Sarah Palin and Taxes
When it comes to taxes, Sarah Palin turns out to be an intriguing mix of Barack Obama and John McCain. Like Obama, she favors a tax rebate for consumers funded by a windfall profits tax on energy companies. But, like McCain, she also backs a gas tax holiday.
Of course, Alaska isn't like anywhere else. Ninety percent of its tax revenues come from oil, while state spending per capita is by far the highest in the nation. Still, since John McCain picked the once-obscure governor to be his running mate, the history of Palin's tax agenda suddenly matters.
Last year, soon after becoming governor, she proposed raising taxes on energy producers, an idea McCain strongly opposes. The legislature boosted the tax on oil pumped from state-owned land, with the rate increasing when prices exceed a benchmark of $52-a-barrel. Palin signed the bill and, this year, the new tax is expected to bring in more than $5 billion. That is a staggering sum for a state which projects only about $13 billion in total revenues.
This year, Palin redistributed a big chunk of that windfall. The legislature passed her plan to give Alaskans a $1200 rebate (on the top of the $2000 each Alaskan gets as an oil dividend) and suspended for a year the state's 8 cent per gallon tax on gasoline. For another look at this, check out the Don't Mess With Taxes blog.
Not surprisingly, Palin's energy tax is strongly opposed by big oil. Even though she supports more drilling in
Palin's tax history as mayor of the small Alaska town of Wasilla is similarly mixed. According to the Anchorage Daily News, she was first elected as a supporter of a newly-imposed 2 percent sales tax. Those tax revenues helped fund the infrastructure that made the town a magnet for big box stores. Thanks to the sales boom, revenues soared.
All that growth made it possible for her to slash the sales tax rate to 0.5%—a step she used to help promote her run for governor. But she did not cut town spending. In fact, its operating budget increased from about $4 million to $6 million during her tenure.
Palin also forced out six of the town's top department heads, including its police chief, in an eerie precursor to her controversial decision to fire the state's public safety commissioner. At the time, she told a local paper, “Some of the things I'm doing, it's obvious I'm not running for Miss Congeniality. I'm running the city.”
All in all, Palin has a mixed, if limited, record on tax and spending. But, unlike her history on social issues, it is not one that will necessarily thrill the GOP base.
I have read so many articles or reviews regarding the
blogger lovers except this post is genuinely a good post, keep it up.
my blog post … kredyty prywatne
thats a good post !!!
Vielen Dank für dieses Blog-es ist toll! Ich mag diese Art von Menschen, die Wissen mit anderen zu teilen.
I like the helpful information you provide in your articles. I’ll bookmark your weblog and check again here frequently. I am quite certain I will learn many new stuff right here! Best of luck for the next! Sabina Ales
I know that this article was more focused on profiling Sarah Palin for the 2008 elections. However, it provides an eerie glimpse into the coming elections of 2012.
Jitters about the oil market and the conflict in Libya, as
well as some disappointing economic news, serves as a
reminder of the fragile nature of the global recovery. The real question is whether or not Ms. Palin can handle this fragile nature, or instead be like the major banks, insurance and auto companies who are running our country into the ground!
Obviously, at this time the only GOP candidate to throw their hat in for the 2012 presidency is Newt Gingerich (may God help us if he becomes president!). However, I don’t think it will come as a surprise to anyone when Sarah Palin announces her bid.
I think with how uneasy the global stage is right now, having Ms. Palin as our Commander and Chief would be a serious mistake. Yet, if her tactics from when she was mayor and governor show us anything, it is the fact that she is willing to do what it takes to get her way. I think 2012 is going to be an interesting year for the Republican party and for America!
Palin's energy tax is strongly opposed by big oil. Even though she supports more drilling in Alaska, including on the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, producers say the new tax is already discouraging them from drilling on state land.Sarah is very powerful woman I must say. It is no wonder how are story all over the internet.
Charming Chick
Sarah is very powerful woman I must say. It is no wonder how are story all over the internet. I found out about her dealings and plans in an Auto Insurance forum some days back. I really find her reviews most impressive
It isn't a windfall profits tax, but a severance tax. No really. Most states have them and it is like a charge on the extraction of valuable non-renewable resources from State owned property….like oil, coal, or natural gas.
The actual language of the proposal/policy does not use “windfall”. This is no more a windfall profits tax than a corporate profit tax is a windfall profit tax. In short, you have been mislead.
Drum says that the governor's new tax system represents a 400 percent increase in the amount of production taxes on the oil industry.
Really? I've found Drum's grasp of numbers to be dubious at cheap auto insurance quotes best, generally speaking. Considering that the prior tax was 22.5% and it increased to 25% I don't think it is that big. Although, the new tax does prohibit using expenses to existing facilities as exploration credits. That would increase the amount of tax owed, but if the 400% number is right, then oil companies were extracting oil from State owned land and not paying the residents of the State for it.
So…are we to conclude you favor corporate welfare from this?
Sarah Palin is one of the most well-spoken political figures around. I learned about her strategies and plans while I was involved in an affiliate cpa campaign. I had to carefully review a list of Alaska governors and the bills they supported and Palin's list was the most impressive.
Sarah Palin is a controversial figure. Sarah Palin campaigned on the idea that she was against earmarks, or government funds that are pegged for a specific cause. The only problem is that she asked for $140 million to be set aside for her state, which makes Alaska one of the biggest users of earmarks in the U.S. This is after she gave a large cash advance building an oil pipeline. And she's also having her daughters' contentious break up to deal with. Rumors are still going around about her running in 2012, but if she fails to live up to campaign promises it won't be an easy sell for Sarah Palin for President
While I'm not a fan of most of what I've seen to date of Gov. Palin, I must admit that I am very impressed with what I know of her move to collect a larger share of the oil revenue for common purposes, including running state government without a state income tax or a state sales tax, and treating Alaska's natural resources as Alaska's common property. (See PBS NOW transcript for 8/1/08.)
Alaska would do even better if, along with collecting more of the economic rent associated with natural resources, they collected, via a modified property tax, the economic rent on the state's land value. 2/3 of their population lives in urban areas, and the infrastructure that is associated with urban areas adds value to sites. (Location, location, location!) So do transportation systems, many of which are being paid for by the federal tax payer. Alaska need not let the value created by that federal spending accumulate in private pockets; they can follow the lead of Harrisburg and other PA towns and cities and treat more of it as a public revenue source.
If they collect more than they need to fund public spending, well, it makes sense to turn more back to individuals in the form of a dividend, just as the Alaska Permanent Fund and this year's Alaska Resource Rebate do. Don't let that value accumulate in a few private or corporate pockets — Alaskan or otherwise — … treat it as if we really believed what we hold to be self evident.