America spent nearly a half million dollars employing Bristol Palin

Look, I realize that, in the grand scheme of “things America spends money on that are absolute wastes of our time” $350,000 seems like almost nothing, even on a state level. Sure, I could probably live on it for years, but the point is that we spend a lot more on studying owl vomit and documenting the mating habits of waterfowl that don’t even live in the continental United States than we do on making sure that Bristol Palin isn’t out walking the streets in a gorilla suit, but you know what? It’s the principle of the thing.

America, you shouldn’t have to pay to keep Bristol Palin employed.

But, yet, you do.

The California company that made Bristol Palin’s TV show about raising her child has collected a $354,348 subsidy from the state.

Unlike nearly all of the other shows and films subsidized so far under the movie incentive program, the salaries paid to Alaska residents on the Palin show account for a majority of the total  ”Alaska expenses” for the TV show.

Palin and the five other Alaska residents who participated as “talent” on the show collected close to a half-million in wages.

Total “Alaska expenses,” a term that is misleading because it includes money paid to people from Outside, were reported as $995,275.

“Bristol Palin: Life’s a Tripp” ran for 14 episodes last summer on the Lifetime Channel and did not gather big ratings for the cable network.