Agreed. I should not have said that about this year.
One we've just been talking about is the oil price in the next fiscal year. I happen to think it is politically shrewd of her to submit an optimistic price forecast ($74.41) while showing a moderate amount of belt-tightening on the expense side. If her political opponents scream too much, she can agree to a lower revenue forecast and can then further slash the budget saying "they made me do it". If the $74 number stays in and the actual price comes in much lower, she's going to have to slash expenses anyway or borrow from the CBR or some other source. She'll get the blame. She's probably hoping to be "forced" to lower the number during the budget cycle...LOL. All this is JMO.
The other longer-term issue is the prospect of declining output from the North Slope with no new oil drilling on the horizon because of environmental opposition. That's why the gasline is so critical. She's taking a big risk by the approach she took to get the project off dead center. There's still plenty of entrenched opposition that could throw a monkey wrench into the whole operation. With no appreciable movement towards the gasline being a reality for the last 30 years, she felt she had to do something.
The lady's got a ton of guts, one of her most enduring attributes IMO (out of many). Alaskans are a lucky bunch to have her. Wish we could all share in her leadership. Maybe next time.