Rod's Alter Ego

Uh Oh, Another "ThePeople^®"Argument

You can really gain a glimpse into the mindset of people in your community by browsing the editorial section in the local newspaper. For instance, take this gem that I lifted from today's Anchorage Daily News:

Oil firms get rich off our crude; let's make them pay their way with a tax
As I understand it, the state owns the oil; the oil companies are reaping huge profits from oil they do not own. The break-even wellhead-plus-transportation price for a barrel of crude oil cannot be $10. I base that on the fact that oil companies posted profits on Alaska operations, when the oil price was less than $11 per barrel.
Since we the people of Alaska own the oil and the price today yields huge profits to the oil companies, let's tax the oil companies and get the governor's and legislators' fingers out of the Permanent Fund! It seems that $1 per barrel per $10 price increment would be a fair tax. The companies would still be generating huge profits and the state could be receiving between $900,000 and $2.7 million per day from our oil. Seems more than fair to me.
Then, when there is no more oil, we can begin to think about using earnings from a Permanent Fund that can support the state. This is not our rainy day.
-- Robert Patrick
Anchorage

Er, Mr. Patrick, regarding your premise -- "the state owns the oil" -- who or what exactly did you have in mind? States don't (and can't) own things, Mr. Patrick, human beings do. And please don't scold me back for nitpicking, words are supposed to mean things for goodness sake. In regard to your other claim, We ThePeople^® of Alaska own the oil -- that's even more ridiculous. Is it really your position that you hold a property right in a resource simply because you vote and license your car here? Good grief. Maybe I should suggest to Master that we move to Redmond, WA so we can get us some of that Microsoft booty.

Tell us, Mr. Patrick, how is it in your opinion that every cheechako form Florida to Washington who stumbles through Alaska suddenly deserves a property right in a natural resource simply because they survived a winter here, hmm? Stakeholder my ass. ThePeople^®of Alaska don't have clue one how to find oil and bring the refined products to maket.

The monkeys who take risks and climb the trees to get at the fruit deserve the reward. Ground dwellers should be humbly thankful for any shake they can scavenge that incidentally falls to the ground.