By DAN FAGAN
There’s no single individual alive today who has hurt the financial bottom line of Alaskans more than former Anchorage Daily News publisher and owner Alice Rogoff.
The ignoring of the statutory formula Permanent Fund dividend calculation that is on the books has cost Alaska families’ tens of thousands of dollars over the past several years. The vision to raid the Permanent Fund Earnings account shrinking Alaskans yearly dividends was birthed in the heart of Alice Rogoff.
Back in 2014, with her vast wealth, Rogoff vaulted herself into a kingmaker. She was instrumental in creating the so-called “Unity Ticket” in the governor’s race. Rogoff, behind the scenes, worked with Big Labor bosses and other swamp creatures to create the Bill Walker-Byron Mallott ticket to run against Republican incumbent Gov. Sean Parnell.
Walker squeaked out a victory only after Rogoff used her newspaper to manufacture dozens of fake news stories and columns falsely claiming Parnell looked the other way as women were sexually harassed in the Alaska National Guard.
It was the clearest case of journalism malpractice and propaganda ever seen in Alaska. The day after the election, the steady flow of fake news National Guard stories screeched to an abrupt halt.
Why would Rogoff, the ex-wife of David Rubenstein, one of the wealthiest men on the planet worth more than $4 billion, desire to manipulate a governor’s race in Alaska?
Based on Rogoff’s own words and actions the answer seems clear: She had her eye on the massive amount of wealth contained in the Alaska Permanent Fund.
Rogoff knew that Gov. Walker would transform the Permanent Fund from a way to share the state’s resource wealth with the people through a yearly dividend check to instead a mechanism allowing the Juneau and Washington D.C. swamp to raid the fund’s considerable wealth.
In April of 2015, Rogoff wrote a column in her paper calling for using the fund as leverage to borrow more money. She described it as a way to “help fund state government.” Translation: Use the fund to make special interests fatter and happier.
“Besides oil, Alaska has another vital resource – huge cash reserves and assets,” Rogoff wrote on April 11, 2015. “This, in turn, provides us credit and the ability to borrow money against it.”
She went onto write any money earned from her scheme could be used to fund government. Rogoff also argues “state spending could continue at a healthy level.”
Rogoff has since lost her kingmaker status with the collapse of the Walker Administration. She no longer had any juice or clout to reach her tenacles into the Alaska Permanent Fund and steer it further away from benefitting Alaskans and toward the Swamp.
That is until this week when Gov. Michael J. Dunleavy appointed Rogoff’s daughter, Gabrielle Rubenstein, to sit on the Board of Trustees for the Alaska Permanent Fund.
The obvious question is: Of all the capable Alaskans available for this crucial position, why choose the daughter of the woman most responsible for shrinking Alaskan’s dividend check? Is it not fair to assume Rogoff’s vision and obsession with the fund might influence her daughter’s decision making?
And what about Rubenstein’s swampy multi-billionaire father? Is it also safe to assume he may now have an inside track on steering the direction of the $80 billion fund with his daughter now on the Board of Trustees? David Rubenstein is already managing up to $1.7 billion of the $80 billion fund.
It’s possible Gabrielle Rubenstein has a very different vision for the Alaska Permanent Fund than her mother. Rogoff, like her former minion Bill Walker, favors steering the fund’s earnings toward special interests, leaving Alaskans with only scraps.
Does Dunleavy’s appointment of Rubenstein reflect a shift in his view of the purpose of the fund? He campaigned as a staunch fighter of the statutory dividend formula but quickly abandoned that approach after getting elected. Dunleavy then transitioned to the POMV plan touted by his opponent, Mark Begich.
Has the governor’s appointment of Alice Rogoff’s daughter to the Alaska Permanent Fund Board of Trustees mean he now endorses the idea the fund is best used when it benefits special interests instead of working Alaskans?
Did he make this choice to endear himself to Walker voters?
Whether it’s the governor’s refusal to use his line-item veto pen, or his coziness with Anne Zink, or putting Alice Rogoff’s daughter in a position impacting the permanent fund, Dunleavy has consistently governed as though conservatives have no other choice but to vote for him.
Dan Fagan hosts a morning talk show on Newsradio 650 KENI from 5:30 to 9 a.m. weekday mornings.
Giving more to the breeding families (litters of 5 or more) is patently unfair. They are a drain on Alaska and Dan wants more for their cults. Alaska deserves better.
Us “breeding families” are working hard to raise the next generation. The next generation that will be paying for your stinking carcass in a dementia center. So while we give up on purchasing a 70” tv and the new car so that our state and nation may survive, you get to enjoy your easy life and your champagne nights out.
