By BOB BIRD
Let’s get some priorities straight. Alaska cannot squander this moment. It is going to take leadership and courage to turn things around. Amazingly, it might — it should — be a bi-partisan effort.
Before reading further, first go to YouTube and watch what Gov. Walter Hickel produced in 1993, when he initiated a $29 billion lawsuit against the federal government for its failure to give Alaska what was promised at statehood. Here is the link. It isn’t long.
Incredibly, most Alaskans and many legislators, have never heard of the phrase “90/10.” It has been buried, thanks to our own congressional delegation, under the fig-leaf phrase, coined by Sen. Ted Stevens and echoed by Rep.Don Young, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Sen. Dan Sullivan and others, which says, “Fifty percent of something is better than 90 percent of nothing.”
A better phrase would be, “Our politicians have sold out our birthright for a mess of pottage.”
From Wikipedia: A mess of pottage is something immediately attractive but of little value, taken foolishly and carelessly, in exchange for something more distant and perhaps less tangible but immensely more valuable.
You will find it in Genesis 25: 29-34, in the story of Jacob and Esau.
So, what is the background for Alaskans? Because the most valuable argument against Alaskan statehood was our inability to pay for self-government, congress crafted us a special gift: that oil revenues taken from federal properties would be split, not 50/50 as with the other states, but 90/10 in Alaska’s favor.
As the pro-Alaska historians, lawyers and legislators tell you in the video, this could not be unilaterally changed, but had to be OK’d by a statewide referendum. But as an inducement to open up ANWR to lower 48 congressional votes, who would have to face the media’s kissy-poo pets in the Green Lobby, our own “champions” lured them into accepting ANWR’s opening on a 50/50 split.
It was done under the radar thanks to our local media outlets in the Anchorage Daily News, and its “court historian” Dr. Stephen Haycox, who pontificated: “Hickel apparently did not realize that Congress must be free to change its legislation to conform to changing public opinion, to changes in society’s will.”
This conforms to liberal tastes that contracts can be broken by the stronger (federal) party, and to the idea that the Constitution is a “living document”.
You may recall that Donald Trump was on the cusp of opening ANWR in 2020, then “lost” his re-election bid. But it was on the 50/50 basis, thanks to Don Young, whose final years in congress took a mysterious leftward slant.
With the kind of momentum conservatives now possess, with the Green Lobby off balance, with the pro-ANWR development natives of Kaktovik (in the heart of ANWR) voting for Trump 57-12, with our state budget and PFD in a shambles, what are we waiting for?
In debates I had in 2008 with former Sen. Mark Begich, he had the good sense to agree that 90/10 had to be defended. He completely understood that it meant more revenue for state government. Now, with his pro-development nephew likely to take our congressional seat, we have the proper alignment of the stars.
Except, of course, in the RCV-elected state legislature.
When Sen. Jesse Bjorkman and I were broadcast partners at KSRM, as a recently-arrived Alaskan, he had never heard of “90/10.” To his credit, he was all on board when it was explained to him. If he is going to forfeit his conservative credentials once again for the sake of influence in a Democrat-controlled state senate, maybe — just maybe — he can use it for this vitally important purpose. It is a chance for him to have a hand in making state history.
Do Democrats want more revenue for state government?
Do conservatives want a new oil-and-gas boom? Do they want a balanced budget? Does everyone want a recovering economy, value-added jobs and a full PFD?
Do we want and need a gas pipeline? Do we want a generations-long economy of permanent jobs?
The questions answer themselves.
Bob Bird is former chair of the Alaskan Independence Party and the host of a talk show on KSRM radio, Kenai.
I’ve been screaming 90/10 from the rooftops since the 1990s! Is someone finally listening? 😀
So have I, and your frustration matches my own! Let us hope that THE STARS are lined up now. Help keep this alive by contacting your legislator. Dem or Rep, they ought to know the commitment that we are owed! Contact me.
That many words to say what, exactly?
Excellent article! Thank you for sharing that link to the video also. I had not heard of that video and am glad that I got to watch it. Our constitution is worth protecting for many reasons. There is one Conservative in the House that has been fighting to protect the constitution. After watching this video, I am fully convinced that if we lose that Conservative in the House, we are going to lose the People’s ability to govern Alaska as we see fit.
Surprise me Ginny who is this such Conservative.. That person will be the next David they will Otherize out!
You got it.
I remember when Hickel successfully became Governor running on the AIP ticket to circumvent our useless state GOP.
It was a once in a lifetime big deal for us commoners to beat the putrid swamp of Alaskas’ corrupt, outside controlled Uniparty puppets we call politicians.
Upon being elected he actually did what he said in taking on our colonial masters in DC. Was surreal to have a Governor, or any top politician that actually represented Alaska as a sovereign state. Never saw this before or since.
It’s been a long time, dont remember the exact dates, when Hickel made a trip outside to DC, and when he returned home, his behavior had changed. He had been neutered. Might have been a bribe or very real threats against his family, but Alaska’s one attempt at resisting the swamp was over.
The 90/10 revenue split is critical for the people of this state. It is refreshing for the author of this post to bring this up. Just maybe the public will create an uproar for the clown puppets in Juneau to focus on a critical issue for their constituents over their own personal interests and their corporate/union donors.
We do have another typical incompetent Governor whose administration can’t even update vote counts, unlikely anything as important as this 90/10 will gain any traction.
Dr. Haycox forgot to add that the will of the public, or the will of society, can be the minority, amplified by a dishonest media which can manipulate and distort the truth. Moreover, much of the will of the public is disproportionately represented through brainwashing. So, Dr. Haycox the historian is not explaining the full picture likely showing his bias and his own political leanings in the process.
Bob is “balancing the budget on the Alaska economy” a government job? This seems to be the call to our Capital with a newly elected Legislature & will anything good come for their Coalition(s)? I see a sales tax knocking at our door to satisfy the continued drunkin deficit spending! There are NO effective Conservatives going south to Juneau next spring! Any TAX will only put growth in government and a burden on the private sector…..Most all of those legislating for us have no real world experience in the private sector jobs! Our only hope is Trump can knock a ball out of the Park & a few “Parkies and progress[ng the gas line on its way to getting built
The 50/50 deal was not a deal for the People, but for outside interests. With the fact that more and more land in the State of Alaska is being tied up by the Federal Gov., and revenues to the state decline to pay for this land, it is appropriate that the people receive some benefit for the resources taken. The 90/10 should have never been taken away.
Terrance: the good news is, it has NOT been taken away. The legislature merely needs to pass a simple majority resolution holding our congressional delegates responsible that any ANWR deal needs to have the 90/10 promise attached to it.
If we did open it up for a statewide referendum, guess what? The same OUTSIDE DARK MONEY would probably be poured into Alaska to convince us to “sell out our birthright for a mess of pottage”.