While the political left, unions and myriad others who get fat from profligate state spending predictably castigate Republican legislators wanting to -- gasp! -- cut expenditures further before burying us in taxes and grabbing our Permanent Fund dividends, remember this:
Those sensible souls who insist on cutting more before letting government empty your pockets into perpetuity are absolutely, positively right.
Mind you, that has not saved them from a wrong-headed, vigorous savaging by the left. One apoplectic pundit -- apparently convinced the end of the world is near -- even smeared budget-cutters as "either incompetent or cynically self-serving or both. In a lot of cases, probably both."
The goal among the government-as-religion bunch -- they believe we exist to serve government, not the other way around -- is to stampede fearful Alaskans into desiring, even, by God, demanding, taxes and other "revenue enhancements." The idea is to allow the state to maintain its Cadillac health plans and raises it cannot afford, to continue unabated its bloated, wasteful ways -- at your expense.
An army of spending devotees has cobbled together bogus polls, talking points and educational tools showing how futile budget-cutting really is -- you could fire every state employee and still not close the budget gap, they love to say -- and, besides, any fool can see increased revenue is the answer. GCI and some of the state's largest companies, whose business plans depend on government largesse, are organizing to get your mind right. And the Rasmuson Foundation is spending $2 million to "educate" you about Alaska's fiscal woes.
Gov. Bill Walker's plan to close the state's $3.5 billion budget deficit -- exacerbated by sagging oil production and prices drowning in a worldwide glut -- is ludicrous. Its cuts are laughable at best, or, if you close one eye and squint, nonexistent. Its taxes and Permanent Fund dividend confiscation hose what is left of Alaska's middle class. Sadly, his administration's aim, as most remarkably noted in a recent Alaska Dispatch News story, is to keep "the current scale of state government largely intact."
Walker rolled out his plan before television cameras in a Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport hangar. He was surrounded by enthusiastic supporters, members of his administration, business leaders, oil executives, bankers They all appear concerned that you get the proper picture.
Our governor proposed taxes on mining, commercial fishing, booze sold by the drink and tobacco -- everything, oddly, but a general sales tax. He suggested cutting oil and gas tax credits that spur new exploration and investment. Additionally, he wanted an income tax that would take 1.5 percent of Alaskans' gross income. What he did not say: It would increase and never go away. He expects all that to generate about $1.6 billion.
The plan would, and this may be the only part that makes any real sense, use Permanent Fund earnings to generate about $3 billion annually for the general fund.
Oh, and he would cut -- nip is more accurate -- spending by $100 million. That, in a state with about a $5 billion operating budget, plus billions more in other spending. He did not mention cutting entire departments or divisions. Or programs. Just a measly $100 million. Anything more, he says, would by recessionary.
GOP leaders want to pare another $500 million or so, and education and Medicaid -- two of Alaska's biggest expenses -- may end up on the cutting block. There can be no sacred cows. Spending for education eats up about $1 billion, and Medicaid about $600 million, and, astoundingly, it was expanded by a Walker fiat. They absolutely must be addressed, sooner rather than later.
As the hysteria mounts among tax-and-spenders demanding revenues, Alaskans should keep in mind government has few legitimate responsibilities. Ours has morphed into a walrus when what we need is a seal. Alaska could jettison entire departments -- Commerce, anyone? -- and survive nicely. There are agencies that could be streamlined or combined, responsibilities shared or shelved, services abandoned.
Taxing working Alaskans, using the Permanent Fund and reducing dividends to fund government before cutting to the budgetary bone is repugnant. It puts government wants ahead of people's needs.
There is no reason for Alaskans to be stampeded. The state has more than $66 billion stashed away. It will not go broke overnight as the Legislature beats the bushes to sensibly downsize government to match the cold reality of the state's fiscal situation.
Will Alaska eventually need to tax and use the Permanent Fund? Undoubtedly -- but hopefully not before all possible cuts are exhausted.
Doing it simply to keep "the current scale of state government largely intact" is a lousy reason.
A lousy reason, indeed.
Correction: An earlier version of this column incorrectly reported that Alaska Dispatch News owner and publisher Alice Rogoff was present at the rollout of Gov. Bill Walker's fiscal plan. She was not.
Paul Jenkins is editor of the AnchorageDailyPlanet.com, a division of Porcaro Communications.
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@alaskadispatch.com or click here to submit via any Web browser.