When it comes to governing, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's job is unlike that of any other state chief executive. It's more like being the leader of a small, oil-rich country.

Sometime this month, every Alaskan who's lived in the state for at least one year will get a check from the state government for about $3,300. A family of four will get a $13,000 share of the riches Alaska amasses by heavily taxing oil extracted from state lands. The bigger the family, the more money they get. The largesse helps to explain Palin's popularity in her own state, but Alaska's gain has come at the expense of residents of other states.

Like New Hampshire, Alaska has no general sales tax or income tax. New Hampshire, however, faces a potential half-billion budget shortfall over the next three years. Estimates of Alaska's surplus this year range from $5 billion to $10 billion.

The state also has a $36 billion bank account called the Permanent Fund filled with oil money collected for a generation. The fund is used to pay Alaskans their annual dividend, to which Palin added $1,200 this year to help residents pay for higher fuel costs.

It's Palin's job to decide whether to spend all the money the state rakes in and, if so, on what. Since Alaska gives its governor line item veto power, Palin funds what she likes and cuts what she doesn't. She crossed out $231 million in capital projects last year. Meanwhile, the state's operating budget increased by one-third since 2004, according to The Los Angeles Times.

As governor, Palin convinced lawmakers to dramatically increase the state's tax on oil. ConocoPhillips, which scrapped plans to build a refinery in Alaska because of the tax, claims that the state now extracts 75 percent of the value of each barrel of oil. Since most Alaskan oil is sold in California and the Northwest, Alaska's tax is ultimately passed along to consumers in those states. The tax transfers wealth from their pockets to Alaskans simply because they're Alaskans.

Alaska siphons money from residents of New Hampshire and the rest of the nation in another way. Despite a surplus roughly equal to New Hampshire's state budget for a population of just 670,000, it continues to aggressively seek handouts from Washington. As mayor and governor, Palin was a master of the earmark and backer of, before it became a political liability, the infamous Bridge to Nowhere. She later denounced the bridge, but kept the money. In 2005, New Hampshire got 71 cents back from the federal government for every dollar its residents paid in taxes. Alaska, despite its oil wealth, got $1.84 back for every dollar paid in federal taxes.

As mayor of the tiny suburb of Wasilla, Palin secured $27 million in federal earmarks, money the rest of the nation's taxpayers paid to her town of 6,700.

Despite her bluster on the campaign trail about cutting earmarks and pork, according to CBS News, Alaska received more earmark money per capita than any other state.

Palin's 2009 earmark requests could allow her state to keep its hold on first place.

Palin rightly claims that she has executive experience. But how hard is governing when your job involves doling out to Alaskans money collected from people in other states?





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Comments
Anonymous
By Senior Citizen on Thu, 09/18/2008 - 15:33
20080918/OPINION/809180315
809180315
article_title:
Governing easy when state's rolling in dough
article_pubdate:
20080918
Maybe you should move to Alaska so you can be governed by Sarah Palin after Nov 4, 2008. You'd probably be happier, since John Lynch will continue to be the governor of New Hampshire.

Sarah is that you?
By Scrupp on Thu, 09/18/2008 - 14:53
20080918/OPINION/809180315
809180315
article_title:
Governing easy when state's rolling in dough
article_pubdate:
20080918
To quote 'Anonymous', " Some definate errors: "more earmarks per capita than any other state" there are way fewer people in Alaska but projects cost the same, or more when factoring the weather.""

Ummm.....do you know what "per capita" means???

Palin is a joke and McCain is just as laughable for selecting her. I really liked McCain back in 2000 but he is off his rocker now.

Shilling for Lynch
By Anonymous on Thu, 09/18/2008 - 12:51
20080918/OPINION/809180315
809180315
article_title:
Governing easy when state's rolling in dough
article_pubdate:
20080918
...also they are shilling for Lynch by stating that it's easy to govern when you're rolling in dough...

Actually Lynch was left with a nice BENSON SURPLUS and what did he do with it?

Get rid of Lynch and all Democrats!
By Anonymous on Thu, 09/18/2008 - 12:49
20080918/OPINION/809180315
809180315
article_title:
Governing easy when state's rolling in dough
article_pubdate:
20080918
This is just sick of the Monitor to be carrying water for Lynch the most corrupt governor since Jeanne Shaheen, while dissing Sarah Palin one of the best.

On November 4th is your duty as voters to get RID of all Democrats, especially those in the 9% US Congress as well as the ones in our statehouse who caused a $500M deficit, 25 new taxes, repeal of voter ID laws, and who blocked immigration reform laws, INCLUDING THIS GOVERNOR who has no clue how to run a state!

Senior Citizen...
By Anonymous on Thu, 09/18/2008 - 12:40
20080918/OPINION/809180315
809180315
article_title:
Governing easy when state's rolling in dough
article_pubdate:
20080918
...I used to live in Nebraska and Hagel is no Republican. He's about as much of a Republican as Lincoln Chaffey was in Rhode Island. What does Hagel think of Obama's experience? Didn't mention it to the Omaha World Herald, did he. I bet they didn't ask either. Who would want to question Obama. He might stop turning water into wine.

GOP senator: A 'stretch' to say Palin is qualified
By Senior Citizen on Thu, 09/18/2008 - 12:31
20080918/OPINION/809180315
809180315
article_title:
Governing easy when state's rolling in dough
article_pubdate:
20080918
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel said his party's vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, lacks foreign policy experience and called it a "stretch" to say she's qualified to be president.

"She doesn't have any foreign policy credentials," Hagel said in an interview published Thursday by the Omaha World-Herald. "You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything."

Could Palin lead the country if GOP presidential nominee John McCain could not?

"I think it's a stretch to, in any way, to say that she's got the experience to be president of the United States," Hagel said.

https://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hXPyluZg2Md0M5tmW3QT7B4elb3wD9396LQG4

Typical Monitor
By Anonymous on Thu, 09/18/2008 - 11:15
20080918/OPINION/809180315
809180315
article_title:
Governing easy when state's rolling in dough
article_pubdate:
20080918
I am sure Joe Biden, or any othern democrat, would not get this type of editorial bashing. Some definate errors: "more earmarks per capita than any other state" there are way fewer people in Alaska but projects cost the same, or more when factoring the weather. Also, so much for not having experience since you compare governing Alaska to governing a small country...

Palin's Closet
By Senior Citizen on Thu, 09/18/2008 - 10:57
20080918/OPINION/809180315
809180315
article_title:
Governing easy when state's rolling in dough
article_pubdate:
20080918
There's plenty in the closet to be exposed, like why her high school classmates are department heads today in the Alaskan government.

Yes, finally.
By Anonymous on Thu, 09/18/2008 - 10:11
20080918/OPINION/809180315
809180315
article_title:
Governing easy when state's rolling in dough
article_pubdate:
20080918
The Monitor editorial board finally provides a non-partisan, objective approach to this year's election issues.