"Some people talk like it's not state money. It is state money," he said. "Everybody has been able to be essentially on welfare, in other words, getting lots of services and not paying for any of them."

Seaton is spot on with this. Note all the socialist commenters on ADN who not only expect not to pay for state services, but demand that they get a check for merely parking their butts in the state for another year. Think that the PFD is "your" money? Try moving out of state and then applying - honestly - for "your" PFD.

That said, note that the fiscal fight is framed in terms of how much we should be PAYING the oil companies to take our oil, not how much, as owners of the oil, WE should receive as our fair share. In other words, a percentage of the gross, not some oil company fantasy of the "net". But that discussion is apparently not even on the table.

Taxes - sales, income, on height & weight, on the air we breathe - should be verboten until we get our fair share of OUR oil.