Why does she do things like this? Does she think nobody is paying attention to what she says?

TPM Election Central

One thing Sarah Palin cites as proof of her reform credentials is a pay cut she says she took when she became Mayor of Wasilla in 1996.

"As mayor I took a voluntary pay cut, which didn't thrill my husband; and then as governor I cut the personal chef position from the budget, and that didn't thrill my hungry kids," Palin said recently, repeating a frequent refrain.

But did she really get an overall pay cut as mayor? The record suggests a more complex story.

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So what appears to have happened is this: As a Council member she voted against hiking the mayor's salary from $64,000 to $68,000, but it passed anyway. When she came in as mayor, she passed the ordinance which brought her salary down to $61,200. But that may not actually have taken effect, and Council-mandated raises brought her actual salary up to $68,000.

The McCain campaign was unable to explain whether her salary actually was cut. And the McCain campaign declined to comment on the fact that her salary had actually ended up higher than it was when she first took office, beyond referring us back to the original minutes of the initial meeting where the first ordinance was passed.