Alaska's Permanent Fund gives $1174 of OUR oil money to each Alaskan

[Submariner]

Alaska gives each Alaskan resident a nice big fat check each year derived from the state's oil company profits. I'd bet my next pay check that if Texas or Louisiana (two other big oil states) tried to pass the same type of state constitutional amendment, the other 46 states of the lower 48 would be screeching NOT FAIR, and I believe rightly so, and they would not get away with it.

Since Alaska IS part of the same nation as the lower 48 and Hawaii, how do they keep getting away with this scam of skimming profits from United States oil reserves and distributing it ONLY to residents in Alaska?


Permanent Fund deposits $1,174 in Alaskans' accounts

Associated Press

Published: October 6th, 2011 08:57 AM
Last Modified: October 6th, 2011 08:58 AM

Most Alaskans will be getting $1,174 in Permanent Fund dividends today.

It's a day widely anticipated by most residents, who get their yearly dividend from the state's vast oil wealth just for living in Alaska.

Most eligible Alaskans will get their dividends by direct deposit on Thursday. The rest will receive checks in the mail.

Voters passed a constitutional amendment in 1976 to establish the Permanent Fund as a way to stretch out the state's oil wealth for future generations.

http://www.adn.com/2011/10/06/2107280/permanent-fund-deposits-1174-in.html#ixzz1aEH3VQA7

With money kind of tight nowadays, I'm feeling kind of ripped off.



Doesn't Alaska get enough of our taxpayers money already?



I have worked all over the state, and it's a beautiful place, but I think it's time to share the dough with the rest of the country. After all, it's all our oil too. Maybe it's time to end this skimming scam.

[Blue_In_AK]

1. Read Alaska's constitution, Article VIII

Alaska is an "owner state," meaning that the resources here are to be managed for the benefit of the people of hte state, not corporations, not governments. There is no private ownership of subsurface rights here as there is in other oil-producing states.

Stop whining. It's too bad your state didn't come up with some way for the people to share in your resource development.

[nomb]

5. Alaska has socialized natural resources, not private ownership? Wow. Who would have thought that?

[Uben]

2. Oh, Texas gets its share, too.....

......it just goes to a handful of mega-rich oilmen instead of the people.

[bluestateguy]

3. Uh yeah. Good luck with that.

Instead demand that TX or LA do the same for the oil industry in their state. Or Michigan with the auto industry, or California with the TV and movie industry.

[dems_rightnow]

4. No difference with any other state

Alaska can do what they want with their revenue checks, exactly as every other oil producing state does. Sorry you're not getting a check.

[Motown_Johnny]

6. for one thing Alaska only has about 700,000 residents in the entire state

So if you take the 710,231 that was the population total as of April 10 2010 and multiply it by the $1,174 per resident you end up with a measly $833,811,194.


Pocket change for oil companies.



If you want to be outraged then look at the federal money they get (while conservatives there complain about the federal government being evil and to intrusive).


http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/31/states-that-received-the-most-federal-funds/


^snip^


Alaska received nearly twice the national average, taking in $20,351.13 per resident, the most of any American state.






Besides, how else are you going to get Alaskans to vote for the destruction of their own state by big oil? You need to put everyone on the payroll or the wells literally dry up.

[Blue_In_AK]

7. What other state is over 65% OWNED by the federal government?

In truth, only about 1% of the entire state is in private ownership. Nearly one-quarter of Alaskan jobs are with the federal government, compared to 13% in other states. That's just how it is. If the federal government owns the state, and they need workers to administer that ownership, then naturally more federal money is going to be spent here.

See this chart for a breakdown of who owns Alaska.

http://nrm.salrm.uaf.edu/~stodd/AlaskaPlanningDirectory/landOwnership.html



I get really tired of this crap after explaining it over and over and over. Why don't you guys just sell us to Canada and let us get on with our lives?

[Drahthaardogs]

9. Wyoming.

However, I think the permanent fund is an excellent idea. All citizens of a state should get to benefit in resource development on state lands.

[Blue_In_AK]

10. Thank you.

Doesn't Wyoming have a sort of Permanent Fund, also, with proceeds going to state government or something? It IS a wonderful idea, and I think Texas and LA missed the boat when they didn't set up such a thing for their citizens.

[Drahthaardogs]

11. No, Wyoming has nothing like the permanent fund

Although they have been smart enough to save a lot of the extra tax revenue for a rainy day.

[Cerridwen]

14. (edit) Nevada. Somewhere between 84% and 90%. Trying to find the most up-to-date

statistics now.

Lands owned by BLM, Forest Service, Military, DOE, National Parks and so on.

I found a report from the NV State Legislature (2010-2011). link to the 18 page .pdf report

Approximately 87 percent of Nevada’s land area is owned and administered by the federal government. In some rural counties, the federal government controls more than 90 percent of the land. As a result, federal laws, regulations, and policies play a very important role in the management of vast areas of the State’s natural resources and significantly influence local public policy.

[joshcryer]

8. WTF?

[Bandit]

12. They say ignorance is bliss, you must be very blissful..

What does the words "Permenent Fund" mean anyway? It doesn't say anything about oil fund... Granted thirty years ago when the "Permenent Fund" was first created it was done with oil revenues, but now it is basically a huge bank account/investment fund and every Alaskan is a share holder in that fund.. Every year we get a dividend from intererst and investments earned from that fund NOT FROM OIL.. It is like someone getting interest on their savings account.. The interest is not the same thing as whaerever the original amount of money you started your savings account came from..It is not oil money, get over yourself..

[Submariner]

16. Granted thirty years ago when the "Permenent Fund" was first created it was done with oil revenues

Nothing like contradicting yourself. Thanks for making my point. I guess ignorance is bliss. BTW, permanent is spelled with an "a".

When I worked at Prudhoe Bay for ARCO it was part of the United States oil reserve, not the Alaska oil reserve.

[bhikkhu]

13. Distributing it equally around the country would lead to some interesting conundrums...

Such as, the residents of Manhattan would get two times as much as the whole state of Alaska, since there are twice as many of them.

That's not too bad though, compared to California - which would get about 50 times as much benefit from Alaskan oil revenues as the Alaskans, based upon population.

[Crabby Appleton]

19. The pot of money devided by 300 million rather than the 700,000

Alaska population would give everyone in the U.S. about $2.74.

[Shagbark Hickory]

15. While there are some technical inaccuracies I do agree that the whole country should have a p. fund.

Of course congress and the Obama admin would just make "modest" cuts to it a call it an entitlement.

[hughee99]

17. A small price to pay for the environmental destruction

caused by drilling and transportation within Alaska that Alaskans have to put up with.

[Blue_In_AK]

18. Not to mention the political corruption.

Our governor Sean Parnell, who worked for Exxon during the spill litigation and was a lobbyist for Conoco-Phillips in another life, is now widely known as Seanico Parnellips because he wants to overhaul the ACES tax structure (the ONE good thing that came out of Palin's administration, thanks to the Dems in the legislature) to give back to the oil companies approximately $2 billion a year, with no promises of increased production or job creation. He is simply a tool of the oil industry.

And who could ever forget the Corrupt Bastards Club, most of whom have now had their convictions overturned by Obama's justice department?

[uppityperson]

20. It is a bribe to AK residents to not vote to use the money in the PF.

In order to use the money that AK socked away for when the oil runs out, the voters have to vote the ok. By giving them a dividend off the interest earned, they ensure that people won't do that as most would rather have that money/dividend than use the larger money for whatever.

[Nye Bevan]

21. Move to Alaska. You'll get a check, too.

Just like you are free to move to a state with no sales tax, or with no income tax.