New state income tax proposal introduced in to Alaska. I said this was coming.

Courtesy of KTUU: 

There’s a plan in the works that would help bridge the state’s $2.8 billion annual deficit in three years. Alaskans would help pay for it. 

It comes from the House Finance Committee, and it includes a cap on the PFD, higher taxes on oil and gas producers and implements an income tax. 

Alaska hasn’t had an income tax since 1979. 

Representative Paul Seaton is co-sponsoring House Bill 115. It reduces the PFD to $1,250 a year, and it creates a bracket for income tax based on individual and married couple’s income. 

“It fixes the problem." said Rep. Seaton. "After three years, the deficit goes away." 

To put it simply, the more you make, the more you have to pay up. 

No individual has to pay, if they make less than $10,300. But if more than that is made in a year, 2.5 percent of an income will be taxed, until $50,000 and so forth. The highest bracket for an individual, who makes $250,000, is 7 percent. 

If passed, Alaska’s income tax would be the fourth lowest in the country.

I think this is long overdue.

We have been living in a fantasy world of oil money for way too long, and it is time to face reality. 

Besides with that $1,250.00 PFD each year most people will still come out ahead.

Alaska Senate passes bill to cap Permanent Fund at $1,000.

Courtesy of KTUU: 

A steady stream of state government revenue instead of relying exclusively on volatile oil markets, and $1,000 dividends for Alaskans: that's what a bill approved Wednesday by the Alaska Senate would guarantee. 

Senate Bill 26 passed the GOP-controlled Senate 12 to 8 and strongly resembles the Permanent Fund restructure bill that cleared the Senate last year with the endorsement of Gov. Bill Walker but failed to pass the House. 

Under the new plan, 5.25 percent of the $57.2 billion fund -- as calculated over a five-year period of time -- would be drawn annually from the earnings reserve account. 

Three quarters of the money drawn out would be funneled to government, putting a significantly bigger dent in the $3 billion budget deficit than the proposals to implement an income tax and cut government spending for a third year in a row. 

The remainder of the draw would go to pay dividends, which would be locked at $1,000 for three years and are expected to grow slightly thereafter.

I can't even get upset about this.

I have known this day was coming since 1982 when I received my first PFD check. Which by the way was ALSO for $1,000.

However I am in the minority in my lack of anger over this, and I well realize that the majority of my fellow Alaskans are going to want blood and that the politicians who proposed this bill, and voted on it, have seriously endangered their prospects for reelection.

On a positive note perhaps it will convince some of the parasites up here to move on to greener pastures and leave the state to the REAL Alaskans.

So this what it looks like when Hell freezes over.

Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch:

The Alaska Senate late Monday passed legislation converting the Permanent Fund into an endowment and setting dividends at $1,000, a move designed to help reduce the state's $4 billion budget gap. 

The 14-5 vote, which supporters described as a necessary step to head off a financial collapse, came quickly after months of discussion and debate about Senate Bill 128. The vote came about 8:30 p.m. on the same day the bill emerged from the Senate Finance Committee. 

The legislation still must pass a more skeptical House before it could head to Gov. Bill Walker for his signature. And a House vote is unlikely to come before next week, with lawmakers taking a five-day break from Juneau starting Wednesday, with most of the city's hotel rooms booked for a festival of Alaska Native culture.

I think the word to describe me right now is flabbergasted.

I don't think there is any way that I can adequately explain to those in the Lower 48, how jealousy Alaskans guard the PFD.

We refer to it as the third rail of Alaska politics, and those who suggested capping it or taking money from it to fund the government did so while packing their bags fully aware that their polticla career had just come to an end.

So for this legislation to have made it this far is a testament to the courage of Governor Bill Walker and our state senators.

Personally I hope that the House demonstrates the same courage, because this needs to happen. And in fact it really needed to happen over twenty years ago.

Alaska's economy is essentially in free fall right now.

Courtesy of Bloomberg:  

America’s Last Frontier is in trouble. The 40-year oil boom that turned Alaska from a frigid backwater into one of the nation’s richest states is over. Not only have petroleum prices crashed, but Alaska’s supply of crude is running out. Thirty years ago the state was pumping 2 million barrels a day, a quarter of all U.S. output. But over the past decade, the Prudhoe Bay oil field, once the largest in North America, has started to reach the end of its life. Alaska’s output has fallen to 500,000 barrels a day, enough to fill only one-quarter of the capacity of the state’s main economic artery, the 800-mile Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. 

