Palin supports higher taxes and the redistribution of wealth (to Alaskans)

[Viking12]

From Kevin Drum at Mother Jones:

SARAH PALIN AND TAXES....Let's talk policy! And to make it even more interesting, let's talk tax policy!

So here's an interesting thing about Alaska governor Sarah Palin: she's a tax raiser. Last September she proposed a new state tax plan called ACES, and by November she had successfully pushed it through the Alaska legislature in a special session. ACES had two goals. First, it replaced a year-old plan called PPT that was mired in corruption and was widely distrusted. No problem there. Second, it was designed to increase revenue. PPT had raised revenues by $1 billion, but that was still less than everyone expected. So Palin's plan increased that by another $700 million.

But it gets even more interesting. ACES, of course, is a tax on the oil industry, since that's how the rugged individualists up north fund themselves. (In addition to massive infusions of federal cash, that is.) And it had three basic provisions:


* An increase in the basic tax rate on oil company profits from 22.5% to 25%.


* A windfall profits provision. When oil prices went over $50/barrel or so, the tax rate would rise 0.2% for each dollar.


* A tax floor. If oil prices fell below about $40/barrel, oil companies would still have to pay 10% of the gross price of the crude they produce.


http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2008/08/sarah_palin_and_taxes.html