Bush tax cuts have shifted tax burden from top one percent to the poor and middle class

I have never before discussed national issues at this blog, but this guest opinion piece in the Kodiak Daily Mirror on Bush's tax shift is making the round on the internet, including on the famous blog Smirking Chimp.

It seems that the national Republicans are just as devoted to helping their friends at the expense of the middle-class and the poor as are the Alaskan GOP. I'm shocked. Shocked.

Doing it Right: Begich announces tax reform plan

Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich announced a proposed reform of the city's tax system. Almost all homeowners will owe less tax. Most small business owners will also owe less tax.

The losers are smokers and business owners who lease property from the city. There seem to be 450 businesses on muni land that is underassessed to the tune of $85 million.

On the whole, these proposals are excellent. Begich is proposing middle class tax relief financed by ending a de facto, hidden subsidy to businesses that lease city property and by creating an additonal disincentive to smoke.

See folks, good government is, in fact, possible in Alaska.

Homeland Security to Murkowski: Go Fly a Kite

The federal Department of Homeland Security has rejected Gov. Frank Murkowski's request to use $2 million in federal money to buy a corporate-style jet.

According to KTUU, Homeland Security gives three reasons for the rejection:

1. The jet would not be primarily used for homeland security purposes.

2. The jet could not land on many bush runways.

3. The jet would not be outfitted with the equipment necessary to prevent or mitigate a terrorist act.

The administration has to concede that the first two points have some validity, but I would really like to see Murkowski argue that a burled walnut minibar stocked with ample supplies of single-malt Scotch can come in mighty handy when you have to battle Al-Qaeda terrorists holed up in some cave near Tok.

For Murkowski, Cronyism trumps Constitution

Frank Murkowski has demanded that the Alaska Judical Council send him additional nominations for a superior court position in Anchorage. Murkowski does not seem to want to appoint any of the three persons the Council rated as "most qualified." He has, therefore, demanded that the Council forward the names of all "qualified" candidates for his consideration.

Now, Frank Murkowski has never been a man overly concerned with the pursuit of excellence and has devoted his life to establishing mediocrity in various areas of public policy. Murkowski's wish to pass over the best possible judical candidates for someone of lesser ability comes, therefore, as no surprise.

What is a surprise is just how clearly the Alaskan Constitution prohibits just what Murkowski is trying to do. Section 4, Article 5 clearly states:

§ 5. Nomination and Appointment

The governor shall fill any vacancy in an office of supreme court justice or superior court judge by appointing one of two or more persons nominated by the judicial council. [Emphasis mine.-B]

The Judicial Council, by forwarding three names, has already given the Governor one more name than the number to which he is entitled. Maybe Frank is just disappointed that no one from his immediate family made the list of "most qualified."

Note to Judical Council: Next time there is a similar vacancy, send Murkowski just two names. Maybe that will encourage him to read the Alaskan Constitution before starting such a silly, unnecessary conflict.

[Update: I just discovered that Nemo at Alaskascreed beat me to the punch on this topic. Nemo claims that the person Murkowski was hoping to put in the superior court seat is Scott Nordstrand.]

Senator Judas sends Self to Political Purgatory; No Murkowskis live in District to fill Vacancy

Scott Ogan, who committed one of the most breathtaking betrayals of constituents in Alaskan history by supporting coalbed methane drilling on tens of thousands of acres of residential and privately-owned property, has resigned. While most of the credit for driving Ogan from office belongs to a group of his own constituents, the Ogan is So Gone committee, former Republican legislator and current Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Jim Whitaker also deserves credit for outing Ogan as a shameless pawn of his corporate masters.

Ogan's poor judgement on coalbed methane may have gotten a lot of media attention and angered thousands of Alaskans, but his bizzare conduct, as recounted by Whitaker, regarding a possible North Slope gasline was at least as outrageous.

Governor Frank Murkowski has thirty days to nominate a replacement. The selection process promises to be challenging for the Governor, as he has no children residing in the district.

