Hey all!!... Not to "toot" my own horn, but it would seem that an idea I "floated" back in March on the FADG thread is receiving some official consideration. Don't know if someone read my comments and "shipped it upstairs", or if it's just a case of "great minds thinking alike", but I'm happy to see it being considered at a national level:
iraqipermanentfund.com
Message 18705738
What if the US set up the equivalent to the Alaska "permanent fund" for the purpose of insuring distribution of Iraqi oil went, in part, directly to the Iraqi people?? Any proceeds above what is required to sustain the government, would be rebated back each year to every Iraqi family (or citizen, depending on how it's set up).
adn.com
Alaska financier Dave Rose has been burning up his hard drive lately. And the Web site he recently launched has people like President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell interested.
Rose, a self-described idea guy and longtime Alaska money manager, thinks Iraq could use an oil wealth savings account modeled after Alaska's $25 billion Permanent Fund. U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, thinks so too. After asking Rose to develop the idea, Stevens pitched it to Bush and Powell.
Stevens said he first broached the subject at a White House meeting with Bush and congressional leaders recently. The president was intrigued and told his budget director, Mitch Daniels, to explore it, Stevens said. Alaska's senior senator also laid out the concept for Powell at a separate encounter. The secretary later told a Senate hearing that modeling an Iraqi permanent fund after Alaska's was interesting and under consideration.
Guess I'm going to have see if I can get involved in this effort, or at least get some credit... :0)
Hawk |
