[akdonn]

You're right, and as proud conservatives we are very happy about that. Republican Gov. Jay Hammond and a bunch of Democrats in the Alaska Legislature dreamed up the Permanent Fund give-away program and it has made Alaska a solid Republican state. Back when we didn't have two nickels to rub together everybody was a Democrat.

A cursory examination of that political sea change might indicate that investing in the people pays off!

[skeptoid]

The beloved, Saint Hammond, the best Governor of Alaska there ever will be,(read his 2 autobios) realized (along with Oral Freeman) that the Proceeds of the Pipeline could be squandered by the ruling class or divvied up among the people who voted them in. It's a matter of perspective, and I think spreading the revenue among the voters makes a lot of sense instead of stuffing the relatively few pockets of the powerful. In fact, don't the permanent fund checks go to every bona fide resident from birth till death?