The State wastes more money than any other. Virtually every bush high school basketball team has a million dollar budget item for airfare! I think there are LOTS of ways of spending that money more wisely. The money that should have come out last year at PFD time gave a lot of small businesses a big kick in the nuts when things were already tight. Those small businesses keep a lot of that money moving through the local economy.
I have long thought the use of so much money simply for sports was a waste. However, in defense of a bigger picture consideration, that money is infused into local and broader economies in terms of the way it supports smaller airlines and hubs, fuel suppliers, transporters, etc.It is similar to what happens with the PFD money, if perhaps less equitable in terms of the numbers of people affected.
Personally I do not like the idea of giving with one hand and taking with the other and have no problem with giving up my PFD. I do have a problem with instituting a sale or income tax (or worse, both) just to maintain a PFD check.
Unfortunately, Uncle Sam doesn't think like that, so I'm sure he is glad to get the 25%, or so, cut of a larger PFD.
But the idea Hammond had was sound and the PFD keeps people aware of what the State's money is doing. Take away the vested interest and the Permanent Fund will evaporate like whiskey from a glass...
Exactly
