 |
| Nice try Captain Zero. Still not voting for you. |
The announcement of the PFD amount.
Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch:
$1,884: that's the amount of this year's Permanent Fund Dividend check distributed to Alaskans, as announced by Gov. Sean Parnell in downtown Anchorage Wednesday morning.
The 2014 dividend will be the third-largest check issued since dividends began in 1982. The Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend Division said checks and direct deposits would go out on October 2.
The 2014 Dividend is much larger than last year's check of just $900. The reason: the 2009 fiscal year -- which saw dividend values drop as the nation's economy continued to stagnate -- dropped off the five-year rolling average of the Permanent Fund's performance used to calculate the dividend. With the fund now estimated at more than $50 billion, and stock and real estate markets continuing to show strong returns, all indications are that next year's check could be even bigger.
Well this is good news for your favorite Alaska blogger. My check should be directly deposited into my account at the beginning of next month.
I have been keeping my expenditures to a minimum lately, because there has been a temporary hiccup in my monetary situation. It will smooth out in the next few weeks or months, but in the meantime I am trying to avoid spending any of my savings, for which this will be of great help.
The check may seem like a lot to those of you living in the Lower 48, but don't forget we have to deal with bears and harsh winters, not to mention having to share the state with the Palin clan.
It's funny how Alaska is the most socialist state in the union.
ReplyDeleteYou make that sound like something bad.
DeleteAnd a cost of living index much higher than nat'l average, much higher medical costs if you don't have insurance thru employment ( no Obama care in AK as Parnell, Cpt. Zero, said no to extended Medicare for Alaska) and gas prices that are higher than most of lower 48. My PDF is going toward medical and rent. Damn glad to be getting it.
ReplyDeleteI hear ya.
Delete4:52 We DO have Obama Care in Alaska!!!
DeleteMedicare applied to some and I honestly don't know much about it or how it worked / or in Alaska's case, how it didn't.
We who qualified for Obama Care (made enough money not to be on Medicare) had two companies to choose from. Blue Cross and Moda of Oregon.
I am THRILLED to have insurance for the first time in about 20 years!
And since I knew I'd have insurance I put off some needed surgery. So despite having a whopper of a deductible and co-pay to keep the monthly rates down, I am gonna save myself about $50,000 this year alone!!!! (Plus fix a long-time health condition!)
Thank you, Mr. Obama!!! And Sen. Mark Begich!
I have surgery in my future. It almost seems dishonest to delay it until I got insurance, but that's how it goes.
One thing that people who have insurance don't get. If you don't have insurance you don't get things fixed, you don't get the medicine you need and life really sucks to be in pain and not be able to do much about it.
Not only do you NOT get preventative care. You don't get anything but the ABSOLUTE life and death MUST HAVE care.
I stand (sit) corrected. I mis-spoke. Yes, we do have Obamacare. But there is no extended medicare if you're unemployed (no monthly income) but happen to have money in savings. To qualify you have to completely exhaust your checking/savings, cash on hand first. So with Obama care my premium was $700 and some out of pocket. Couldn't keep that up. If you have no dependents you have make less than $400 a month - no body lives on $400 a month.
DeleteGlad it worked out for you. Cheers.
Medicare and Medicaid are two vastly different programs.
Delete10:08 My monthly payment is about $125 after the O-Care subsidy. Without it, I don't see how I would be able to make the payments if I bought the insurance on my own (assuming I could have gotten any).
DeleteNext year I'm thinking of having a bunch of dental work done and getting the dental coverage. It was way too expensive and didn't crunch out for me, but would have been fine if I had kids or other mouths to feed. (Ha. Ha. that was a joke.)
Glad you are getting your surgery 9:49. My husband spent 12 days in intensive care and nearly died. He didn't have insurance. Now I know why the majority of people who declare bankruptcy do so because of medical bills because that is where we are at the moment. I was able to get another job and now we both have good insurance, which is great because the husband has congestive heart failure. He shouldn't have to worry about getting needed care.
DeleteWe need single payer like every other industrialized country has. It is ironic that all the countries with single payer also have much lower health care costs per capita than we do.
But at a minimum, it would certainly help if States that have not expanded Medicaid would do so. I live in a State that has not expanded. The Legislators voted multiple times for expansion, but the Governor vetoed it every time. We will see what happens in November as we go to the polls and vote for Governor. The D candidate of course is promising the expansion (and a big boost to the minimum wage as well).
You all should get 10 times that amount for putting up with the Palin bullshit.
ReplyDeleteWell, I don' live in Alaska, but I think that amount is an insult to all Alaskans with all you have to go though at times and how inflated your prices are on everything from bread to milk. Somebody is making big money there and it is not your average Alaskan.
ReplyDeleteYeah, well, I think the PFD should pay for all those things your non-existent state income tax would pay for instead of taking my tax dollars from CA to pay for it because, you know, we pay state income tax to pay for roads, schools, etc. in CA as well as in AK. Yeah it chaps my ass.
ReplyDeleteAnon 5:21, do you know that the federal government owns 75% of the land in Alaska? Because of that, the feds should be paying for their own keep up here.