Small Cracks in Wall Surrounding Kremlin Republicans

The ADN has a story on a few GOP legislative primary challengerswho are calling into question the GOP legislative caucuses almost daily use of closed door meeting. The reporter, Sean Cockerham, makes a good observation when he writes:

Because the meetings are closed, it is impossible to know for sure what is discussed. It is clear the doors close almost every day when the Legislature is in session. When lawmakers face big issues, the closed meetings get longer.

GOP legislators have repeatedly claimed, however, that legislatively substantive issues are not discussed in the caucuses. According to these legislators, only strategy and proceedural issues are determined in these closed meetings. What has amazed me is that no one has ever pointed out that all legislative issues always have procedural issues. Procedure governs everything a legislature does.

Savvy legislators would rather control the implementation of the rules of procedure than control of a legislative body's original agenda. Anyone who refers to procedural votes or debates regarding procedure as "merely procedural" or ""mere procedure" is either ignorant or a liar.

Hubbert's peak world wide??

Better start restocking the woodshed, and increasing the state's share of oil revenue. If the world, not just Alaska, is running out of oil, then we need to increase the state's take of oil profits in light of the higher prices that will result before the wells run dry.

[Thanks to Constructive Creativity for the link.]

ConocoPhillips, BP Announce West Sak Heavy Oil Expansion

While this announcement from the Big Two on the Slope is good news, we should remember that the 45,000 barrels of oil per day that ConocoPhillips and BP hope to wring from West Sak by 2007 is not very much relative to the 935,000 barrels per day that were shippped down TAPS in June.

West Sak, at 45,000 BPD, is not going to save TAPS or Alaska. (Permanent instability in the Persian Gulf and Russia, however, just might.)

State Senator Judas Iscariot

Apparently not content with merely betraying the interests of his constituents while receiveing 40,000 pieces of silver a year from a coalbed methane developer, state Sen. Scott Ogan (R-Evergreen) has now decided to accuse constituents of criminal behavior. Anyone ignorant enough to actually believe what Ogan has to say about anything should first read this open letter from former GOP legislator and current Fairbanks-North Star Borough Mayor Jim Whitaker.

As for Fred Dyson's attempt to defend Ogan, Dyson himself made this defense almost laughable:

But Dyson, who serves with Ogan on the Senate Resources Committee, said at the press conference that he has watched Ogan stand up to resource development companies at least twice in the eight years the men have known each other. He couldn't recall the specifics of those examples, he said. [Link to article]

Furthermore, anyone who really had truth on his side would not have to take great pains to specifically mention the following:

Several days later, Ogan continued, Sutton activist Robin McLean "confronted" him in a hallway at 8:03 a.m. March 22 and told him that if the property owners' bill passed the House and Senate, " 'we'll call off the dogs.' "

Ogan remembered the time and date exactly, he said, because he immediately wrote the information down in his Bible.[Link to article]

Scott has a personal relation with Jesus. So did Judas.

The Significance of Whitaker's Letter to Ogan

[Update: this post was written very early this morning before today's ADN was printed.]

Generally speaking, both the ADN and KTUU compare quite favorably to similar media outlets in similarly-sized markets. It is thus surprising that these esteemed sources have, at least to date, failed to grasp the significance of former state legislator and current Fairbanks-North Star Borough Mayor Jim Whitaker's blistering open letter attacking recent actions by state Sen. Scott Ogan. Perhaps they consider the letter to be nothing more than a personal spat. If so, they are in error.

Assuming that a gasline is built to ship North Slope gas to Midwest markets, Whitaker would like a spur line built through Fairbanks to Valdez. Alaskan gas could then be exported as LNG to Asia and California. (Such an LNG project may or may not be viable given the amount of gas at tidewater in some of the Persian Gulf states.) Under current law, however, a producer-owned gasline consortium could simply refuse to transport gas through their gasline to Valdez if the gas were destined for export. An independently owned LNG facility in Valdez could be effectively barred from competing in export markets against companies with an interest in the gasline.

At a minimum, Whitaker would like a spur line to provide gas to the Fairbanks area. Of course, the profit margin for gas sold into a Fairbanks market might not be as high as the margin for gas sold Outside. The same logic applies to selling North Slope gas into the Anchorage/South Central market through a $500 million spur line from Tok.

