Posted on 12/15/2012 10:38:30 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Steven Mufson is a Washington Post reporter covering energy and other financial news. He has enjoyed visiting Alaska without needing his passport.
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The prospect of once again hitting the federal debt ceiling has provoked the ritual round of hand-wringing about the intractable nature of this $16 trillion conundrum. But there is a simple, elegant option that involves no tax increases, no spending cuts and just a bit of imagination.
Sell Alaska.
hat’s right. Put the entire state — from Juneau to Deadhorse, from the Bering Strait to the Beaufort Sea — on the auction block.
Absurd? No more absurd than the spectacle taking place right now as we skid closer to the “fiscal cliff.”
Selling real estate at top dollar is all about timing, and now’s a great time to unload the Klondike state. The federal government, which owns 69 percent of Alaska, could cash in on the vast, resource-rich state at a time when oil prices are high and wild salmon is flying off the shelves at Whole Foods. Selling Alaska could fetch at least $2.5 trillion and maybe twice that amount, enough to lop off a huge chunk of the national debt and perhaps as much money as President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner hope to save or raise over the next decade.
The return on investment would look great, too. Secretary of State William H. Seward — you might know him as the handsome fellow played by David Strathairn in the new Steven Spielberg movie, “Lincoln” — bought Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million, drawing ridicule. One New York newspaper that year called Alaska a “sucked orange,” saying Russia had already drained all the value out of it.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Let’s enslave and sell liberals.
Correction, 1982, the year Sarah graduated from high school.
Ditto! Alaska is a "red" state, while Hawaii is "blue." We could sell it to Japan or grant it independence.
Good idea!
And we also wouldn't need to hold out for top dollar, given that, with Congress gone, the deficit would go away by itself.
Speaking as someone living in Alaska (where it was -50.1 degrees this morning).... a much better idea would be selling the coast of California, New York, and most of southern New England.
By the way, (halfway) joking aside, this is another of the many notions floating around right now that aim toward secession of the various states. Now, the writer doesn’t call it such, but it amount to it.
The states joined the union on the promise that they would be part of a constitutional republic with a limited federal government. When one side of the contract breaks the agreement, the larger question is whether the contract is valid.
There was a metaphor for this with the two states that just legalized recreational marijuana use. The federal government decided not to intervene. But that’s not the issue. There are questions of federalism involved, and what the states and the federal government can and can’t do. The federal government, in this case, as it has in many other cases recently, acted by decree. They decided simply to ignore the law, in the same manner as they’ve decided to ignore the Defense of Marriage Act. Not that the federal government should be involved in either situation.
There’s more than a whiff of disunion in the air. Something is going to happen to make that turn into a fire. My hope is that we can split apart peacefully, like the Czechoslovakians. Hope is not a strategy, though.
God help us.
Speaking as someone living in Alaska (where it was -50.1 degrees this morning).... a much better idea would be selling the coast of California, New York, and most of southern New England.
By the way, (halfway) joking aside, this is another of the many notions floating around right now that aim toward secession of the various states. Now, the writer doesn’t call it such, but it amounts to it.
The states joined the union on the promise that they would be part of a constitutional republic with a limited federal government. When one side of the contract breaks the agreement, the larger question is whether the contract is valid.
There was a metaphor for this with the two states that just legalized recreational marijuana use. The federal government decided not to intervene. But that’s not the issue. There are questions of federalism involved, and what the states and the federal government can and can’t do. The federal government, in this case, as it has in many other cases recently, acted by decree. They decided simply to ignore the law, in the same manner as they’ve decided to ignore the Defense of Marriage Act. Not that the federal government should be involved in either situation.
There’s more than a whiff of disunion in the air. Something is going to happen to make that turn into a fire. My hope is that we can split apart peacefully, like the Czechoslovakians. Hope is not a strategy, though.
God help us.
How about we sell New York and California instead?
I HAVE A BETTER IDEA... LET’S CAPTURE EVERY LAST OBAMA VOTER AND SELL EVERY SINGLE DEMON TO THE MUSLIMS AS SLAVES.
LLS
It has my vote.
I say give Hawaii to Indonesia.
Sell California back to Mexico. It will save the rest of the country millions in welfare and perks for the illegals.
Since Calif is technically bankrupt, anyway, let the illegals have it back & ruin it right down to the dirt.
An alternative would be to let those states that want to buy their freedom from the failing USA see if they can raise the funds and secede.
True, but Detroit really needs a professional football team!
Yes, it seems to have wandered off somewhere...
Of course, keeping the Expos in Canada depended on never losing one of the referenda they have every few years on whether Quebec should secede from Canada.
I have a better idea. Let’s sell Washington DC and surrounding area. Lots of “educated” people.
You are on the right track, but the problem isn’t just there. Let’s sell:
1) CA
2) NY
3) Chicago
4) WA State
Without these areas voting (in many cases multiple times) we will be able to get much better government. In addition, what of any value has any of these areas given us in the last 50 yrs?
How about Hawaii? If we’re going to sell something, make it a blue state!
Ok, I missed that one.
Don’t forget New England...six liberal states conveniently packaged together! You could offer a ‘group rate’...
Truth be told, nobody cared about the Expos when they were there. Nobody cares that they are gone.
I was once in Montreal for a conference, back in the 1990s, and one evening didn't have anything to do. It was a rainy evening in May and not good for sight-seeing. Afterwards I realized I could have taken the subway to the Expos game (covered stadium). Now I'll never have a chance to see the Expos play a game live.
Not exactly something I stay up at night lamenting.
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