Letter to the Editor
Stimulus payments
Published Tuesday, July 22, 2008
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To the editor:
I shared the following with Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Joe Thomas and am repeating it here for letter readers.
As we all know, the cost of fuel, gasoline and heating costs are due to the rising price of oil. To be fair to all, stimulus payments should be made to each husband and wife and those who are single and over the legal age of 18, as they are the ones who are paying the higher prices of fuel oil, groceries, electric power, gasoline, house payments and rent.
Those who are under the age of 18 are still legal dependents of their parents; they are still in school (or should be)? They pay no rent, buy no groceries or pay monthly bills, any cars or big purchases must have a co-signer, they have no monetary oblations to speak of and should be allotted the moderate amount of $200. Parents and singles of legal age should be allotted $1,500 to $2,000 each. In this formula, the state of Alaska could save the balance of the proclamation for energy projects in the future.
The state can and “should” ask the Internal Revenue Service for income tax relief for the proclamation as President Bush did for the $600 stimulus check. This money belongs to the residents of Alaska only, not everybody living in the Lower 48.
Residency: The state should use the Permanent Fund requirements or require people to show proof of six months of contiguous residency.
This would be fair to all at this time of emergency before winter sets in. In the future, this type of stimulus should be made by cost of living in different areas of the state as shipping rates, fuel oil rates, groceries rates and gasoline rates are different. Central Alaska and Point Barrow are on natural gas, Central Alaska and the Juneau area have hydroelectric power; the rest of the state is on home heating oil and diesel power generators — a big difference; coal in some areas. Homeless residents’ funds should be allotted to rescue missions or the churches, soup kitchens, food banks, etc. where they eat or sleep.
51-year Alaska resident,
Community Discussion
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I find so much wrong with this I'm not too sure where to begin.
What do you mean by "stimulus"? I think you mean some kind of Alaska resource financed energy payment. I'm not sure the IRS is not going to tax you on your federal Chinese loaned stimulus check. Where did you get that idea?
Maybe all those under 18 should be in school and be someone's dependent but that is not reality. Why should homeless people's checks be turned over to anyone else. Do you know which individuals are receiving benefits from the rescue mission. You also seem to be suggesting this be a permanent program. Is that true?
The concept of using the PDF roster to distribute energy aid has only one good point going for it; and that is it is easy. That's all. The system is in place so the cost of administrating such a program would be less than many other ideas. Now that does not mean other ideas might not be more fair.
I favor a realatively simple method where you pay your bills as normal but get a rebate based on the difference between this coming winter's rates and last winter's rates. So if you have energy bills that you pay, you get assistance. If you are in college out of state or in Iraq or Hawaii or homeless then you do not need Alaska state energy assistance cause you are not here paying high prices to stay warm.
The down side is that administrating such a program would cost more. I feel it would ultimately be cheaper since the simpler programs are far more prone to fraud.
Lastly, I'm not too impressed by your "51-year Alaska resident" comment. Are you impressed when a native says, "My people have lived here for thousands of years"? If you are then would you give natives an extra share since once all of this place was theirs? Just wondering. I must have too much time on my hands right now.
Some people just think they know better than other people how to spend the other person's money when neither person has the money to begin with.
My portion of the rebate check was taken for my husband's back child support so I got cheated by the IRS once again. And we have no children together and don't own a home here so again we get the BIG NOTHING.
mike---
So you would leave renters and condo owners "out in the cold"?
51 years in this area? Sorry Mike, that says a lot more than some ranting on a comment area.
Age or length of residency does not automatically confer wisdom.
If you're referring to energy relief, I think the "check" should be more like $20,000, otherwise this is a Homer Simpson movie "shutup, we have all the money and there's nothing you do about it payoff".
