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Permanent Fund regroups
New categories help evaluate risk
Published June 28, 2009
The Board of Trustees of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. recently changed how it describes and categorizes investments. It now uses an allocation that groups assets based on risk characteristics rather than by the type of investment.
Feds still push energy code
Strings attached to stimulus funds
Published June 28, 2009
It is important for Alaskans to know that while state legislators resolved to accept all federal stimulus funds, I vetoed $28.6 million for state energy programs because it came with conditions. Many have looked at this money and did not see any strings.
Healthy skepticism
Published June 24, 2009
Americans are looking to Congress and the White House to see whether lawmakers and the president will deliver on their promises to reform our health care system.
Changes coming to News-Miner
Published June 23, 2009
Readers of the Daily News-Miner might notice a small change in the paper on Wednesday. Or maybe they won’t.
Yukon kings need our help
Context, respect are necessary in management
Published June 21, 2009
Recently, I had the privilege to visit several villages on the lower Yukon River. I went with John Moller, of Gov. Palin’s staff, and knowledgeable employees from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to discuss this summer’s chinook salmon management and recent action by the federal North Pacific Fishery Management Council to curb bycatch of chinook by the pollock trawl fleets in the Bering Sea.
Alaska is a volunteer state
Service starts with the asking
Published June 21, 2009
On Sept. 12, 2008, in a bipartisan collaboration, Sens. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, introduced the “Serve America Act” to expand opportunities for service for all Americans.
School standards needed
Published June 17, 2009
Larry LeDoux, Alaska’s commissioner of education, has defended the state’s decision to resist uniform K-12 learning goals in reading and mathematics.
Schools have high standards
Published June 17, 2009
Some Alaskans are concerned about the Palin administration’s decision to monitor, but not actively participate in, an upcoming effort to create common national standards in reading and math.
Voting on unions should be private
Published June 15, 2009
When I joined the U.S. military, I did so because I wanted to protect the freedoms we take for granted — the freedom to vote, to find a job to support a family, to speak freely, and to do the variety of other things guaranteed to us by the Constitution. That’s why it upsets me some congressmen are working to undermine workers’ freedoms.
Coal’s only alternative: nuclear
Renewables can’t support civilization
Published June 14, 2009
We hear a lot about renewable energy. However, the focus on renewable energy is leading us to a false expectation that we are effectively combating global warming.
Let king salmon move up the Yukon
Sustaining runs requires restraint
Published June 14, 2009
As the start of the salmon fishing season on the Yukon River draws near, I know that subsistence users on the river face worrisome days ahead. I share their concerns.
Health reform needs Alaska twist
Published June 12, 2009
We can provide everyone with affordable health care while addressing important priorities for Alaska.
The case for universal health care
Fairbanks author lays it out clearly
Published June 6, 2009
One of the important considerations Congress might make during the next few months is whether a new proposal for health care reform will be adopted, changed or ignored.
Gas line is in limbo
Published June 3, 2009
As a former governor who negotiated a draft contract with North Slope oil and gas producers, it is hard not to compare where the gas line project is now to where it would have been, had Gov. Sarah Palin’s administration simply proceeded to improve the draft contract we negotiated pursuant to the Stranded Gas Development Act.
Energy code overreaches
Rules best decided by local government
Published June 2, 2009
I have taken many opportunities to explain the economic stimulus bill and problems created from increasing programs tied to accepting federal funds. My concerns with issuing record levels of government debt to pay for increases and the inevitable demand for state dollars to backfill the funding gap are a matter of public record.
