Author: Elise Patkotak

I’ve always wondered how Republicans can call themselves the party of fiscal conservatism when faced with the stark reality that the federal debt goes up under Republican presidents and down under Democratic presidents. Doesn’t make much sense, does it?

And now here we are faced with the same dilemma in Alaska. The Republican majority in the Senate crafts a budget that does not balance the budget; that calls for unspecified cuts in state government that they are too chicken to actually name; that depends on what can only be called voodoo economic reasoning; that relies on pots of money that Continue reading →

The first Fauske I ever met was Dave Fauske, Dan’s brother. Met him and his wife Betty on my first night in Barrow. The second Fauske I met was Dan. Both brothers approached the world as though everyone was a potential friend and almost everyone I know responded back in kind.

Dan died last week. He left us much too early. Yet he still managed to leave a rather impressive legacy. He spent years as the Finance Director of the North Slope Borough, years as the head of the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation and then headed up the gas line Continue reading →

Last week was definitely a strange week. And it had absolutely nothing to do with anything happening in any recently drained and/or refilled swamp.

For starts, the state’s Chamber of Commerce head Curtis Thayer was quoted in a March 28, 2017 ADN article as follows, “’We want to see budget cuts’ said Curtis Thayer, the head of the chamber. If the price of oil rises enough, he added: ‘We’re out of a problem.’”

Are you kidding me? The head of the biggest business group in the state would like us to put our hands together and clap as hard as Continue reading →