Walker administration goes clueless in pursuit of fiscal plan, gas line

Watching Gov. Bill Walker and his administration trying to navigate our rusty ship of state around the rocks, shoals and whirlpools in Alaska's sea of red ink, the question that most often comes to mind? Are they tone deaf, or what? No, really.

Here we are on the Frozen Tundra, up to our ears in a fiscal mess of epic proportions, facing a $4 billion deficit, with no immediate relief in sight. If things do not change, we are only a credit rating downgrade from becoming a darker, colder Appalachia.

Oil prices are in the tank, revenues are anemic, lawmakers have not moved to adopt a fiscal plan, Walker's administration has not cut government to any great extent and our savings are shrinking. The governor cut the Permanent Fund dividend by more than half, to $1,022, as part of a smoke-and-mirrors $1.29 billion budget veto he hailed as a "day of reckoning."

We cannot afford huge dividend checks, Walker said as he slashed $660 million — and more than half your dividend — deferred $430 million in oil and gas tax credit payments that eventually must be paid and lopped only a not-so-whopping $38 million or so from state agencies.

Just when you think it cannot get squirrelier, Walker grabs for the reins of the stumbling $65 billion Alaska LNG Project after BP, ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobile — outfits that know a thing or two about gas and pipelines — take a powder, questioning whether the effort would actually pencil out.

It gets better.

[Governor and team headed to Singapore, South Korea in effort to market  Alaska LNG]

"Hey!" some tin-eared minion in his administration says, "What we need is a road trip. Let's pull a Bob Hope-Bing Crosby thingy and hit the 'Road to Singapore.'  Let's peddle some Alaska gas to pay for a gasping project that may never be built."

[$25K sponsorship gets governor in front of LNG crowd in Singapore]

To make it happen, the Alaska Gasline Development Corp. paid $25,000 — $25,000 — to buy a silver sponsorship at the CWC World LNG and Gas Series: Eighth Asia Pacific Summit in The Lion City. Attendees, the summit's website says, get to "meet the key buyers, sellers and traders in the region …"

What did we get for our 25 large? Walker got a 15-minute keynote address spot, one of four, to give his Alaska LNG pitch to the Asian market.

Josie Wilson, the Alaska Gasline Development Corp.'s communication director, told Alaska Dispatch News the sponsorship offered Alaska and the corporation "significant exposure opportunities."

Here is the best part: The AGDC logo was to be imprinted on "napkins, menus and the aprons worn by the servers," not to mention large projection screens, ADN says, adding that it also bought us recognition in all conference materials, a display booth and three complimentary registrations.

This overseas dog-and-pony show came as Alaskans anxiously awaited Friday's announcement of this year's Permanent Fund dividend check, cut by more than half in Walker's bogus "day of reckoning" veto, which now faces a court challenge.

Those defending the expenditure will tell you $25,000 is not a frog-choking wad of cash by any stretch. In a government that plans to squander, er, spend $4 billion this year it is barely petty cash, a teensy-weeny drop in a huge bucket of big-government spending.

They should explain that to people who have lost more than half their Permanent Fund dividends. What would they say to an elderly couple in Kwethluk? Or the single mom on her own with three small kids? Or the guy whose business depends on the checks' late-year economic jolt? What about those whose dividends help pay for educations or taxes or medical bills?

Then there are those who have not caught on yet and will not until they see the reduced amount that shows up in their bank or mailbox. They, George Costanza would say, will be "angry that day, my friends — like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli."

The dividends were a lousy idea from Day One. They have evolved into an expensive entitlement, but sweeping half of them off the table without warning, without discussion or the opportunity to object or vote, and continuing to spend — even if it is only another $25K to chase Walker's pipe dream — shows a gaping disconnect from average Alaskans.

More than that, it shows a lack of leadership. Leaders lead; they set the example. If the state is running on empty, spending for nonessentials should stop. Alaskans should be assured all spending is absolutely necessary before the state turns to them. Not to do so sends a badly mixed message.

Of course, Walker et al. could fix all that; they could include with every reduced dividend an envelope stuffed with one napkin, one menu and one apron emblazoned with the AGDC logo.

Then find a place to hide.

Paul Jenkins is editor of the AnchorageDailyPlanet.com, a division of Porcaro Communications.

The views expressed here are the writer's and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary@alaskadispatch.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@alaskadispatch.com or click here to submit via any web browser.