Tag Archives: Fiscal Policy

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 — our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week — for the week of May 20, 2019.

The Weekly Top 3 is a regular weekly segment on The Michael Dukes Show. The Show broadcasts on FacebookLive and via streaming audio from the Show’s website weekdays from 6-8am. I join Michael weekly on Tuesday’s show, from 6:20-7am, for a discussion between the two of us about the three issues.

This week our Top 3 issues are these: 1) is the #akleg likely to approve a full PFD, and if so, where do things go from there (at 1:55), 2) how deep should vetoes go this year – “glide path” or “rip off the band aid” (19:55), and 3) yes, the state has other fiscal reserves, but should they be spent now (27:20).

The segment is at the YouTube clip above. For those that prefer the audio version, it is available on our Soundcloud page here. For this and other complete podcasts of The Michael Dukes Show, go to the Show’s Soundcloud page here.

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 — our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week — for the week of May 13, 2019.

The Weekly Top 3 is a regular weekly segment on The Michael Dukes Show. The Show broadcasts on FacebookLive and via streaming audio from the Show’s website weekdays from 6-8am. I join Michael weekly on Tuesday’s show, from 6:20-7am, for a discussion between the two of us about the three issues.

This week our Top 3 issues are these: 1) what is happening with the Conference Committee on the budget and where we are headed after it finishes its work (at 1:49), 2) a News-Miner op-ed editorializes on courage, yet shows none itself (22:52), and 3) we discuss a Rasmuson Board op-ed in the Anchorage Daily News which argues that the state needs more time to deal with budget cuts, even though it has had since 2013 to prepare (27:37).

The segment is at the YouTube clip above. For those that prefer the audio version, it is available on our Soundcloud page here. For this and other complete podcasts of The Michael Dukes Show, go to the Show’s Soundcloud page here.

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 — our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week — for the week of May 6, 2019.

The Weekly Top 3 is a regular weekly segment on The Michael Dukes Show. The Show broadcasts on FacebookLive and via streaming audio from the Show’s website weekdays from 6-8am. I join Michael weekly on Tuesday’s show, from 6:20-7am, for a discussion between the two of us about the three issues.

This week our Top 3 issues are these: 1) the question those urging restored spending — such as doctors and university supporters, to pick a couple that have made the papers in recent days — should be asked (at 1:51), 2) how so-called conservative Sen. Chris Birch is urging his fellow legislators to ignore the law (14:10), and 3) why NONE of the so-called spending caps — neither the Governor’s nor the legislature’s — actually match spending to revenues (27:20).

The segment is at the YouTube clip above. For those that prefer the audio version, it is available on our Soundcloud page here. For this and other complete podcasts of The Michael Dukes Show, go to the Show’s Soundcloud page here.

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 — our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week — for the week of April 29, 2019.

The Weekly Top 3 is a regular weekly segment on The Michael Dukes Show. The Show broadcasts on FacebookLive and via streaming audio from the Show’s website weekdays from 6-8am. I join Michael weekly on Tuesday’s show, from 6:20-7am, for a discussion between the two of us about the three issues.

This week our Top 3 issues are these: 1) the Senate Finance Committee’s adoption last Friday of a $3000 PFD for this year (at 1:50), 2) the huge significance of the Senate Finance Committee’s simultaneously proposed move of $12B from the Permanent Fund earnings reserve to the Permanent Fund corpus (19:25), and 3) what to look for on spending as the Senate takes up the Operating Budget on the floor this week (28:08).

The segment is at the YouTube clip above. For those that prefer the audio version, it is available on our Soundcloud page here. For this and other complete podcasts of The Michael Dukes Show, go to the Show’s Soundcloud page here.

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 — our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week — for the week of April 15, 2019.

The Weekly Top 3 is a regular weekly segment on The Michael Dukes Show. The Show broadcasts on FacebookLive and via streaming audio from the Show’s website weekdays from 6-8am. I join Michael on the Show each Tuesday from 6:20-7am for a discussion between the two of us about the three issues.

This week our Top 3 issues are these: 1) why the state’s current budget process doesn’t achieve the needed goal of balancing “what we want” with “what we are willing to pay” (at 1:46); 2) we count the number of PFD “plans” circulating in various parts of the legislature — we are up to four (18:29), and 3) at the end of this session, will at least parts of the budget end up in court and what happens if they do (26:32).

