Crum's claims on oil tax audits don't add up

Adam Crum, who has been running for governor for months as a state employee, claims he understands the “function of government, the function of the Legislature, the important things to the private sector, so I'll have a functioning government up and running faster than anybody else.”

But he doesn’t seen to understand one of the core functions of the state Department of Revenue, where he was commissioner until last week.

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Dermot Cole Comments
State defends $300,000 no-bid contract with Dunleavy friend named to judicial council

“Mr. Wood’s contracts with the state do not render him ineligible for appointment any more than other members of the Alaska Judicial Council with contracts under which they are entitled to payment by the state,” wrote attorneys Claire Keneally and Robert Kutchin on Taylor’s behalf.

This legal reasoning would not be out of place in the third grade, where a child breaking the rules defends himself by claiming that the other kid broke the rules and got away with it.

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Dunleavy demands automatic approval of resource permits if state misses deadline

Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who has excelled in making state government less efficient, has ordered state agencies to declare that natural resource permit applications should be approved automatically if the state misses a deadline to take action.

The oil companies, the mining companies and the cruise ship companies will be happy to hear of Dunleavy’s carte blanche initiative.

It’s the latest terrible idea from Dunleavy, contained in an administrative order that is even worse.

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