Given the likelihood that producers may very likely have a strong incentive to export all of Alaska's gas to the lower-48, Whitaker, quite correctly, wants Ogan and the rest of the legislature to require that some North Slope gas be marketed in Alaska with as few cost-enhancing barriers as possible.

According to Whitaker, however, current law bizarrely:

puts an overwhelming burden on local utilities and communities to commit to purchase, for firm transportation, a definitive amount of natural gas without knowing what their future demands will be, without knowing what the tariff rate will be, or the methodology for gas valuation will be, or from whom they will purchase gas or even if it will be available.

Yet Ogan, who claims to be so concerned about a possible shortage of Cook Inlet gas that he sold out his own constituents to the coalbed methane industry, seems, in light of Whitaker's letter, to be utterly opposed to the idea of requiring Alaskan gas to be marketed to Alaskans without the risk-increasing demands of current statute. In fact, the idea so scares Ogan, that he would not even let Whitaker testify before his Natural Resources Committee.

So who benefits from keeping North Slope gas out of Alaska's markets? While the major producers might experience a relatively minor marginal gain by selling less gas in-state and more out-of-state, Ogan's former client, Evergreen Resources, could have a relatively major gain. Cheap, plentiful North Slope gas would pull the rug right out from under Evergreen's Mat-Su efforts to supply Anchorage with coalbed methane.

Yet another reason to recall Ogan.

[Update, continued: This morning's ADN has a very good editorial on Whitaker's letter and what it teaches us about Ogan.]

Ogan Blasted by Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor in Open Letter. Charges very serious, tone scathing. Letter provided below.

As the News-Miner reported yesterday, Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor and former state GOP legislator Jim Whitaker wrote Sen. Scott Ogan (R-Evergreen) an open letter in which he practically accused Ogan of sideing with North Slope producers against the interests of the state of Alaska. Whitaker also seems to imply that Ogan should resign from the legislature if he continues to favor producers over the state.

I have obtained a copy of the three page letter. Here it is with some minor formatting changes required to post it on this blog:

July 27, 2004


Senator Scott Ogan
Chair, Senate Resources Committee
Alaska State Legislature


Senator:

Your telephone call yesterday was surprising and inappropriate. During that call, you stated that you were “not going to allow the upcoming (Joint Sen. Resources / LB&A) hearing to get out of control”, as you felt it had at the previous hearing when Robin Brenna gave his testimony; which you characterized as: “an attorney going into full attack mode against the producers”.

You further stated that his testimony “had the producer’s panties in a wad”; and you inferred that you had assured the producers you would not let that happen again, out of fear that a potential project might be hampered. In an apparent attempt to prevent any such discomfort on the part of the producers, you stated that any testimony I might present to the committee on behalf of the Alaska Gasline Port Authority would have to be pre-submitted in writing and reviewed by you before you would allow it. When I replied that a constraint of that nature was unacceptable, you replied that you would “think about it and get back to me.” You have not done so, therefore, I am submitting this testimony to you and the public concurrently.

Senator Ogan, the request from Bonnie Robson, the consultant to the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee for Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline Issues, is very clear, the subject matter for discussion is to be: “What is your company willing to offer on access beyond what is required by law?”

My testimony was going to be, and still is as follows:

Current Alaska law provides for a broad policy directive:

• the Alaska Constitution, Article 8, sections 1 and 2 that directs “It is the policy of the State to encourage… the development of its resources by making them available for maximum use consistent with the public interest. And that The legislature shall provide for the utilization, development, and conservation of all natural resources belonging to the State, … for the maximum benefit of its people.”

• AS 38.35 The Right of Way Leasing Act – “The natural resources of this state… and in its land for transportation of these resources …toward markets both in and out of the state are capable of making a significant contribution to the general welfare of the people of this state. It is the policy of this state that the development, use, and control of a pipeline transportation system be directed to make the maximum contribution to the development of the human resources of this state, the increase in the standard of living for all of its residents, the advancement of existing and potential sectors of its economy, the strengthening of free competition in its private enterprise system, and the careful protection of its incomparable natural environment.”

