OPINION: Restoring old pension plan will bankrupt AK without keeping teachers or troopers on the job
We already owe nearly $7 billion in unfunded liabilities from the old pension system - roughly $46,000 per Alaskan. Reopening it would pile billions more on future generations and threaten the Permanent Fund as the inevitable funding
The People’s Possession: Alaskans’ de facto ownership of the PFD
Alaskans' relationship to the PFD resembles a concept far older than Alaska itself: adverse possession. The doctrine by which long, open and continuous use ripens into ownership. It is among humanity’s oldest instruments for reconciling law with reality,
OPINION: How politicians turned Alaska’s PFD into a hidden head tax
This is not the fiscal discipline of a free state. It is the quiet reappearance of corporate government. This is the very structure that the American Revolution and Alaska’s Constitution sought to
OPINION: Entrenched political interests dissuade AK lawmakers from living within our means
Over the past decade, Alaska’s Legislature has exhibited a pattern of fiscal behavior marked by spending growth, political expedience, and an unwillingness to impose measurable performance accountability on state
OPINON: If Alaska doesn’t fix these 4 essentials we’re headed for a titanic crisis
The warning lights have been flashing for years, yet leadership keeps straightening the deck chairs on the Titanic rather than turning the wheel away from the iceberg. It is time to look squarely at the dangers ahead and take immediate, structural
OPINION: To pay a full PFD we must name the cuts & untangle Alaska budgetary knots
If you want a larger PFD without risking the Fund, you must either (a) name the cuts (and the lost federal matches), (b) name the new revenues, or (c) change the rules (and defend the long-term consequences). If you want stable services without shrinking the
OPINION: Alaska’s PFD is not socialism unless dividends make you a comrade
It always amazes me when I hear people claim that the PFD is “socialism.” What’s the ordinary meaning of socialism? Government ownership or control of the means of production across the economy. Alaska doesn’t run oil companies, grocery stores, or
REP. YUNDT: There’s no ‘magic’ wand to protect Alaska’s PFD – only hard work
If we’re serious about protecting Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend, we have to start with a clear understanding of how it came to be and why it matters.
A response to Sen. Yundt: ‘Endorsing’ the PFD is easy. Now what’s the plan?
I read State Sen. Rob Yundt’s PFD post with both appreciation and concern. I appreciate his support for a full, statutory dividend; Alaskans are better stewards of those dollars than 60 legislators. That’s consistent with our constitutional design:
Taking Back Alaska: A full budget scenario & long-term fiscal balance at $40/barrel oil
The following section outlines Alaska’s full post-reform budget scenario under the assumption of $40 per barrel oil
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