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November 18, 2005
Editor’s Desk
by Aaron Selbig, insurgent49

     It’s been a frugal week here at Insurgent Headquarters.

     What would you do with a billion dollars?

     Before we go any farther aboard this wild (and luxurious) train of thought, let’s just jot that figure down real quick, shall we?

     That’s one BILLION dollars. Ahem ...

     Or ... $1,000,000,000.00. Or ... a THOUSAND millions. Or ... um ... nearly enough to pay for a presidential inauguration AND a gubernatorial jet, with money left over for Ben Stevens’ consulting fees. Sweet.

     Down in Juneau, our crack team of legislators (or is it legislators on crack?) will be faced with this very enviable problem during their next session. It seems that the state of Alaska finds itself with an extra billion bucks in the coffers with no place to go. This didn’t happen through any sort of fiscal conservatism on the legislature’s part, mind you; it’s simply the result of record oil prices. A cynic could ask, “What happens when oil prices crash again?”, of course, but WHO CARES?! In ’06, we’ve got a billion to play with!

     It’s kinda like winning the lottery, except without all of the annoying relatives calling to hit you up for a loan.

     So, what do we do with it? Already, two months before the session starts, folks are crawling out of the woodwork to stake their claim on a portion of the windfall. The Education Dept. wants $300 million plus. Rural Alaska wants to reinstate community subsidies. Loren Leman needs a new garage. The Dept. of Transportation would normally be squawking for their share, too, but they have their hands full with $450 million in federal ‘bridges to nowhere’ money.

     Here at HQ, we’ve been posing the billion dollar question to our loyal insurgents all week, and we’ve received some worthy answers:

     - spend it on water and sewer services in the Bush

     - give it ALL to the Dept. of Education

     - give it ALL to the DOT, with the caveat that it must be spent on commuter rail from Anchorage to the Valley, and public transit in the cities

     - invest in social service programs, like Bean’s Cafe’ and STAR, to combat Alaska’s tremendous social ills

     - break it down into small bills, load it into a Chinook helicopter and fly around the state, shoveling it out onto grateful towns and villages

     So, this is the kind of conversation we have to look forward to. At first, it’ll be fun for the legislature to bandy about different ways to shoot the wad. Inevitably, however, it’s bound to turn into vicious partisan bickering. And nowhere in the endless debates will this option be discussed:

     Save it.

     Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? SAVE a billion dollars? That’s just not the Alaskan (or American, for that matter) way. Besides, oil prices are bound to stay high, right?

     Maybe not. Alaska has always been a boom or bust place, and we never seem to see the crashes coming. Why not take the surplus cash and put it away for a rainy day? It doesn’t have to just sit there, of course. We could stick it in the bank and collect interest on it, or invest it in some low-risk long-term bonds. The point is ... this state is way too tied economically to the oil industry AND we seem to have short memories; so why not, when we have a little extra money, sock it away for a day in the future when we may need it desperately?

     Just an idea. If it doesn’t fly, we have another one:

     Donate it to Alaska’s independent media.

     We’ll spend it wisely! Honest!




Regards,
Aaron Selbig
Editor, Insurgent Media AK
- Columnists -

Editor's Desk
by Aaron Selbig

Red Alert
by Soren Wuerth

Alaskan In Exile
by Neil Zawicki

The
Bramble Bush
by Kevin Morford





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Copyright 2005 Insurgent Media. All rights reserved.
in-sur-gent (in sur'jent), n. 1. a member of a group which  revolts against the policies of its leadership.