Delete@anon at 5:51 pm that has nothing to do with the expenditures for roads, schools, and everything else the rest of the USA subsidizes for Alaska. The Queen of the Welfare states is all AK is and 5:21pm comment is very valid. personally I think no state should get beck more than 80% of what they pay in to federal taxes.
DeleteHow do I contribute to helping out Gryph ?
DeleteAnd, 5:51, here in Nevada, the Feds own 87% of the land, mainly for Air Force bases & ranges. We don't have state income tax either, and our sh*tty state services & schools reflect it.
Delete5:51 What most people in other states, particularly farther east forget is that the government was the first ones to pitch in to build roads and other infrastructure.
DeleteWe are still just getting our first roads and first sewers in Alaska. Why should all the 48 Lower States get to have their infrastructures built largely by the feds, but we in Alaska don't?
Kind of reminds me of how later-born kids get ripped off. The first or second kid gets all kinds of time and good things. But as more kids come along, there are more expenses and demands and the younger kids just get hand-me-downs.
--Hand Me Down Rosie
You mean to tell me the Feds are out here building invisible roads when I have to pay along with my neighbors to maintain the road we built,that goes to the county road,that goes to the city road,that goes to another county road,etc. Get your head straight.The "Feds" are not running around building roads in other states. Our taxes are paying for our roads,as well as yours. So what if the "Feds" own a lot of the land? They pay to build infrastructure to and maintain that land. Many states have large amounts of Federal owned land,especially in the west and mid-west. Alaskans get their PFD check because many of the states dealing with the highest tax burdens pay for the infrastructure it should pay for.
DeleteOf course the PFD encourages people to live there. Families like the Joe Millers combine all of that PFD and cash for home schooling and never have to work.
Folks, let's give Gryph a little boost to get him over his financial hump. He asked for us to support Eric Thompson, but never asked for anything for himself. If you can donate $10, that is $10 more than he did have. This time, I will not sign as Anonymous so that you know it is a real live reader. I have been here since 2008.
ReplyDeleteThat $1,884 ought to help Eric Thompson and his wife (and kids, if any are still living at home) make ends meet until he gets another job....cuz EACH of them get that much money.
Deletethe palin's/joe miller, and alllll their spawn are gonna make bank - even though it's entirely socialistic, wanna bet they all cash in ?
ReplyDeleteYou bet Palin and Miller will take their PFD!
DeleteSpreading the wealth around is what it amounts to, and it edges perilously close to socialism, but that wouldn't stop them from spending that money.
Miller has produced something like 8 kids, so you know he needs a huge income to support all those hungry mouths to feed.
It is socialism.
Deletepersonally i'd like to see the PFD fund state government and not distributed via check to the general population as then we'd see a whole bunch of griftin' lowlifes hittin' the road south outta here
ReplyDeleteYou can't really think that such a small amount of money is enough to actually entice people to live here! With cost of living what it is up here the dividend, once taxes are taken out, certainly isn't something that is life changing financially, unless you have like 15 children!
DeleteLike the Palins? Wonder how many actually qualify this from last year...
DeleteOne of the reasons they set up the PFD was so Alaskans would take an interest in how the state spent oil money.
DeleteAnd they do, for sure! The referendum and all the people (rightly) upset about the big give away to the oil companies is just one recent example.
I found it interesting that in an gubernatorial election year, good old Captain Zero made the PFD announcement himself. The last few years, the PFD Manager has made the announcement. Clearly Captain Zero is pandering for votes....and keeping very quiet about the fact that after a slight majority voted "No", BP has announced that they will be severing 275 employees and prime contractors and ExxonMobil has announced that there won't be an increase in production in the next few years. So he gave away a ton of $'s and the majors are giving him the big middle finger. He's just another Palin in a different way but quiet and less flamboyant than the brain dead bimbo hence has fewer detractors.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the EXACT same thing. Six years ago Sarah Palin announced that bonus $1,200 on top of the normal PFD payout, and her approval rating briefly shot up to the highest it'd ever been.
DeleteJust in time for the VP announcement.
And it's been nothing but downhill for her since!
DeleteFun to watch though....the lower 48 forgives.
Send her to Arizona once and for all.
Many of those Republicans in the legislature said that if the oil companies didn't perform like expected then they would revisit the oil tax.
DeleteI say, the oil companies are now showing that they won't be giving us anything for their big tax break, so we should hold the legislature accountable when they meet again in January.
^This (anon 5:41) Perzactly spot on. Well said.
DeleteCpt. Zero's a big goober.
Yay house payment! PFD hasn't matched my mortgage for a long time.
ReplyDeleteI know right? My mortgage is 1300 so this is splendid.
DeleteI use mine for fuel and property taxes.
DeleteI was a bit concerned that I wouldn't have any left for fuel. Now I have some and can get my fuel in for the winter.
I don't know about anyone else, but I'm going shopping next month!
ReplyDelete[....after I put some of the money in savings]. ;-)
I'm putting $600 away for the inevitable tax I will owe on it, but the rest is a small down payment for my kitchen remodel.
