The Weekly Top 3 (11.4.2024)

The actual data surrounding oil revenues paints a far different picture than some claim, Jake Metcalfe has it backwards & this cycle is proving why we need the coming debate on campaign finance reform

Welcome to The Weekly Top 3 — our look at the top 3 things on our mind here at Alaskans for Sustainable Budgets — for the week of November 4, 2024.

The Weekly Top 3 is a regular weekly segment on The Michael Dukes Show. The Show broadcasts on Facebook and YouTubeLive as well as via streaming audio from the Show’s website weekdays from 6–8am. I join Michael weekly in the first hour of Tuesday’s show, from 6:10–7am, for a discussion between the two of us about our three issues.

This week, our top 3 issues are these: 1) we ask whether the four business leaders writing a recent op-ed claiming that SB21 in its current form is still working for Alaska families even looked at the data first (spoiler alert: it’s not) (2:31), 2) we explain why Jake Metcalfe’s recent op-ed has it exactly backward: it’s the current use of PFD cuts to fund government that puts the fiscal burden onto the backs of working Alaska families; by massively broadening the base, Ben Carpenter’s proposal would reduce it significantly (17:13), and 3) we explain why, one way or the other, the coming Legislature will have to deal with campaign finance reforms, and our view on what they should do when they confront it (34:56).

The segment is at the YouTube clip above. For those who prefer the audio version, it is available on our Spotify and Soundcloud pages. And for those interested, a rough draft of the transcript of each show from July 23, 2024 forward is available through our Buzzsprout page.

Go to the Show’s Soundcloud page here for this and other complete podcasts of The Michael Dukes Show.