With 90 percent of the general fund revenue tied to oil, the collapse has been devastating. Alaska, facing a $4 billion budget deficit, is one of four energy states that have slid into recession over the past year because of cheap oil. The state’s rainy day fund is burning through $11 million a day. If that keeps up, it will be out of emergency funds within two years.

The article goes on to point out that Governor Bill Walker is stuck with the unenviable tasks of trying to fix a problem that the last two governors Parnell and Palin pretended did not exist. 

To do it Walker will undoubtedly have to tap into the Permanent Fund account, the recognized third rail of Alaska politics. And possibly reintroduce state income taxes, which might lead to an open revolt within the state.

Whatever Walker does it will no doubt signal the end of his political career in Alaska. And that is really a shame because he is now making the hard choices that his predecessors should have made years ago, and simply refused. 

Pretending to be "real" Alaskans is bad enough, but when you lie to get a PFD....well nothing pisses us off more than that.

Source

Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch News:

A Juneau judge rejected a plea deal Thursday that would have allowed stars from Discovery Channel’s wildly popular reality television series “Alaskan Bush People” to avoid jail time for lying on applications to get the Permanent Fund dividend checks given to Alaska residents. 

“There needs to be a higher punishment to act as a deterrent,” said Juneau Superior Court Judge Philip Pallenberg. “If you knew you could catch everybody, maybe you wouldn’t need to punish each of them as much.” 

Pallenberg said 30 days in jail would be appropriate for the crime, though he couldn’t impose that punishment Thursday. The case against members of the Brown family will resume in early December. 

With the rejection of the deal, Billy Brown, the 62-year-old patriarch of the family, and his 31-year-old son Joshua "Bam Bam" Brown also withdrew their guilty pleas. Under the proposed deal, the two men had pleaded guilty Wednesday to one misdemeanor count each of second-degree unsworn falsification. Prosecutors would have dismissed many other charges if the deal went through. 

Last October, the Brown family -- Billy Brown, his wife Amora “Ami” Brown and four of their children -- were charged with a total of 60 counts of first-degree unsworn falsification and first- and second-degree theft linked to dividend applications submitted from 2010 to 2013.

Personally I have never heard of this show.

Partly because I have never seen a show about Alaska, which really reflects what it's like to live in Alaska. But mostly because the only way I would watch a reality show was if somebody held a gun to my head, and even then I might choose the bullet.

Like I said though Alaskans would probably give these assholes a pass for being phonies, IF they had not been getting Permanent Fund checks under false pretenses. 

You know when the fund was first established it was supposed to provide annual monetary amounts based on length of residence.

As a lifelong resident of Alaska I was all for that, plus it would have had the added benefit of keeping people from moving up here simply to get their hands on the money. Which today is the same for everybody, so long as you have lived here at least one year.

And if that guideline had remained in place it would have made what the Browns did much more difficult.

With that in mind I hope these guys get a nice long stay in our correctional facilities.

Perhaps THEN they will have been here long enough to have earned the label "Sourdough."

Of course being in jail they STILL will not earn that PFD check.

P.S. By the way if you are watching any of these stupid reality shows as a way to lean about the Last Frontier, you are an idiot. And trust me, you still don't have a clue.

Alaska Governor Bill Walker steps into dangerous territory.

Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch:  

A new plan from Gov. Bill Walker’s administration to broadly restructure Alaska’s finances would convert the Permanent Fund into an endowment-like fund that absorbs oil income and generates billions of dollars in annual revenue for the state’s treasury, Attorney General Craig Richards announced Wednesday. 

The sweeping changes would insulate state government from swings in the price of oil, Richards said in a briefing with reporters, and also likely reduce the Permanent Fund dividend to around $1,000, slightly below the roughly $1,400 average it has been for the past decade. 

Future dividend checks — termed “Royalty Dividends” in place of “Permanent Fund Dividends” — would be tied to Alaska’s slowly declining oil production, though the hoped-for construction of a natural gas pipeline could provide a boost.

