Alaskans benefit from big petro-dollar supported refund checks and the highest earmark spending per capita in the nation.
Alaska is not a microcosm for America--it is an energy producing state (we don't have a lot of those) with a very small population that is controlled much like the population in Saudi Arabia, by sending them petro-dollars to keep them happy.
Sara Palin's job as governor is to see how much energy-money she can distribute to the Alaskan populace directly. Gee, I wonder why her approval ratings are so high!?! She doesn't have to govern, she only has to bribe.
I'm sure every other governor in this country would love to be in her shoes.
So you have a state awash in petro-dollars, but they still receive the most per capita in earmark spending from the federal government! They have enough money to just give it away, but they obviously need more.
In a USA Today article from earlier this year, they say,
Alaska — with roughly a tenth of Arizona's population — is set to receive $506.34 per capita, the highest in the nation, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, a watchdog group which tracks earmarks.
And they add,
Alaska is home to Sen. Ted Stevens, a senior Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, which largely controls how money is doled out in Washington.
"It's one of the illustrations of what's wrong with the system," said Ryan Alexander, president of the taxpayer group. "Earmark dollars are not distributed based on need or merit or anything else as far as we can tell other than by power."
It's the classic Republican ploy: Decry government waste and spending, then send massive dollars to your home state, all while endeavoring to "get big government out of our lives!"
If we got big government out of the lives of Alaskans, I don't know how happy Alaskans and their rabid Republicans would be.