What I'd like to know is with any kind of single payment for a single resident, what does that do for the hundreds of interior businesses paying $3,000-$5,000 a month in electric to GVEA, and another $10,000-$20,000 to keep their businesses warm? This rebate is a joke, subsidize the electric that GVEA is so proud of and subsidize the heating oil and other gases folks use to heat their homes......AND their businesses. Welfare checks that we'll later be taxed on is not the answer, relieve us of the outrageously high energy costs and folks will be fine. Thats my $.02 and worth exactly what you payed for it!
Mike,
So, are you suggesting that the Permanent Fund Dividends are permanent? It's called the "Permanent Fund" not the "Permanent Dividend." This is a widespread misconception.
There's more to heating fuel than oil. The high price of natural gas is also a concern.
being here for 51 years confers a status of honor. if you think it is tough living here now compared to elsewhere in the usa, you should have seen it 30,40 or 50 years ago before we had all these modern toys here like computers. granted, being here for 51 years one shouldn't be awarded a medal or anything, but it should be noted that they have stuck it out through thick in thin in a tough place to live. (and a place where it used to be a lot tougher)
51 years,proves Ol'Sig's been around the barn a few times.
Weather you think $1200 is too much or not enough, will any of us ever really be satisfied? Nope!
I have a suggestion though... send your $1200 to my account, since "it's not enough" for you and your sorrows of high prices, and I will use it for my fuel bills instead.
Anything left over will go to my Governor Palin Beer Fund. That's where I use any excess funds to buy me more beer to drink in my hot jacuzzi, while gazing at the Northern Lights, wondering when the state will start charging for those lights too. [lol].
For real though... be happy we get anything, then spend it wisely or where you think it's needed most.
Enjoy your Tuesday!
I'm okay with kids receiving less than adults, except for two catches - 1) this is an energy rebate, not energy assistance, and 2)it is based on Alaska's money from State resources. With these two catches in mind: the fact that children have "no energy expenses" (while technically true, their parents certainly have energy expenses related to them), has little to do with this bill. As an energy REBATE, and not assistance, the children have as much right to any resource distribution of Alaska's resource income as any adult.
If they want this to apply solely to those with provable energy costs, then the nature of the proposal needs to be changed. As is now, the way the proposal is set up is on target.
People with kids use more energy than people without them. More electricity is used, more fuel is used, more food is eaten, and more gas is burnt. It doesn’t make any sense why everyone keeps wining about how much more money people will get than others. Every person should get the same whether or not they live in the same house. If you single people don’t like it than get married, have/adopt children. Stop complaining.
Guess what folks if they do send every one an energy rebate check we do not get to vote on it. Also if they find a different resource for fuel guess what that will be 10 years in the making. But I'm with you give me $20,000.00 and I can just leave this place and find a warmer climate and deal with floods, hurricane, and whatever mother natures has in store.
KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID! If you got last years PFD then you get a check, forget about the cost of fuel; it is just an early share of the windfall the state received this year. It is not need based and should not be. Keep it simple, it shouldn't be welfare it is should be a payment from the socialistic program we have for oil. Keep it simple. Keep it simple If you don’t want it send it back. If you want more get another job, put out more traps, catch more fish, kill more caribou, grow a bigger garden, put up a wind generator, write the Governor and tell her to make the share bigger for all. Keep it simple.
I don't think many of us are looking to leave...I'm not! I just don't understand why we are paying more for fuel than the national average when we are sitting next door to a refinary?
The fact that 90% of us are heating with the most expensive form of heat in the US and living in the coldest state just shows how incompetently our state is being run! There are no choices and we are stuck. Isn't this considered a monopoly?
I don't know how to feel about this rebate or assistance or whatever it is. I don't know of too many people that don't enjoy a freebie!
There is 1 fair way of differentiating where the money goes. I can think of only 1. If this is about heating our homes in the coldest state - then lets stick with that. Everyone who produces a heating bill is entitled to the money. It is paid directly to their fuel company. Then it is fair. If you own rental properties, there is a payment made to the fuel company for all of the active rental properties. Then renters are also taken care of. How can anyone complain about that?
I do not think a renter that is not paying for his heat should be included in money that is suppose to be for paying heat....