Anybody who pays close attention to Alaska politics knows that ultimately something like this is almost certainly going to happen.

However those of us paying attention also know how incredibly unpopular the idea of touching the dividend is to Alaskans.

After all there is a reason we call it the "Third rail of politics."

And you can get a sense of that from this response by Alaska Senator Bill Wielechowski:

One Democratic senator, Bill Wielechowski of Anchorage, said Walker’s plan is “not where I would have gone,” and pointed out that its projected dividend would be a sharp drop from this year’s $2,072 check. “You’re asking for $1,000 from every Alaskan,” Wielechowski said. “I think there are better ways to do it.”

As an Alaskan who really enjoys that annual check I hope they don't mess with it.

But as a realist who knows that the alternative may be the state not being able to pay its bills, or a return of state taxes, I am not sure there is any real choice.

Personally I think in many ways we Alaskans have been more than fortunate, and like many good things, it simply cannot last forever. 

One thousand eight hundred and eighty four dollars.

Nice try Captain Zero. Still not voting for you.

I thought I would end the day with the biggest news here in Alaska .

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.

Senator Begich uses the PFD data base to suggest that it is unlikely that Palin will enter the Senate race. However he says she has to have some input, "her brand will require her to."

Courtesy of Politico:  

In an interview, Begich gave Palin a “30 percent chance” of getting into the Republican primary this summer, insisting that Palin must do something to stay relevant on a national scale — and running for the Senate might do the trick. 

“Here’s what she does. When she starts losing national attention — which she is — she has to find her entry point again. This is the way she operates,” Begich said. 

The Alaska senator then repeatedly questioned Palin’s residency — as he did in an interview last July. This time Begich pointed to the database for the Permanent Fund Dividend Division, money paid to Alaska residents out of a state mineral royalties. A search of the 2013 database includes names of several members of Palin’s family, but no Sarah Palin. 

“In Alaska you measure yourself as an Alaskan: Did you get your permanent fund check? She didn’t qualify this year, so I’m not sure if she’s Alaskan anymore,” Begich said. “In Alaska’s eyes that means you have no intent of coming back and you weren’t in Alaska long enough this year to be an Alaskan.”

Mark is exactly right about that PFD thing. (As we noted here at IM back in July of last year.) If you do not live here long enough during the year to qualify for one, then you are a transient, and have no business involving yourself in our politics.

Begich also said that Palin will have a tough time deciding who to endorse in the race, if she doesn't run. Which of course she won't.

“She’s in a box because Sullivan and Mead are establishment candidates. Joe Miller’s an insurgent and he had the best kickoff last week. He had a textbook kickoff,” Begich said. “She’s backing in other races. Why hasn’t she said anything about Alaska yet? But her brand will require her to. She has to.”

I think it is pretty clear that Begich has Palin's number.

I of course disagree that she is even entertaining the possibility to running for the Senate, because we all know she is terrified to attracting national scrutiny again, but I think the Senator has a point that Palin may feel compelled to proffer an endorsement.

However who would want it?

Essentially a Palin endorsement in Alaska would pretty much signal the end of your campaign, since there is NO place in the country where she is reviled more than right here in the Last Frontier.

Sarah Palin back in Alaska? Does this lady think we're idiots?

Courtesy of the Arizona resident's Facebook page:  

Back home in Alaska after a great few weeks on our “Good Tidings and Great Joy” book tour! Had to jump on Todd's SkiDoo with Trig to eliminate jet lag. Thanks so much to all who came out to visit, share recipes, and give us the chance to say an early Merry Christmas!

Back home?  Does this picture look like Arizona to anybody else?

Look I believe that coincidences DO happen, unlike a certain poorly bewigged lunatic I could mention, but come on!

I put up this post proving that Sarah Palin has not received a PFD two years running yesterday morning, and then eight and a half hours later Palin is saying that she is suddenly back in Alaska?

And with pictures to "prove it." Pictures which just so happen to feature the little boy that we accused her of abandoning as well. Seriously?