• AS 43.82 Stranded Gas Development Act - “maximize the benefit to the people of the state of the development of the state's stranded gas resources”

Unfortunately, with the passage of HB 290 by the twenty-first Alaska Legislature in 2000, that broad policy directive is precluded in that the law puts an overwhelming burden on local utilities and communities to commit to purchase, for firm transportation, a definitive amount of natural gas without knowing what their future demands will be, without knowing what the tariff rate will be, or the methodology for gas valuation will be, or from whom they will purchase gas or even if it will be available.

Further, HB 290 exempts a North Slope natural gas pipeline from a requirement to serve as a “common carrier” for anything other than in state use of gas. There is no realistic provision in law that requires the owners of a gas pipeline to provide access for out of state shipping capacity to any other would be competitor.

Simply put, despite a broad policy directive to the contrary, it is probable that under existing law, Alaska’s communities will have limited access to North Slope natural gas. Further, it is probable that would-be competitors will be precluded from shipping natural gas, thereby eliminating the potential for a competitive free enterprise market, from which all Alaska benefits.

Fortunately, timely solutions do exist. When HB 290 passed, it was clear that a time of reckoning lay before us; when the legislation would have to be reviewed and changed. We knew that because, while HB 290 was the best we could do at the time, ultimately it did not meet out constitutional obligation. That time is now. The first set of solutions will require that the law be changed to provide a more probable opportunity for community access and competitive access for would be gas explorers and producers. A second solution is public ownership of a North Slope natural gas transportation system. The Alaska Gasline Port Authority, a municipal entity created in 2000 by an overwhelming majority of voters, and the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority, a state entity, created by initiative in 2002 and approved by a significant majority of voters, are both committed to ensuring access to any would be producer and also committed to providing access to supply for all Alaskan consumers; be they utilities, industrial, or other user groups.

Ready markets exist for Alaskan natural gas. The supply / demand dynamic is such that the economics of a project are predictable and positive. Supply, at a fair value, must be made available to the project that most benefits Alaska and Alaskans. It is the Legislature’s constitutional responsibility to ensure that supply, at fair value, be made available. That responsibility and subsequent action may from time to time require a reasonable legal and commercial confrontation or negotiation between the Legislature and the major leaseholders of Alaska’s North Slope natural gas: British Petroleum, Exxon and Conoco-Phillips.

A negotiation or confrontation of this nature between the State as the owner and the leaseholders is necessary and healthy; after all, much can be gained or lost on both sides. The Legislature’s responsibility is to fairly gain a maximum benefit for the people of Alaska.

Individual legislators who will not or cannot accept that responsibility should resign; to do anything less is tantamount to a breach of the public trust, which is conveyed to them upon taking the oath of office.


N. Jim Whitaker
Mayor, Fairbanks North Star Borough

Princess Lisa: Poster Child

Further historical evidence that fedual, family-based political structures will always be undermined by the hard working members of the merchantile class can be found here.

Hulk jr. Removes Silver Foot From Mouth, Visits adoring Valley Masses

GOP state senate majority leader Ben Stevens could not quite choke down a complete serving of humble pie in Wasilla yesterday. As the ADN reported:

In an appearance before a small Valley audience Wednesday night, state Sen. Ben Stevens stopped short of a direct apology for remarks he made in an e-mail exchange with a Wasilla woman earlier this month. But Stevens acknowledged he chose his words poorly when he called the woman "just more Valley trash" in response to her criticisms.

[snip]

"I have to have the confidence that the people in the Valley know that I was not classifying everybody," he said. "Because I wasn't. And that's just the way it was."

OK. So Hulk jr. does not think that every Valley resident is trash. But who did he have in mind with his "just more" comment? Who is the "more" in "just more"? I guess we would have to know who Stevens knows from the Valley.

Hey! Ogan, Kohring, listen up! I don't think Hulk jr. likes you.

Yet Another Reversal by Governor Whiplash

Reneging on yet another campaign promise, Frank "Whiplash" Murkowski has abrubtly reversed himself and has signed a law changing the state's abortion policy. Women seeking abortions must now certify in writing that their doctor has provided them with government certified, anti-abortion propaganda. Planned Parenthood's rebuttal as reported by the ADN is concise and on point:

Planned Parenthood argues that all medical procedures require "informed consent." The new law sets up abortion as the lone procedure with its own separate set of requirements.

