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. 

SarahPAC quarterly filing is out.

So according to the end of year filing SarahPAC took in $950,966 last year, spent $1,362,059, and ended the year with $380,963 on hand.

Now we have the first quarterly report of this year in which we learn that the PAC started with that $380,963.17, brought in an additional  $135,038.27, and spent $248,425.75, leaving only $267,575.69 cash on hand as of March 31, 2016.

Not exactly fiscally responsible are they?

As usual the bulk of the money went to various kinds of "consultants" including old favorites Grey Strategies, Northstar Strategies, and Timothy Crawford (The guy behind SarahPAC.)

All of that came to a whopping $99,375.

Postage and direct mail was another biggie.

Postage was $23,147 while Direct Mail was $33,273, with a combined total of $56,420. Give or take a few pennies.

It seemed that somebody at SarahPAC remembered at the last minute that they were supposed to be a political PAC so at the end of the month there were a bunch of donations to various candidates, with only one at the beginning of the month, all of which totaled a rather pathetic $24,000.

Carol Ryan and Marilyn Lane of Wasilla are also both apparently still on the payroll, so whatever "part time clerical" work they provide must still be worth something to Palin.

Though not that much because all told Carol Ryan only brought in $6,825 for the three months and Marilyn Lane about $6,686.

From appearances it is clear that SarahPAC is trying to trim the fat, but not nearly enough as each pay period they still spend substantially more than they bring in.

To say the PAC is drying up is an understatement, and it certainly helps to explain why Palin is kissing Donald Trump's ass so hard and shopping around a judge show that she is criminally under qualified to host.

In short, she is desperate.

And with her husband's medical bills, her son's legal fees, and her daughter fighting a court battle over custody of her newest tax write off, the desperation in the Palin household must now be all but overwhelming.