You know if I were a conspiracy theorist I might think that somebody was watching this blog, and felt the need to put the kibosh on speculation that she was not a resident of Alaska while she was out selling a book that was all about her life in Alaska.

You know, IF I were a conspiracy theorist.

Alaska Ear outs Sarah Palin as a nonresident of Alaska for the second year running.

"Look saying I'm a fake Alaskan, is like saying my glasses and hair are fake. Who'd believe ya?"

So this little tidbit showed up in our weekly political gossip column the Alaska Ear yesterday:  

Earwigs who don't care for Our Sarah are taking heart from the fact she didn't apply for a Permanent Fund dividend this year, presumably because she was out of the state longer than is allowed. They seem to think this means she can't run for the U.S. Senate in Alaska. 

Sorry. Not so. 

Ear checked with Elections Goddess Gail Fenumiai, who said federal rules require only that one be 30 years old and an "inhabitant" of the state. Which is why that wacko from Brooklyn who was in Zaz Hollander's ADN story Friday can probably show up here and run in the primary. 

Just what we need. Are there no shelters for the weird in Brooklyn? 

Anyhow, while serious lobes were thinking politics, Ear was noticing that Todd, Trig and Piper did apply. So apparently, they don't spend as much time Outside as Mom. 

Now of course the article focused on the question of whether Palin could run for the Senate or not, but I know there is no way that she would run for political office again, so that part did not interest me. 

What did interest me was the revelation that Palin had not filed for her PFD this year.

As you know I already documented the fact that she did not do so last year either. So I did a check over at the Alaska Department of Revenue, and sure enough Palin's name was not on there.

Bristol was on there. As were Todd's mom Faye, his sister Diana, Track's daughter Kyla Grace, Piper, Todd, Track, and Trig.

But no Sarah.

The other name that was missing was Willow, who I assume was gone to "hair school" in Arizona for much of the year, but who still should have qualified since attending school out of state does not a disqualify you for the PFD. Here are the guidelines for such an absence:

1. receiving secondary or postsecondary education on a full-time basis; 
2. receiving vocational, professional, or other specific education on a full-time basis for which, as determined by the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education, a comparable program is not reasonably available in the state;

So perhaps Willow did not qualify for some other reason, or somebody in her family did not prepare the appropriate paperwork.

However what is not in dispute is that Sarah Palin, for the second year running, is no longer a resident of Alaska.

And that is something we Alaskans need to advertise far and wide.

Sarah Palin is no longer Alaska's problem, she now belongs to the world. (And more specifically Arizona.  Ha, ha, ha Arizona!)

Is Sarah Palin still a resident of Alaska. Mostly likely not.

So the other day, as all of you well know, Mark Begich questioned whether or not Sarah Palin was still a resident of Alaska, and therefore eligible to run for his Senate seat. This resulted in an an angry and indignant flurry of Facebook and Twitter posts from the Wasilla Wendigo.

But IS Mark right?

Of course we know that Palin has spent a significant amount of time out of the state. But was it enough time to no longer be considered an Alaska resident?

That is somewhat hard to determine.

However in Alaska we have the Permanent Fund Dividend which EVERY Alaskan loves, and EVERY Alaskan makes sure to take advantage of as it is usually worth somewhere between 700 to 1000 dollars.

Now the eligibility requirements for receiving this money are as follows:

To qualify for a 2013 Permanent Fund Dividend you must be able to answer yes to all of the following statements.  

I was a resident of Alaska during all of calendar year 2012; 

On the date I apply for the 2013 Permanent Fund Dividend, I have the intent to remain an Alaska resident indefinitely;  

I have not claimed residency in any other state or country or obtained a benefit as a result of a claim of residency in another state or country at any time since December 31, 2011; 

I was not: 

• Sentenced as a result of a felony conviction during 2012; 
• Incarcerated at any time during 2012 as the result of a felony conviction; or 
• Incarcerated at any time during 2012 as the result of a misdemeanor conviction in Alaska if convicted of a prior felony or two or more prior misdemeanors since January 1, 1997  
• If absent from Alaska for more than 180 days, I was absent on an allowable absence; and 
• I was physically present in Alaska for at least 72 consecutive hours at some time during 2011 or 2012.

Pretty clear and easy to understand don't you think? And pretty flexible as well.

