The oil companies with the greatest means and ability to produce crude say they're pleased with the proposed cuts but that they still are not deep enough to get new projects going. If foregoing around a billion or more per year doesn't make Alaska “competitive” enough, we just don't know what will. How many more Targets and Olive Gardens does Alaska need to pull even with North Dakota in the race for investment?
Though there were no new commitments for new projects, there will most certainly be “new” oil even if it has to come from fields that have been around since the first time parachute pants were cool.
We're only slightly worried that there probably won't be enough additional oil produced quickly enough to keep Alaska's budget out of the red. Alaska basically dodged the fiscal crisis that hit the rest of the world, but now it seems determined to choose fiscal austerity for no apparent reason. Maybe it'll build character. Alaskans of today have gotten a little soft with all this public fiscal solvency.
The bill passed the Senate, where a similar bill stalled out last session, by an 11-9 margin. If Sens. Kevin Meyer and Pete Micciche -- two of your employees -- had not voted, that measure would've died on the vine. Instead, it's now being bandied about in the House to reach final form. People are treating passage through the House as kind of a formality at this point, but it's not a done deal yet.
Which brings us to our major concern. A few of your employees past and present, direct and associated, have been key in the oil-tax cut bill's movement through the Legislature. And when it does finally pass, they will deserve a reward.
Conoco alone will stand to gain around hundreds of millions extra in the first year the new system takes effect. Even though it's reportedly not enough, We The Concerned think that if the bill passes, certain lawmakers are due at least one percent of the extra cash -- let's say $3 million to be split among them. It's only fair. The Concerned believe in nothing if not fair compensation for job well done.
Ever since VECO employees were caught giving lawmakers cash and cheeseburgers, Alaskans are a bit more prickly about old-fashioned expressions of constituent gratitude. Besides, that kind of scratch just won't fit in a plastic Easter egg.
If Alaska ever does see enough oil produced and it tightens enough public-sector belts to soak up the tax cut, those lawmakers will deserve a very public reward for creating jobs, fighting pipeline decline, and pumping the oil patch dry faster. If all that happens, Alaskans can rejoice, and rewards can flow to them out in plain sight. But until this whole new fiscal regime proves up, you should keep the Baksheesh on the down-low.
Maybe there's an energy conference in Barbados that you could send them to? A Palm Springs vacation for the whole family? Fact-finding trip to Thailand? Maybe at some swanky spa where Pete Kott hands out the beach towels?
A new company vehicle would really make those commutes into work easier. But be careful it's not too flashy. Make sure it has satellite radio, heated seats and leather everything, but for goodness' sake, keep the exterior low-key. No gold rims or special-edition TruckNutz.
It's not like giving such perks to employees is illegal or anything. Who knows, it might even be written into some contracts these days. It just won't look right to people. But if the bonuses get too conspicuous, Alaskans might start to complain. If they do, you can just tell them they got just what they voted for. It's not as if the Legislature's conflict of interest rules have changed, and it's not like no one knew that all these people have strong ties to the companies whose bottom lines they'd be voting on. Tell them it could be worse, much worse.
Since this tax cut still isn't a done deal, maybe no one will end up deserving a bonus anyway. Maybe the House will decide to add too many new "knobs and dials" and the effort will pancake like Wile E. Coyote.
As I stepped out to run an errand last week, I grabbed my cell phone but decided to leave my bulky wallet behind. What a mistake that was. On returning home, I had a serious sugar hankering, and took a detour to a bakery only to realize I didn’t have my wallet with me. Sweet tooth be damned, when will my mobile phone also be my wallet?
I first reported on mobile payment in 2009, and the subject continues to fascinate because mobile payment always seemed to lurk around the corner, coming soon to a merchant near me. After all, the technology that makes tap-and-go payment possible is already proven, having been in wide use for many years throughout Japan and South Korea where consumers simply tap their phones against a payment terminal and they’re good to go. Called near field communications (NFC), this technology allows devices to securely communicate with each other by either direct contact or over a very short distance, usually within 1.5 inches. Payments initiate when NFC-enabled handsets communicate with point-of-sale terminals that can read the credit or debit card information stored on the device.
Back in 2009, NFC-enabled mobile payment trials were being piloted by MasterCard and Visa in various global markets. A year later, RFID tag, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless announced Isis, their joint effort to build a mobile payment network. Today, the Isis Mobile Wallet is accepted by a combined total of some 1,500 merchants in Austin and Salt Lake City, according to a tally of merchants listed on the Isis website. This pales in comparison to the 200,000 outlets where Google says its Google Wallet is accepted. Not a tiny number, but even here in the early adopter hotbed of Silicon Valley , I have never seen anyone pay goods and services with their mobile phone at point-of-sale, much less posters that say “Google Wallet accepted here.” This fast, tap-and-go mobile payment that I’ve only heard and read about for the last four years seems to be nowhere in sight.
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