Things that make you go hmmmm at night… A Libertarian perspective

By Michael Chambers ~ In recent testimony before the Senate Finance Budget Committee, Pat Pitney, State Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), stated that the Walker Administration has conducted over 25 seminars throughout the state to address the current budget crisis. Consideration was being made to develop “alternate” forms of revenue, as a means to maintain our current level of government and to protect the State’s credit rating in preparation to invest “our share” of a $60 billion dollar gasline.

I find it fascinating that not one of these 25 seminars has been conducted in the greater Anchorage area given the fact Anchorage represents approximately 50% the state’s population.

Regarding the Gasline…

From a Libertarian perspective, the idea of private/public partnerships always give pause to the financial legitimacy of such projects. It certainly begs the question that if this is a sound financial investment, why is private industry so reluctant to invest?

Recently Governor Walker added even more emphasis to this “relationship” by calling a special session to discuss the buyout of TransCanada interest, which would increase the state’s ownership and liability regarding the proposed gasline project.

One must also consider the cost. The associated price tag has been reported to be somewhere around $60 billion, which would make this project the most expensive capital construction project in American history. Similar to the Trans Alaska Pipeline experience, however, I would think any thoughtful person to assume the cost could elevate even higher, as seems to be the case with juggernaut bureaucracies.

Simply put, 30 years ago building a gas pipeline may have been a much better investment than the Delta Barley project, but today in the current global energy theater, Alaska cannot contain costs enough to put our gas on the market competitively. It is clearly an economical impracticality.

Investing in a gasline idea 30 years ago does not validate its viability today.

Regarding the size of government…

Since 2006, the size of State government has grown a whopping 109%. Taking into account the actual inflation rate and population increase, a more accurate figure would be factored around a 20% increase.

Today our state government is funding approximately 5,000 non- profit organizations, and many of these separate non-profits serve the same community, duplicating services for drug treatment and the homeless population. There are massive redundancies, resulting in inefficiencies, all of which Alaskans are footing the bill.

Add to this expanded-government dilemma approximately 120 boards and commissions, led by an army of executives and staff members receiving handsome salaries, and one must ask for what purpose?

The big gorilla in the room is not the reported 16,000 State employee positions but that the budget shows we are funding substantially more positions throughout the different departments and divisions of government. What this overfunding of personnel ultimately does is give “slush funds” to every state department, affording them to transfer monies, at the discretion of division directors, with very little oversight or accountability.

The University of Alaska system has received land grants with surface and sub-surface title, which they have been reluctant to develop. It has been substantially easier for the Board of Regents to develop an educational lobby to request more funds from the Legislature than to develop any real paradigm of resource development from land acquisition, which is the primary purpose for land grants in the first place.

The Department of Health and Human Services is quickly becoming our largest cost driver. Alaska’s current Medicaid program is not even certified by the federal government because of serious systemic financial discrepancies. Yet, Governor Walker insists we should add to an existing program inculcated with fraud and abuse.

Any representatives of government, whether they be within the administration or elected policymakers, advocating to extract taxes from the citizens prior to investigating and downsizing the excess of government, is akin to a teenager who demands an outrageous allowance and refuses to do any of the family chores. To take taxes from citizens in the private sector simply to maintain a government which resembles the mythological “Medusa” is nothing short of robbery for the special interest of government and those who subcontract their services directly to government.

Ask this Libertarian…

I will tell you, government’s greatest responsibility is to protect the development of the private sector not be its competitor. I want a government small enough to deliver essential, constitutional services to Alaskans. Then leave us alone so we can develop and thrive from the unique fruits of our own labor.

Taxing the citizen simply to promote “existential concepts” of government is clearly an assault on this principle.

Michael Chambers is the past chairman of the Alaska Libertarian Party and current Chairman of United for Liberty