amounts that seem to get larger with every company that makes a report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission about taking a one-time charge as a result of the legislation.
Caterpillar started it all by saying it would take a $100 million hit on its first quarter earnings. Deere & Co. followed with a report it would lose $150 million to its fiscal second quarter earnings.
The largest estimated hit yet, $1 billion, was announced Friday by AT&T.
At issue is what kind of hit corporate America will take because it is losing a tax deduction from Medicare Part D. Before, companies were paid subsidies of $1,330 a year, tax-free, for every retiree for whom it provided a prescription drug plan. Then, that amount could be deducted from the company’s taxes.
The new law still provides the subsidy tax free, but companies will no longer be able to deduct it from taxes.
Also on Friday the Wall Street Journal said in a published report that it calculates Caterpillar’s loss would be more like $7 million, based on the fact Caterpillar told the SEC it expected to receive about $20 million annually from the tax deduction and the 35 percent corporate tax rate that would now be applied to that deduction amount.
But Caterpillar on Friday defended itself, reiterating its belief it must, under accepted accounting rules and regulations, record any one-time tax charge in the quarter in which the legislation causing that charge is signed.
The $100 million, said Caterpillar spokesman Jim Dugan, “is our calculation of what that change in Medicare Part D will mean to the company.”
Dugan was pressed for further explanation of how the calculation was made, including whether the $100 million was an estimate of what the change will cost Caterpillar in perpetuity since it can only be charged once.
He said further details will be included in Caterpillar’s first quarter earnings report, which will be released April 26.
On the time of the filing, Dugan said, “We felt it was very appropriate and prudent to file the disclosure with the SEC immediately. We tend to take a conservative approach to SEC filings.”
Dugan declined to comment on the statement of Commerce Secretary Locke, which he made in a live interview Thursday on CNBC.
He also declined to say anything more about a telephone call made Thursday from the White House to Vice Chairman Doug Oberhelman, which Oberhelman revealed while speaking to the Morton Rotary Club later on Thursday.
While he acknowledged the call was regarding the health care legislation, Oberhelman would not say from it it came or what was said. He did describe the call as “productive.”
Paul Gordon can be reached at 686-3288 or pgordon@pjstar.com
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