The ADN also quotes pro-choice former GOP legislator Cynthia Toohey as expressing surprise and dismay at Whiplash's action.

With all due respect, I have to ask where Toohey has been living the last ten years. The social conservatives totally dominate the state GOP. The so-called GOP "Big Tent" is a lie promulgated merely to keep the money flowing from the libertarian wing of the party. It's Marx in reverse: Jerry Prevo and his political ilk dominate the party while feeding the socially more liberal business elites a bunch of lies about an inclusive party deeply concerned with their issues.

The Problem with a Professionalized Legislature

According to a recent report in the ADN, the National Conference of State Legislatures has issued a comparative report on legislative pay and staffing that places Alaska in the same categpory as Illinois, Florida, Ohio, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Wisconsin.

As Alaska's paper of record wrote:

The NCSL analysis showed Alaska had five staff members for every legislator. That included not just individual lawmakers' staff, but a host of other employees, such as researchers, maintenance workers and clerks.

That ratio of staff to lawmakers is about the same as in Massachusetts, Illinois and Wisconsin, Kurtz said.

In contrast, Wyoming's 90 lawmakers have just one employee for every three lawmakers. In Montana, the ratio is slightly less than 1-to-1 for the state's 150 legislators.

As for legislative pay, the story glosses the NCSL's report as finding:

The council calculated Alaska lawmakers' compensation at $55,000 to $60,000 a year. That includes their base salary of $24,000 along with per diem and other compensation that lawmakers do not have to submit receipts to receive.

In contrast, legislators in Wyoming, with just over 501,000 people, and Montana, with almost 918,000 people, are paid about $7,000 a year and report spending on average 40 percent to 50 percent of their time on the job, Kurtz said. But, he noted, the cost of living is also quite low in those states.

For Alaskans, the significant question that emerges from these data is whether or not we are better or worse off having such a highly staffed, highly paid legislature. Given the work load of each Alaskan legislator, I do not think they are overpaid. Their legislative duties demand a bit less time than a full time, yearound job, and they are paid a bit less than an experienced, highly skilled, unionized worker. They make a lot less than lawyers and doctors.

While the legislators are not overpaid for the work they actually do, I would suggest that they are both overstaffed and overpaid for the work they should do. Being an Alaskan legislator should not be like almost having a full time job. It should be,at most, a half time job. A full time legislator must live in fear of losing his or her job as a legislator because this job is what feeds his or her family, the personal staff and the personal staff's families. The conscience of such legislators is hopelessly crippled by the economic necessity of winning the next election. By contrast, very few people would sell out their values for a measely $7000 legislative stipend.

Just look at South Dakota. Politically, South Dakota and Alaska have a lot in common. The GOP is by far the dominant party in both states' legislatures and has been for some time. The SD GOP has controlled the governor's mansion since the mid-1970's. Both state GOPs are currently controlled by the extreme, theocratic wing.

Yet, SD Republican legislators show a lot more moral courage than AK Republican legislators. Why? Because SD legislators are paid less than $10,000 and have no permanent staff. (They share a temporary staff during sessions.) When a South Dakotan wants to call a legislator, the call is made to the legislator's home. When legislative leadership tries to pressure a SD legislator into making an important vote against his or her conscience, the legislator can always say, "I don't need this job anymore than I need your BS." The same logic applies to standing up to big-money lobbyists.

When Rep. Bob Lynn (R-Anch) showed some courage and voted his conscience against gutting the longevity bonus, GOP leadership stripped him of power. By contrast, SD State Senator Eric Bogue, who broke with his leadership and governor in 1999 over a crucial vote, was subsequently elected Majority Leader.

John Havelock once suggested that Alaska merge the state senate and house into a single unicameral legislature. Havelock argued that Alaska needs small legislative districts in which it is cheap to campaign. (Such a change would have the effect of increasing the number of current house seats by 50 percent.) Money, Havelock argued, is increasingly determinative of poltiical outcomes because legislative campaigns are increasingly expensive. In South Dakota, which has 105 legislative seats, very few candiates need to spend more than $15,000 to have a highly credible campaign. In Alaska, nobody batts an eye at $40,000 in expenditures.

