Have you heard of the Alaska Permanent Fund? In speaking with friends and family, I’ve been surprised how many people have not heard of this fund that shares oil revenue dividends with Alaskan residents. If you live in Alaska for one year, you can expect a check. Thanks to Sarah Palin, this year’s check will be increased by $1200. Each resident receives $3,200; that’s $22,400 for Palin’s family of seven. How did Palin increase the dividend for Alaska residents?

Alaska is a rich state. If you live in Alaska, you don’t pay income or sales tax, and you get money from the Alaska Permanent Fund. The state itself gets 85% of its budget from oil companies that lease the Alaska oil fields, and Palin has worked to increase this amount fattening state tax revenue and allowing additional payouts to the Alaska Permanent Fund by taxing Big Oil’s windfall profits. Wait a minute…didn’t McCain critize Obama for proposing a federal tax on Big Oil’s windfall profits. McCain said such a tax would “increase our dependence on foreign oil and hinder exactly the same kind of domestic exploration and production we need.” It seems we have a contradiction in the Republican party ticket.

Apparently, a tax on Big Oil’s windfall profits is alright with the Republican party as long as it is state tax and not a federal tax. As Big Oil pays more money to the state of Alaska, the companies write this amount off of their federal tax obligation: more money goes to Alaska, less to the federal government. As Robert Scheer of Truthdig asks:

Why is it a good thing for the folks up in Alaska to get a cut of exorbitant oil company profits, but not the rest of us, if we are all part of one nation? Didn’t taxpayers from across the U.S. buy the place from the Russians? Isn’t it our federally collected tax dollars that have been subsidizing Alaska more lavishly than any other state, both before and after the bonanza of oil?

Not only does Alaska get a larger portion of Big Oil’s profits than is shared by the rest of the states via the federal government, it is also one of the top states subsidized by the federal government. Alaska receives $1.84 back in federal money for every $1 that Alaskans pay in federal taxes, compared to California’s 78 cents for every $1. If it’s OK for Republicans in Alaska to tax Big Oil’s windfall profits, why does the Republican party oppose a federal tax? Maybe it is time to move to Alaska…

In June, Republicans in Congress defeated a proposed windfall tax on oil companies claiming it would discourage investment in U.S. oil exploration. Last year, Palin and Alaska’s Legislature approved a major increase of taxes on Big Oil despite its opposition. From the Bridge to Nowhere to her stance on global warming, taxing Big Oil’s windfall profits is just one more contradiction in Sarah Palin’s record and her current views as the Republican vice presidential candidate. What will be next?

Image: J Medkeff on Flickr



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