All the pros and cons to this rebate will be the same arguments that the legislators will come up for not giving $1,200 to Alaskans. When it is all over it will be interesting to see what they will do. Somehow I think snow and cold will be here before energy relief.
I rent and I DO pay for heat - my landlord just jacked up my rent by $100/month to help cover increased fuel costs. If you give him my rebate he sure as heck isn't going to decrease my rent. Every renter I know has been getting steady rent increase notices for the last year or so that are directly related to fuel increases.
And fuel for heating isn't the only thing that has increased in cost as the oil prices spike. Renters pay the same for groceries, for gas for their vehicles, for electricity, etc...
People really need to get over this whole idea that renters are living on easy street. Not only are we facing the same financial crunch landowners are but we're automatically assumed to be a bunch of freeloaders.
people in Anc dont need any money for heat.
Mit--the problem w/ the PFD criteria is there are people elible for and receiving the PFD who don't pay for any heating fuel or electricity. Military in base housing for example. As far as K.I.S.S.....I agree w/ AlaskaCub. Keep it simple by simply having the state subsidize a portion of each gallon of oil or gas and kilowat of electricity. After all this is $$ to help w/ energy....not a "stimulus" check.
People keep bringing up the point that military on base don’t pay for anything. That is not true. It is called BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing). When you live on base that money goes to your housing and utilities. Some military choose to live off-base and they get their BAH in their paycheck to cover their rent and utilities for off base, where as on base you don’t see it in your check. So people on-base technically do pay.
Thank you, rubit. You are so very right. Some people just don't care though.
My understanding is that this is not "assistance" or a "stimulus" but profit sharing, meaning the State of Alaska has made so much money from oil that it is sharing the wealth with the citizens.
Give everyone an equal share. I don't know why people keep insisting renters or the military are somehow less of Alaska residents than landowners or people who have picked civilian careers.
I can't say that I'm a huge fan of giving a family of 8 $9,600, but equity has to be balanced against efficiency. Whatever would be most equitable (ie "fair") is bound to be incredibly inefficient (ie "expensive") with all of its rules and requirements and different distribution methods. There will be people that get the money that maybe shouldn't but to weed out each of those individuals would be prohibitively expensive. It doesn't detract from my $1,200 if someone else gets $1,200.
I think giving everyone $1,200 either as Govenor Palin has proposed or to every PFD receiver, is the most equitable way to distribute the profits without sacrificing efficiency to the point of making it too expensive to do in the first place.
Did I tell you about my coal boiler???
With the recent stock market plunge we all may be looking at a depleted PFD fund. At last look the PFD principle was depleted to 32 billion in stock market plunge.
TOO EXPENSIVE? The state of Alaska can afford to give every Alaska resident $100,000 and still have a billions in reserve. I'd rather see the people of Alaska get the money before the "recession" wipes out the principle.
Do the math.
How many Alaska residents, who have lived here since statehood, have passed-on without ever realizing the wealth Alaska keeps tucked away for a rainy day?
Either offer grants to build homes, or educational grants, or longevity grants, or small business, or grant something.
What is Alaska saving "what was" 42 billion for a cold day in hell?
What people need to get over is all their silly ideas regarding this issue. It boils down to one thing - the resources of this state belong to all its citizens, equally. Period, dot, end of sentence. It includes your children, my children and my neighbor's grandchildren, those that live in Anchorage or those residents who live out of state, renters or property owners. The key word here is equally. If you meet the residency requirements for a PFD, you qualify. Our resources do not belong to Fred Meyer, GVEA or the fuel companies.
Could this be done better? Yes. But we don't have months to debate it. This is a quick (hopefully) short term fix the Governor has offered up. If you don't want the money, don't take it. If you think it should go directly to GVEA or your fuel company, sign yours over to them.
Wouldn't this be made all much simpler by just increasing the money sent out in the PFD check? If this year's allotment will be (making this up) $1,500, then give us all $2,500 instead.
Keep it simple.....what a great id