Essentially if Palin is not absent for MORE than half of the year, has not claimed residence in another state, and was not locked up for breaking the law, she gets this money free and clear, no strings attached (Besides paying taxes on it). And we all KNOW how much the Palin family likes to get free money!

So of COURSE she would have filed for the 2012 PFD, right?

Nuh uh, not right.

Following a thread that showed up in my comments section (Thanks by the way.), I did a little checking. 

I went to the PFD data base, downloaded the PDF for those receiving checks this year (You are welcome to do the same.), and guess what?

That's right!

Here is the list of Palins for whom there are apparently NO barriers for receiving the PFD: 

PALIN BRISTOL 
PALIN DIANA D 
PALIN FAYE IRENE 
PALIN JAMES DEAN 
PALIN JAMES FREDERICK 
PALIN KYLA GRACE 
PALIN LUZVIMINDA SERENO 
PALIN MIRANDA 
PALIN PIPER 
PALIN TODD 
PALIN TRACK 
PALIN TRIG 
PALIN VICTORIA ROSE 
PALIN WENDY ANN

Did you notice whose missing? I bet that you did.

As you can see Willow is also MIA. I would assume that is because she was in "hair school" though there IS an exception made for residents attending college in other states so I am not exactly sure WHY she is not listed.

So I think THIS explains why Palin got her panties in a twist when Senator Begich called into question her residency and whether or not she qualifies to run for a Senate seat here in Alaska.

Because she DOESN'T!

And that also means, if Todd Palin IS spending enough time in Alaska to qualify for the PFD, and the Grizzled Mama is not, that a certain blogger was right way back in 2009 about the state of their marriage.

Hmm, do I sense another Facebook post coming?

It's free money time in Alaska! It's free money time in Alaska! It's free money time in Alaska!

At 12:01 January 1st, 2009, 807 drunk Alaskans all over the state sat down and tried to fill out the online application to get their Permanent fund checks for this year. Which is apparently a record.

What is the Permanent Fund Dividend you may ask, well it is the free money that convinces hundreds of quasi-Alaskans every year to stay in this god forsaken place. These are the people who hate Alaska, but love the Alaska oil money. They suck.

Now the only reason that Alaskans get this money is because a whole butt load of dinosaurs did us a favor by dying right under our tundra and then turning into precious oil. (Thanks dinosaurs!) Then we told big oil companies like British Petroleum, Exxon Mobile, ARCO, and a bunch of smaller companies to go right ahead and rape the shit out of our environment just so long as they pay us for the privilege. So in a way Alaskans are a bunch of oil pimps.

But even though I am morally indignant over the fact that these companies are drilling big ugly holes in my picturesque state I still have bills to pay and will be filling out my PFD application posthaste. Don't you dare judge me.

Oh I know what you are thinking. You are thinking "You know what? I want some free money too!"

Not so fast Spanky! There is a catch: To be eligible for a PFD, you must have been an Alaska resident for the entire calendar year preceding the date you apply for a dividend and intend to remain an Alaska resident indefinitely at the time you apply for a dividend.

That's right bitchez! In order to get your hands on our oil money you have to live here for a whole YEAR! And no that does not mean you can come up here, open a P.O. Box, and then rush back home to warm you ass back up. No you have to PHYSICALLY live here for a whole YEAR!

That means you have to experience shoveling snow for up to three times a day!

You will get the joy of driving to work while scraping ice from the INSIDE of your car windows because you did not have time to let your car warm up properly.

You too will learn to run outside in shorts the MINUTE the mercury hits a toasty 50 degrees outside, exposing legs so blindingly white that the drivers of passing cars are temporarily blinded causing them to drive right over your neighbor's lawns.

You will have to learn to drink like a fish to keep yourself too intoxicated to realize that you have not seen the sun in three months!

And of course you will learn to accept having your nipples permanently erect for ten months out of the year.

And by the time you finally have lived here long enough to earn that PFD check you will realize that NOTHING in this life is truly free.

So if you think you have what it takes then come on up! In case you haven't heard we have FREE money, and watching you poor bastards struggling through one of our winters is waaaay more entertaining then anything they have on cable. Bwa ha ha!