Category Archives: Immediate Reactions

The commentary in the next piece down expresses my opposition to Bonding Proposition A appearing on the upcoming general election ballot.  Subsequent to that piece, the Anchorage Daily Planet and Fairbanks News-Miner columnist Dermot Cole also have expressed their opposition here (the Planet) and here (Cole).

The Planet also published a link to my commentary.  Today, coming from that link, I received the following note from former (1992-94) Commerce and Economic Development Commissioner Paul Fuhs.  I regularly receive notes on commentaries from readers  and have received an unusual number of others on the column below. With the exception of the note from Fuhs, however, all of the remainder on this piece have supported the position taken in the commentary and indicated that they also intend to oppose the ballot measure. Continue reading →

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In addition to the 59 legislative races that have been — and will continue to be — widely discussed between now and election day, there also are two statewide measures that will appear on the election day ballot.

One is the question, required by the Alaska Constitution to be included on the ballot every ten years, of whether there shall be a new Constitutional Convention called. Continue reading →

With all due respect to those on both sides of the debate, at this point oil reform is only the second most important issue to Alaska’s future.  Right now, reforming Alaska’s fiscal policy should take priority.

Alaska is at a crossroads.  As I have explained elsewhere on these pages, continuing the current levels of state spending will doom future Alaskans to a lower standard of living, either as a result of reduced state goods and services or the need to implement state income, sales and property taxes to sustain them.  As current spending rates, oil reform may delay that result, but it will not change it. Continue reading →

Join me this afternoon (5:30 – 7:30p) for a campaign fundraiser and silent art auction for Lupe Marroquin for State House.  The details are here.  If you are not able to attend, please consider supporting Lupe nevertheless if you have not already, by going to her website and clicking on “Donate.”

This is an important race.  Although the incumbent, Rep. Bob Lynn, suggests he is a fiscal conservative — and apparently fooled Prosperity Alaska into agreeing — he is anything but.   Last session, Marroquin’s opponent voted for the largest spending bill in Alaska’s history and then, on top of that, sponsored a bill (H.B. 236) proposing to return state employees to a defined benefit program.  The latter proposal would undermine Alaska’s ability to achieve a sustainable budget for decades to come. Continue reading →

I joined Tom Anderson in studio Monday afternoon for a discussion about Alaska oil, gas & fiscal policy … and ended up also talking a brief bit (at the end) about celtic music.

The tape of the show is here:  Ethically Speaking with Tom Anderson, Monday, Oct. 1, 2012. Continue reading →

Today’s mailer to House District 23 (sent and paid for by the candidate, with my permission) …

Vote for Lupe Marroquin for State House.  

Why is it the right thing to do?   Read the next column, Rewarding Mediocrity …

Prosperity Alaska (PA), one of the partners in annually preparing the “Alaska Business Report Card,” released its 2012 General Election candidate ratings this past week.  The ratings provide a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” on candidates from a “business perspective,” and PA provides endorsements in most legislative races of the candidate it thinks is more in tune with that perspective.

PA got one race terribly wrong. Continue reading →

Last week I heard one person ask another what their definition is of a “fiscal plan.” As more people begin to realize the state’s fiscal situation, I anticipate we will hear the term more.

One entity defines a “fiscal plan” as “[a]n outline of the government’s revenue and expense projections.” In Alaska, however, that definition is only partially complete. There are two other elements that I believe are important to a complete defintion here. One is is achieving a balance between revenues and expenses. The second is long term. Put together, a fiscal plan is “[a]n outline of the government’s long term revenue and expense projections, designed to achieve balance.” Continue reading →

Please join me at a fundraiser for Representative Charisse Millet next Tuesday (September 18) from 5:30 – 7:30p at LaMex Dimond (8330 King St.)

I am realizing something this election cycle.  Its not a universal truth, but is more common that not.

Candidates that have grandchildren or another long term stake in this state are focusing much more than others on long term issues.  For example, concerns about the “fiscal burden” that current spending levels are creating for future generations (as UAA’s Institute of Social and Economic Research puts it in a recent paper) play prominently in the campaign materials of those with a long term stake. Continue reading →

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There is a clear and important choice this year in State House District 23.  

On one side is the incumbent, who has very little to show for his years in the state legislature and who has voted for — and indeed, taken pride in — two of the largest budgets in Alaska history, both of which according to the University of Alaska’s Institute for Social and Economic Research (“ISER”) have materially increased the financial burdens on future Alaska generations.

On the other side is a fiscally conservative Democrat with 24 years in public finance and budget analysis who, not only in private conversations but proudly on her campaign website, makes clear that she is running to return Alaska to sustainable budgets. Continue reading →