A Citizen’s Guide

To the editor:

Cynicism is not necessarily a bad thing. At best it lies in experiences had and forethought.

Various government entities and functions are ripe for a cynical viewing. They’re large and easy to blame. Government’s main fault is it’s run by people. And people make mistakes. Those mistakes are often hard to overlook shining all to brightly compared to all the good work government does.

However, it’s hard not to be cynical when government confuses its function with that of the private sector. Actively promoting development is far beyond not only scope of government but its abilities. The governor’s convoluted gas pipeline is a prime example.

Let’s do some simple math. About 1,000 elected officials and bureaucrats, most with little business experience, feel they can devise a multi-layered complex system to best benefit Alaskans, including the foolish notion of taking possession of an extracted resource then sell it on the open market. On the other hand, we have 50,000 highly trained and experienced lawyers, accountants, public relations specialists and business people from all over the world working 60 plus hours a week trying to get the best deal–for them. Don’t blame them. But who do you think will win that one?

So far the 50,000 managed to frame the sale of gas royalties as a tax which it’s not. They don’t own it. It’s not a tax. They’re buying it. They set no committed timeline for development. Convinced the 1,000 payments made would be too high making it unprofitable even though it would be one of the lowest rates in the world. Somehow the 50,000 managed to make the argument royalties paid for gas are somehow related to oil. Why? As though that has anything to do with it. And then threaten companies they represent would not do any more business in Alaska if they don’t get their way.

Well, boo hoo. These are corporations with bottom lines. If they can manipulate nabobs to increase margins they will. This is no place for the weak and timid, never mind politicians. This is the big league. Keep it simple.

Jim Johnston

Fairbanks