The segment is at the YouTube clip above. For those that prefer the audio version, it is available on our Soundcloud page here. For this and other complete podcasts of The Michael Dukes Show, go to the Show’s Soundcloud page here.

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 — our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week — for the week of April 8, 2019.

The Weekly Top 3 is a regular weekly segment on The Michael Dukes Show. The Show broadcasts on FacebookLive and via streaming audio from the Show’s website weekdays from 6-8am. I join Michael on the Show each Tuesday from 6:20-7am for a discussion between the two of us about the three issues.

This week our Top 3 issues are these: 1) the House Finance Committee’s proposed budget and things to watch as it moves to the floor (at 1:38), 2) why both SJR6, the Governor’s proposed spending cap, and the Senate Finance Committee’s version of the same, are ineffective as written, and what changes are needed as a result (23:36), and 3) our thoughts on the Senate Finance Committee’s proposed PFD bill (30:43).

The segment is at the YouTube clip above. For those that prefer the audio version, it is available on our Soundcloud page here. For this and other complete podcasts of The Michael Dukes Show, go to the Show’s Soundcloud page here.

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 — our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week — for the week of April 1, 2019.

The Weekly Top 3 is a regular weekly segment on The Michael Dukes Show. The Show broadcasts on FacebookLive and via streaming audio from the Show’s website weekdays from 6-8am. I join Michael on the Show each Tuesday from 6:20-7am for a discussion between the two of us about the three issues.

This week our Top 3 issues are these: 1) why some in the #akleg keep pressing for PFDcuts even when other options are better, for the overall Alaska economy and Alaska families (at 1:46), 2) the concerns we have about raising oil taxes (at 21:27), and 3) why think changes are needed to SJR 6, the Governor’s proposed spending cap. We ran out of time before discussing the third issue on the show, and will bring it back next week.

The segment is at the YouTube clip above. For those that prefer the audio version, it is available on our Soundcloud page here. For this and other complete podcasts of The Michael Dukes Show, go to the Show’s Soundcloud page here.

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 — our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week — for the week of March 25, 2019.

The Weekly Top 3 is a regular weekly segment on The Michael Dukes Show. The Show broadcasts on FacebookLive and via streaming audio from the Show’s website weekdays from 6-8am. I join Michael on the Show each Tuesday from 6:20-7am for a discussion between the two of us about the three issues.

This week we only covered the first two of our Top 3 before running out of time: 1) the false choice the Alaska House Majority is pushing between spending cuts and PFD cuts — there are other options that are better for most Alaskans which the House steadfastly is refusing to discuss (at 2:14); and 2) Governor Mike Dunleavy’s 10-yr outlook — its the most important analysis we have seen in the seven years since the start of the state’s fiscal crisis (at 22:10). We will pick up the third — whether The Buckeye Institute (discussed in the 10-year plan) intends to provide the same type of look at the distributional impact of various options on Alaskans the Institute for Taxation & Economic Policy did in 2017 — on a subsequent podcast.

The segment is at the YouTube clip above. For those that prefer the audio version, it is available on our Soundcloud page here. For this and other complete podcasts of The Michael Dukes Show, go to the Show’s Soundcloud page here.

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 — our look at the top 3 things on our mind this week — for the week of March 18, 2019.

The Weekly Top 3 is a regular weekly segment on The Michael Dukes Show. The Show broadcasts on FacebookLive and via streaming audio from the Show’s website weekdays from 6-8am. I join Michael on the Show each Tuesday from 6:20-7am for a discussion between the two of us about the three issues.

This week we start with a brief discussion of the controversy surrounding the treatment of the Governor’s proposed budget earlier this week in a House Finance Education Subcommittee hearing (at 2:05). Then we turn to our Top 3: 1) an update of our 10-yr outlook to reflect the Administration’s Spring Revenue Forecast — red ink for as far as the eye can see (6:45); 2) if we have to go there, why a #FlatTax is better than PFD cuts from the perspective of the avereage Alaska family (22:57), and 3) we discuss what is driving the growing federal deficit (43:27). We also include a summary of our first two points that Michael asked us to do at the beginning of the second hour of the Show (37:32 – 43:27).

The segment is at the YouTube clip above. For those that prefer the audio version, it is available on our Soundcloud page here. For this and other complete podcasts of The Michael Dukes Show, go to the Show’s Soundcloud page here.