Friday, August 27, 2010

Alaska: The Ingrate State


I’m not a Palin-tologist, and tracking her endorsements and philosophical rants and animal simulations ain’t my passion, but looking at a vast, resource-rich state with a sparse “tough-it-out” population does have its moments, particularly for those of us in the lower 48. Loved the “road to nowhere,” and adore the “stop government handouts” mantra that sweeps the political spectrum in this Arctic region. This is a land of hardy pioneers, braving nature at its harshest to live in this vast stretch of wilderness… largely without roads at all… is, well different and often contradictory. Beauty, splendor and rough challenges.

Many lower 48 states, reeling from unemployment (Alaska’s unemployment rate is almost two full percentage points below the national average), are generating a lot less in the way of federal dollars “back to the state” based on their relative contribution towards the federal government. According to watchdog site, propublica.org, the per capital “stimulus” money paid to some very high unemployment states is pretty marginal compared to other states that simply don’t seem to be in the same dire straits. California, with a 12.3% unemployment rate, gets $1,133 per capita; Michigan with a 13.7% rate gets $1,298; Nevada, with a staggering 14% rate gets $1,134.

But if I were to ask you which state receives the largest per capita “benefits” from the fed, based on dollars paid by residents of that state to the fed, you might be shocked to find out that Alaska, with a 7.9% unemployment rate, pulls down $3,145 per person in this stimulus world and comes in at number one (NY Times). The rhetoric is anti-government spending and tax cuts, with former Governor Sarah Palin and several prominent local politicians leading the way, but they have no trouble taking the cash.

The New York Times (August 19th) notes the typical reaction of one local legislator, Republican state lawmaker Carl Gatto: “‘I’ve introduced legislation to roll back the federal government,’ he says. ‘They don’t have solutions; they just have taxes.’… And what of the federal stimulus, from which Alaska receives the most money per capita in the nation? Would he reject it?... Mr. Gatto, 72 and wiry, smiles and shakes his head: ‘I’ll give the federal government credit: they sure give us a ton of money. For every $1 we give them in taxes for highways, they give us back $5.76.’… He points to a new federally financed highway, stretching toward distant spruce trees. ‘Man, beautiful, right?’…

“Alaska has budget woes, and, more perilously, oil production is slumping. But its problems are not mortal; the ax falls on new police headquarters and replacement Zamboni blades rather than on teachers and libraries. The state avoided the unemployment devastation visited on the Lower 48 in part because federal dollars support a third of Alaskan jobs, according to a university study.” What about Gov. Palin’s hometown of Wasilla? “Wasillans have a practiced eye for federal dollars; when Ms. Palin was mayor, she hired a lobbying firm that reeled in $25 million in federal earmarks for a city of fewer than 7,000 residents ,” notes the Times. Sigh.

Hey, I’ve got an idea! Where a state’s elected officials rail against excess federal taxes and too much federal spending, let’s consider reducing their federal tax rates and cutting all the associated local federal spending. In Alaska, they’d get a dollar back for every $5.76 we don’t spend there. Such a deal!

I’m Peter Dekom, and I guess if you aren’t comfortable with hypocrisy, better not run for elected office.

No comments: