Anchorage Daily News

For those of you excited about the governor giving utility companies millions of dollars of free cash to cut your heating bill more than half, and her mailing you a debit card every month with hundreds more in free money, I have some bad news for you.

There is no free. Free doesn't exist. Never has, never will.

This I know. If you didn't earn the dollar in your hand, someone did. Like it or not, the only way government can give away so-called free money is to take it from someone who earned it and give it to you.

You remember the old Smith Barney commercial, "We make money the old-fashioned way: We earn it"?

There was a day when wealth redistribution was a far left concept. These days it is mainstream and can drive an approval rating of 85 per cent to 90 per cent . Yes, in Alaska free money is cool.

Most people either don't understand or don't want to think about where the money they'll get with these energy rebate cards comes from. It comes from people who earned it. People who had no choice but to turn it over to government because government is force.

And remember this, businesses don't pay taxes, people do. People like the half of all Americans who own stock. Shareholders who take their hard-earned money, that is, money they earned, and invest it. Or company employees working hard each day to provide a product of value hoping to fulfill a need, and yes, earn money. Or business owners who risk it all on an idea that may end up providing something of value and in return, a profit. You remember the good old days when profit was not a bad word?

Yes, free money is in, earning it is out. Especially too much of it.

The media whipped everyone into a frenzy when it reported Lee Raymond was paid $686 million during his tenure as Exxon's CEO. But what they didn't tell you is under Raymond's watch, Exxon's market value increased fourfold to $375 billion. Under Raymond, Exxon's net income soared from $4.8 billion to almost $70 billion. For the shareholders of Exxon who took their hard-earned money and then invested in the company, Lee Raymond undoubtedly earned his salary.

I can hear the free money crowd now. But in Alaska, our free money is different. It's our oil. We are an owner state. We deserve free money because we live here.

It is true we are a state rich in resources. And yes, we should collect a fair amount of taxes from those companies bidding to get our limited resources to market. The money we collect now will be needed for future generations.

So I ask you, should we use our current abundance to build roads, bridges and schools? Or should we save it for future generations? Or should we give it away in the form of free cash to people who have not earned it?

What we should first do as a resource-rich state, flush with cash, is rebate anyone who pays any tax at any level, whether it be sales, property or user fee. People who pay taxes pay them with money they earned. If government has so much cash it can give it away to people who have not earned it, it should first rebate those who pay taxes with money they earned.

This is why President Bush's stimulus package is such a bad idea. If he would rebate those who earned money and then paid taxes, that would be one thing. But to give everyone a check when half of Americans pay no income tax is nothing more than redistributing money from those who earn it to those who don't.

Is this not one of the first lessons good parents teach their kids, you should earn your money?

Let me be direct. When politicians take money from people who earn it, and then give it to people who don't deserve it because they have not earned it, those politicians are acting immorally.

It may make them feel good, and they may win points with voters, but I believe it is just plain wrong!

Dan Fagan is a radio talk show host on KFQD, 750 AM. E-mail dan@kfqd.com.

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