DeleteOf course, because it's an election year, Captain Zero made sure HE announced the amount rather than having the Commissioner of Administration announce it, which is the norm.
ReplyDeleteABP - ANYBODY but Parnell!
Vote Walker/Mallott - For ALASKA and ALASKANS!
Anonymous5:21 PM:
ReplyDeletePlease explain in detail how AK takes money away from CA residents.
Thanks...
I am not the previous poster, but Alsaks takes on average $1.84 dollars from the federal government for every $1.00 paid in by it's residents, thus making it the biggest of the welfare queens as far as states go. When states take more than what they paid in those monies effectively come from the states that pay in and only get a portion of the money they paid in back. Kind of like states like Ca are paying you direct support.
DeleteNow Alaska is not the only welfare state, there are others but most are all red states.
Sweet deal -- money from the state for the extraction of Federal resources
DeleteI finally made a contribution to Support Gryphen's search for truth! Hope it will help you avoid spending your savings. Your blog helps keep us informed and sane.
ReplyDeleteI have been reading this blog since the moment it went up-I go to it several times a day and all I'ver donated was $50.00. A piddling amount for the information, thought provoking , beauty and at times laugh out loud entertainment I've received. Gryph-I'll donate again Friday. Peace.
ReplyDeleteCaptain Zero is pandering of course.
ReplyDeleteGryph-I have been with you since day one. I live in Georgia and I visited your site many times a day. It started because of my fear and Palin..I guess it dcontinues as such. But you add so many insightful,thoughtful-and often hilarious posts and that me think and laugh and cry. I've only donated a measly $50 to you and that is peanuts for all you've given me. I will send some more love your way soon. Thanks for all you do.
ReplyDeleteYikes-I posted the same thing twice! Sorry!
ReplyDeleteDoes that mean you'll give Gryphen TWICE as much money as you had planned?
DeleteNo, 10:06, it just means I'm an ignorant slut!
Delete12:14-I knew the reference the moment I read it-thanks for posting the clip-it never fails to crack me up.
DeleteOld school SNL. Some of the funniest. I had a feeling you'd know.
DeleteBTW, Eric so far got $7275 from the gofundme site. Who knows how much more from PayPal.
ReplyDeleteWow, it's sort of like getting paid to live in paradise.
ReplyDeletehave you been there? The scenery is gorgeous.... but the villages are not. I've never seen so many slums set in such scenic locations.
DeleteNot even close to the amount you'd have to pay me to live up there.
DeleteOT Couple marries after 72 year courtship.
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/no9u5r4
Yo, Dude! From the one that perused your archives yesterday, I think you rock and, in my opinion, God's got your back but I know you don't believe it and that's all right. LOL!
ReplyDeleteAgain, you do us all such a great service here, always honest in what you believe, those you sic after, and it's YOUR blog after all. Enjoy your rebate, you'll be okay, you watch .....think the world of you!
Always blaming someone else lefties. huh?
ReplyDeleteRe-election MUAH to your state.
DeleteIs it true, he's not even the one to announce it but did?
Palin butt kisser. Have fun, kids! VOTE!
He stands there grinning as though the money came out of HIS pocket!! I am starting to understand WHY the Palins have so many illigitimate kids - it PAYS!!
DeleteWha? Was that English?
DeleteThis is O/T but I've been waiting for you to post about the survivalist/sovereign citizen who shot a cop in PA. Everyone is wooried about ISIS and another RW nutjob is killing people here.
ReplyDeleteLast year when it was $900, Parnell was glad to allow the PFD department show the figure. In fact, has he ever announced the number before?
ReplyDeleteO/T:
ReplyDeletePolice Repeatedly Shoot Black Utah Man In The Back For Carrying A Samurai Sword He Just Bought
Top Ten Things Heard at the Palin Family Brawl
ReplyDeletehttps://www.toovia.com/top/top-ten-things-heard-at-the-palin-family-brawl
Is it public info, and can anyone know who receives PFD checks ? Would be interesting to look under the letter 'P' and see how many are listed.
ReplyDeleteWe ave bears and harsh winters in Pennsylvania, too.
ReplyDeleteBut I guess many Alaskans need the extra $$ to keep the silence.
What percentage of the population has some secret to hide and thus are afraid to talk about the Palin mafia?
You'll have fun with your $$. I would not want to be you or live like you.
Present blogger excluded as well as non troll commenters.
"but don't forget we have to deal with bears and harsh winters, not to mention having to share the state with the Palin clan. "
ReplyDelete---------------------------------
We have harsh winters and bears in MI and we don't get a checky thingy, so I guess the check is only to compensate sharing the state with the PAYMEE's!!!
See? Socialism of natural resources works great!
ReplyDeletePALINS
ReplyDeleteHow do we find out who collected this money?
Did Sarah Palin collect it?
Winter?
ReplyDeleteWasilla: avg high 46, avg low 27, avg snow 52 inches.
My Michigan town: avg high 48, avg low 32, avg snow 218 inches. And plenty of bears.
Pffft.
In looking at snow totals for other areas of Alaska I found only two with average higher snowfalls (Haines and Valdez), and no others came close.
But! We don't have Palins!