I say, double the size of the legislature. Cut pay in half. And make evening and morning calls to legislator's homes the norm, not the crackpot's exception. Amateurs play the game out of love, not for money. We need more amateurs in Juneau and fewer professions who have too much to lose.

[UPDATE: In an earlier version of this post, I started the next to last paragraph with "Someone, I believe it was Steve Haycox, once suggested that... ." My recollection was wrong. It was John Havelock.]

Daddy Murkowski's veto aimed at Miller Supporter

GOP US Senate candidate Mike Miller has received a lot of support from Mat-Su Republicans, including State Sen. Lyda Green. Now Frank Murkowski has vetoed funding for Green's main acheivement of the 2003-2004 legislative session, a study of a proposed expansion of the Palmer Correctional Center in Sutton.

The only serious policy alternative to an expansion of PCC is for the city of Whittier to build and operate a private prison in conjunction with Cornell Companies of Texas. Despite heavy pressure some GOP lawmakers, the PCC expansion seemed to have the upper hand especially given the fact that Murkowski is on record as supporting PCC expansion as an alternative to the Whittier project.

So what could possibly have changed Governor Whiplash's mind? Nothing about the two projects seems to have changed, just Green's relationship to Princess Lisa.

In other words, Murkowski would rather punish a supporter of Miller's than do what he once thought was right for the state of Alaska.

This guy does'nt think he governs the state. He thinks he owns it.

Outside Experts on Alaska Gasline: Start Building

The Gas and Power Division of the Scotland-headquartered, international consultancy, Wood Mackenzie, has made a presentation of a study on the economic feasibility of a $20 billion gasline that would send North Slope gas to Chicago. According to KTUU, Wood Mackenzie predicts that Alaskan gas will ship to Chicago by 2016.

For a couple of years, I have noted that the national GOP, specifically US Senate Republicans and Bush administration officials, have worked hard to squash the sort of incentive packages that would promote the construction of such a gasline. The typical GOP claim has been that the Bush administration does not want to interfere with market forces. Of course, the current federal administration only pays lip service to the notion of free trade. (Just look at the steel tariff issue.) What I suspect has sunk the gasline so far is the fact that both Bush and Cheney have very close ties to the lower-48 gas producers who for years have thought that North Slope gas delivered in quantity to Chicago would severely drop prices. Senate Democrats, especially those from the chilly upper-midwest (where homes are heated with increasingly expensive natural gas), have strongly supported incentives to bring North Slope gas to market.

In other words, the partisan breakdown of the federal debate on gasline incentives is the mirror image of the debate on opening ANWR. Of course, the gasline issue is far more important for Alaska than ANWR because building a gas line and marketing North Slope gas would have a far larger economic impact than extending the Slope's oil fields to the east.

Nevertheless, the Washington DC-based Alaskan media has, to my knowledge, never run a story on how the national Republicans have tried to delay the construction of the gasline so their buddies can make a few dozen billion more dollars thanks to higher natural gas prices.

Halcro Praises Begich for Successful Year, heaps scorn on Ben Stevens

In today's ADN, Andy Halcro offers us a nice synopsis of Mark's achievements since his election. Too bad Halcro is too moderate to win a statewide GOP primary. He would make a good governor.

Halcro also provides a shockingly honest and forthright comparison of Begich and Ben Stevens.

One interesting tidbit: the early internet edition of this piece described Halcro as a "former legislator." My recollection tells me that Halcro's previous ADN columns have described him as a "former Republican legislator."

Is Halcro going to switch parties? As both the US GOP and the AK GOP wallow in the mire of crony capitalism and anti-rationalism, the Democratic Party could pick up the banner of true, market-driven capitalism. Indeed, the so called New Democrats did this years ago. Halcro might not agree with the left side of the Democratic Party, but a Republican of a somewhat libertarian perspective would probably be more at home in the AK Democratic Party than the fundementalist-dominated AK GOP.