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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tenchusatsu who wrote (554730)	3/12/2010 1:50:50 PM
From: koan	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1570339

>>Koan, > I live in a place much like Denmark. Alaska is the only state in the union in great shape financially, because a bunch of liberals (in the 70's) had the foresight to set up a large government program, the Permenant Fund, that now has 40 billion dollars. Doesn't pass the smell test ... Tenchusatsu<< The smell test-lol? How about just plain old facts instead of a smell test. Tell me what does not smell right? Here are the facts: This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (July 2009) The Alaska Permanent Fund is a constitutionally established permanent fund, managed by a semi-independent corporation, established by Alaska in 1976, primarily by the efforts of then Governor Jay Hammond. Shortly after the oil from Alaska’s North Slope began flowing to market through the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, the Permanent Fund was created by an amendment to the Alaska Constitution to be an investment for at least 25% of proceeds from some mineral (such as oil and gas) sales or royalties. The Fund does not include either property taxes on oil company property nor income tax from oil corporations, so the minimum 25% deposit is closer to 11% if those sources were also considered. The Alaska Permanent Fund sets aside a certain share of oil revenues to continue benefiting current and all future generations of Alaskans. Many citizens[who?] also believed that the legislature too quickly and too inefficiently spent the $900 million bonus the state got in 1969 after leasing out the oil fields. This belief spurred a desire to put some oil revenues out of direct political control. The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation manages the assets of both the Permanent Fund and other state investments, but spending Fund income is up to the Legislature. The Corporation is to manage for maximum prudent return, and not—as some Alaskans at first wanted—as a development bank for in-state projects. The Fund grew from an initial investment of $734,000 in 1977 to approximately $28 billion as of March 2008. Some growth was due to good management, some to inflationary re-investment, and some via legislative decisions to deposit extra income during boom years. Each year, the fund's realized earnings are split between inflation-proofing, operating expenses, and the annual Permanent Fund Dividend. Contents [hide] 1 Permanent Fund Dividend 2 Constitutional Budget Reserve (CBR) 2.1 Issues with the Constitutional Budget Reserve 3 Issues with the Permanent Fund 3.1 Dividends and spending 3.2 Percent of Market Value (POMV) Proposal 4 See also 5 References 6 External links [edit] Permanent Fund Dividend The Permanent Fund Dividend is withstanding the provisions of (a) - (c) of this section, an individual is not eligible for a permanent fund dividend for a dividend year when (1) during the qualifying year, the individual was sentenced as a result of conviction in this state of a felony; (2) during all or part of the qualifying year, the individual was incarcerated as a result of the conviction in this state of a (A) felony; or (B) misdemeanor if the individual has been convicted of (i) a prior felony as defined in AS 11.81.900 ; or (ii) two or more prior misdemeanors as defined in AS 11.81.900 who have resided in the state for at least one calendar year preceding the date applied for a dividend and intend to remain an Alaska resident indefinitely at the time applied for a dividend. The amount of each payment is based upon a five-year average of the Permanent Fund's performance and varies widely depending on the stock market and many other factors. Though the payouts have varied from the smallest ($331.29 per person in 1984) and the largest ($3,269.00 per person in 2008 when a one-time $1,200 Alaska Resource Rebate was added to the dividend amount[1]), they usually vary between $600 and $1,500 ($900 and $1,800 when adjusted for 2005 dollars). Although the principal or corpus of the Fund is constitutionally protected, income earned by the Fund, like nearly all State income, is constitutionally defined as general fund money (subject to legislative appropriation for any purpose ... but, in practical political terms, the public tolerates spending Fund income mostly only for 'inflation-proofing' and for paying dividends). The first dividend plan would have paid Alaskans $50 for each year of residency up to 20 years, but the U.S. Supreme Court in Zobel v. Williams disapproved the $50 per year formula as an invidious distinction burdening interstate travel. As a result, each qualified resident now receives the same annual amount, regardless of age or years of residency. In effect, this equal-amount aspect mathematically means a greater percentage of added income for people of lower incomes. Conversely, any cut, limit, cap, or end of the equal-amount PFD would mean low-income Alaskans would experience the greatest percentage loss of income. The PFD payout, which comes in or near October of each year, is acknowledged to have a substantial effect on Alaska's economy, both in total and especially in rural Alaska where unemployment can reach 60% and where cash is scarce. Annual individual payout (in nominal dollars)[2][dead link]: