Great essay.  My 2 cents would be that both sales tax and cutting the PFD wind up hurting poorer Alaskans more than richer ones; ie, they are forced to contribute proportionately more of their income to running the state than others.  The reason I support an income tax (along with about everybody else I know) is that Alaska has so incredibly many seasonal workers.  Think fishing, tourism, oil workers- they all come up here, make a bundle, use our services and pay nothing whatsoever towards all the cost of upkeep of the roads, libraries, harbors, etc etc.