And the same tired, old, over-used Red herring is thrown out by Cole once again.

We can't do anything but bust the piggy bank and Raid the Permanent Fund. It's the only way!

BullS*. In 45 minutes, with only a small portion of the Alaska Budget, I cut 500 MILLION dollars of boondoggle spending. Given a complete copy I'd bet I could cut a Billion more in another hour.

The Legislature is throwing money hand over fist to the Oil Companies, shoveling stacks of it in their wage/per diem/benefits/perks furnace and grunting for more, and the servants to the Big 3 are working overtime on how to give away even more while conspiring how to finally break into the Permanent Fund, which they've been trying to do since it was created!

Slideshows and fancy Powerpoint presentations be damned. The real problem here is out-of-control spending by a corrupt legislature that counts Oil Company  Employees among it's ranks, who are allowed to craft legislation directly benefiting their employers.