Thursday, September 04, 2008

Alaskans Getting $3,200 Rebate Checks Thanks To Palin

The Alaska legislature has approved Gov. Sarah Palin's proposal to rebate an additional $1,200 from the state's resource-rich surplus to Alaskans. That's on top of $2,000 rebate checks Alaskans were already scheduled to receive so Alaskans will have an extra $3,200 to pay their bills this year.

14 comments:

M Theory said...

And Gary, Sarah Palin didn't BORROW from the Fed (with interest due) to send those checks to the citizens of Alaska either.

Anonymous said...

Something like 50% of the Alaskan state budget or more comes directly from the US government-- they have no state income or sales tax. Thanks to the other 49 states, they have rebate money to give away.

Anonymous said...

The money for that "extra rebate" (and it's actually a one-time $1200 check on top of the regular $2000/person check that Alaskans receive from the oil revenue fund) came from the progressive tax against crude oil that Palin pushed through the legislature and signed into law. If crude oil is under $52/barrel, the state takes 25% of the net profit; with crude oil at $120/barrel, the state's cut jumps to $49. As a result, this year's oil TAX REVENUE more than doubled.

So, in a nutshell, Palin levied a windfall profits tax against oil companies, then paid a portion of the revenues it out as bonus checks to residents.

One might even suggest that, since Alaska has no state income tax, this was a almost-straight redistribution of wealth, using higher taxes on the oil companies to redistribute wealth to individuals. It's almost...socialist. (laugh)

artfuggins said...

Don't thank Palin...thank the rest of us who pay $4 an gallon everytime we fill our cars with gas.

Chris Worden said...

I heard this idea one time, and the jist was this: tax oil companies and use the proceeds to give them back to the entire country. Obama proposed this, and he was crushed for it by the Republicans. Can somebody explain how the only difference here is that Alaska keeps all of the riches for Alaskans? I think Wilson might be right. Aren't we ALL indirectly subsidizing Alaska through $4 gallons of gas?

Unknown said...

Too bad Sarah Palin isn't the Governor of Indiana. She would take the money from the Indiana oil revenue fund and every hoosier would be getting a check for $3,000!

Downtown Indy said...

Well, we're subsidizing Jim Irsay and the NFL and various hoteliers, but that's a 'good thing' (or so we're told) for some reason.

M Theory said...

How much of Alaska's land is owned by the Federal Government who serves The People?

ANSWER: 60% of Alaska is federal land which includes the North Slope Petroleum Reserve. Ms. Palin assures us she knows the north slope and there is plenty of energy up there for everyone.

Sarah Palin made it clear through both her words and her actions that money made from oil utilizing land owned by The People will be shared with the citizens before entrenched politicians, big corporate interests, or their insider thieving self-serving friends.

SOURCE:
http://www.dnr.state.ak.us/mlw/factsht/land_own.pdf

Anonymous said...

Do you people have any idea what you are talking about? If Indiana had $36 billin in permanet oil funds, we would like get checks too. The fact remains that Alaska's $36 billion Permanent Fund, which is non-inclusive of tax revenue, is derived from oil revenue, which makes it look more like an energy-rich nation such as Abu Dhabi and Norway than the rest of the U.S. As Gerald McBeath noted, a political scientist at the University of Alasak in Fairbanks: "We [Alsaka] are a countercyclical state and we have a huge budget surplus. . .That makes it hard to compare to other states." Anyone running Alaska would have a surplus in this circumstance.

Vox Populi said...

I think this is a great idea. We should enact a "one-time payment" on all oil company profits and use it as an economic stimulus. That's essentially what she has done.

How can anyone take her seriously? She's conservative in rhetoric, and radical in action. From supporting the "Bridge to Nowhere" and earmarks before she was against them to showing us all just what happens with an abstinence-only sex ed program, this woman has been an embarassment.

garyj said...

Don't thank Palin...thank the rest of us who pay $4 an gallon everytime we fill our cars with gas.

You always tell people you don't drive, Wilson. I guess that changed, huh?

artfuggins said...

Garyj, you either cant read or are just ignorant. I make that entry not Wilson.

7th CD guy said...

garyj, myself, and several other think that wilson46201 and art fuggins are the same person.
Even though Wilson is an intelligent guy with an extensive vocabulary, he can lower his IQ to meet the standards of the rest of us "common folk", using a ficticious name:artfuggins
and Wilson DOES drive a car.

Jason said...

Hmm. Palin's energy argument was where I got my understanding for the oil check thing.

Alaska was purchased by Seward as an energy trade. Alaska made a deal when they agreed to become a state, A) let us be Alaskans, and B) let us help out the rest of our country by drilling up here.

I always thought the checks were the fed's apology for not drilling?