You obviously belong to the Margaret Sanger Fan club.
Classy lady.
Sure you’re name isn’t Karen?
Suzzie,
Agree, Alaska can do much better!
Accordingly, when can we expect you and your other death cult pals to report to the fish waste reduction plant in Kodiak, in order to be recycled into green and sustainable fertilizer?
P. J. O’ Rouke once coined the phrase, ” way too much of you, just enough of me…
It’s not easy playing God is it Suzzie?
Wow. I am wondering if you are lumping two completely opposite groups together in your comment? There are myriads of responsible hard working families with many children (you would likely find that many of these large families even have adopted children), living responsibly, sacrificing to teach their kids work ethic, morals and values and to be responsible future citizens. Then there is indeed a population that sees each birth as another gravy ticket to more entitlement benefits, pfd included. Or they are just too messed up and irresponsible to manage any birth control. Often their kids end up raised by others, including some of those responsible large families you so disdain. Taking away the pfd won’t cure that problem as it is far deeper and wider than just the ‘lure’ of the permanent fund.
Do you mean a growing population as opposed to a euthanized population? Just wondering.
Dan,
Gabrielle Rubenstein may be a bad choice. She may be corrupt. Heck, she might even be a paid shill for her daddy.
But your ONLY argument against her is that she is related to Rogoff.
If that is enough for you to cast dispersions, then how can you be so supportive of NB3?
Childish analysis Dan, very very childish.
Breeding families???????
How disgusting is that statement?
And a child cannot grow up to be a free thinker?????
Ellie deserves to let her accomplishments speak for themselves and to speak to her own values. Did the author ask her, or even meet her? I don’t know her well, but when we served together on the board for the American Red Cross-Alaska both were evident.
She is a hard-working conservative-minded independent thinker, a hunter, and a volunteer who gives countless hours to our Services to Armed Forces programs and has deployed multiple times for Red Cross missions. We never talked about where she stood on the Permanent Fund, or other detailed financial issues because that’s not something I could really follow very well with someone who knows so much more than I do & my areas of expertise reside elsewhere. But it’s evident by this article that the author doesn’t know her. Based on my experiences with her, she’s been extremely gracious with the throngs that make these uninformed decisions about her based on her familial relations, more so than they deserve really.
When this is how qualified people are treated who are willing to serve us through appointed & elected positions before they have even had a chance demonstrate their abilities or attitudes, is it any wonder we consistently complain that good people don’t want any part of it? We simply have to do better. Stop reaching for the pitchforks before we have even met the new neighbors. I know, it’s an election year & tensions are high, but isn’t this exhausting? I find it exhausting, and so do all those disengaged voters we complain about.
Very well written response and accurate! Thank you!
Rogoff seemed to have proclivities and a fondness for pedophiles and their enablers. She was good friends with Epstein’s enabler ……. Maxwell. And Bill Walker’s soul-mate and political partner …….
Byron Mallott. Is the daughter also an enabler and cohort of pedophiles and groomers?
Good question, Judie. Pedophilia and pedophilia-enabling tends to carry itself generationally within certain family structures. It’s a hard chain to break.
Well….if she grew up in that environment…we’re trying to figure out if Dunleavy has been a RINO in elephant clothing all along. There are several decisions he has made recently that make us think we might need a change in office. Reminds me a lot of how Lisa Murkowski turned out. She’s a snake. ?
Snake, yes. Pedophile, no. We raised Lisa as a strict Catholic. Anti-abortion, conservative, and loyal. Sometimes she slips up, but mostly she’s been influenced by her communist house-husband who lives for free stuff. His noodle stand sucked.
Sucked? Frankie, while Nancy was out on a cruise, I kept you stuffed on noodles and bacon sandwiches because you’ve never learned to cook on your own. You’re the one who bought a Lear Jet with Alaska’s money, after you cancelled the Longevity Bonus for all of your senior friends. Why do you think Sarah Palin kicked your — in 2006?
Seems to be a lot of guilt by familial association these days. First Nick Begich, now this.
Rubenstein may be a bad choice. Dunleavy has a history of them (Tuckerman Babcock, Ben Stevens, caving on Wasilla). But she should be judged on HER actions and track record. Not her family’s.
Don’t you think, Dan?
Thank you!
All of us stand on our “own” two feet, forging our “own” paths of success and accomplishments. All of us develop our “own” opinions, beliefs, and character traits. While all of us are influenced by our surroundings, internal and external, we none the less become who we are based on our “own” sovereign individuality.
