Alaska’s leaders should embrace free markets

Alaska boasts a proud constitution that requires current and future generations to reap the maximum benefit from our oil and gas wealth. Yet today, we are literally giving away our oil and gas to the richest corporations on the planet due to various tax credits and incentives. So now, as our state faces a tsunami of red ink that will cut funding for roads, schools, fire fighters and other essential services, Speaker of the House Mike Chenault proposes another giveaway — this time a massive tax credit to the Canadian corporation Agrium. To compound the affront, Agrium lawyers helped write the bill. Then, after the bill was introduced, Agrium’s public relations shop put the spin on: “We’re still looking at the bill,” they said, apparently trying to decide if they like the bill they helped craft. In 2013, Agrium netted over $1 billion in profits. As Alaska grapples with historic deficits that threaten our families and our communities, it’s time our leadership embraced the concept of free markets that don’t give handouts to well-heeled foreign corporations.