I know Ellie as a sound and upstanding individual, full of energy and talent, that I believe will do the right thing for the Permanent Fund Corporation and for Alaska.
An average blue collar ” working ” Alaskan would be the best fit for the PF Board, only because they are like most of Alaskans ! The simple interest would mirror current sentiments of the loss’s to the beneficiary (US) in the end result of the investments! Would anyone here buy a Volvo because it’s ” Boxy” ? A little truth and reality not prestige or pedigree is what makes sense to all of us! Common sense investments over all other “special interests ” unless we all benefit equally because “we are the special interests ” and we have been left out over the last 6 plus years! .
In Mr Fagan’s defense. I have worked amongst many nurses that have spoken of the many times after assisting during a birth. That after, inquiring with the “birther person “?
“ would you like your tubes tied?”
And the response being “ oh hell no!”
The permanent fund is many times, at the end of the conversation.
Sometimes the truth hurts, especially those with thin skin.
LOL. I am married to a Native person.
Getting vasectomy is the ONE service I am eligible for at the native hospital.
After each birth (4) they told my wife they would “fix” me if we wanted that.
But, looking at the big picture, they’re just trying to keep costs down, as they have to provide for every person born in the system.
Bit of history – ALL non-Native spouses of Native Americans were covered by IHS health care until the Late Great (awesome) President, Ronald Reagan, ended the give away. HE knew what cutting government meant.
And the Native Hospital knows what cutting the “lines” of a white skin dude is. Racism cuts both ways.
It is awful to be judged by the behavior or lifestyle of a family member. Truly this same argument could be used against Nick Begich with his family connections. I prefer to observe and let her actions speak. Dan I don’t think I can agree with you on this one.
I am torn about this one. Opposition to Rogoff’s daughter simply because she is Rogoff’s daughter treads dangerously close to the notion that children ought to be punished for the sins of their fathers. OTOH, she is Rogoff’s daughter. Hearings on this nomination should be interesting. Cheers –
The average Alaskan family of four has now lost at least $20,000.00 because their dividends were lowered as a direct result of SB-21. When legislators who directly worked for COP voted for SB-21, and it was then signed by a former COP lobbyist- Governor, Alaska immediately started having budget deficits. Part of the disaster of SB-21 was that Alaska was required to pay the industry $8 dollars per barrel for the oil we own!
The $18 billion we’d managed to save under ACES was then used to mitigate the massive reduction in revenue caused by SB-21.
The managers of the Permanent Fund have no control on how the legislature spends earnings, nor do they establish how much Alaska collects for our oil.
With this appointment in mind all things change for the coming election.
If the top two choices on the ballot are Dunleavy and Walker then Donald Duck would start looking like a winner.
Hey don’t forget Charlie Pierce!
With that being said, I have a real issue with judging people because of the family they happen to be born into. I am certain that young Miss Rubenstein has not lived under a rock. Given our society’s fascination with social media, it should be easy to find out where this lady stands….then we can make an educated assessment of her suitability for this office.
Another unbelievably bad choice by Dunleavy AKA, The Cowardly Lion. Doctor Zink, Ben Stevens, Babcock, Rogoff, Myers et al, clearly show Dunleavy’s poor judgement. He needs to go!
I can’t believe Ms Rogoff’s billionaire daughter lives here. That’s news.
I always wondered why Alice, who is worth billions, fought to not pay private vendors what she owed from her failed newspaper business (failed financially, but politically it was an anti-GOP victory)
I used to wonder, exactly how many billions do her & her ex need to pass on to their 3 kids?
And one of them lives here! Maybe she could pay off mom’s bills.
It’s easy to sling mud at someone because they’re related to another that has a reputation…good, bad, or indifferent. Once again, Fagan (an out of stater; Louisiana) is slinging mud on an Alaskan that has done more to help people here than Fagan ever could or did when he lived here. Should we assume that Dan Fagan is exactly like his father, mother, uncles, aunts, grandparents? No, Dan is who he has chosen to be. Likewise, we should consider Gabrielle Rubenstein to be her own person, responsible for her life’s choices.
Once again, I ask MRAK to either not publish Dan Fagan’s illogical opines, or at least identify him as an out-of -stater. The more opinions he publishes here, the less credibility he favors from readers.
Dan, I usually agree with you, but this time your logic makes no sense, even though you’re probably right you can’t have it both ways and be taken seriously.
So we shouldn’t appoint her because she is a Rogoff.
But you support Nick for congress even though he’s a Begich.
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