http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/ha-sarah-palins-neighbors-sought-out"A woman was renting her house and sought out the author because the Palins had crossed her (owed her money for renovations she had done at their request and never paid her for). So she knew McGinniss was writing the book and found him and offered him the house."
The Palins apparently tried renting the place all winter to head off any Liberals. Not only did her neighbor refuse, she called up McGinniss and was like, "Hey, got this awesome house right across from Sarah Palin. Want?" There's no purer form of small-town drama than the stiffed contractor out for non-monetary revenge. Unlike those in New York or LA, where the elitists settle their labor disputes with fancy lawyers, small-town builders have the means to hit back in way more satisfying ways. (Momof3wildkids points out that the email may actually be saying that Palin asked her neighbor to fix up her own house, promised to pay for it, then stiffed her in the end. Nervy!)
Palin's rise was based on a creation myth that had her springing from a fantasy Real America that loves guns and embryos and hates immigrants and socialists. But the Real America Palin really inhabits just wants her to stop acting like a diva and to cough up the 1500 bucks or whatever she owes them for building her deck. Do not cross your people, Sarah Palin! Your speaking career and presidential prospects don't stand a chance against their hard-won sense of frontier justice. Installing a sworn enemy in your own backyard is just the beginning. They will destroy you.
Alaska Permanent Fund
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Permanent_FundThe Alaska Permanent Fund is a constitutionally established permanent fund, managed by a semi-independent corporation, established by Alaska in 1976, primarily by the efforts of then Governor Jay Hammond. Shortly after the oil from Alaska’s North Slope began flowing to market through the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, the Permanent Fund was created by an amendment to the Alaska Constitution to be an investment for at least 25% of proceeds from some mineral (such as oil and gas) sales or royalties. The Fund does not include either property taxes on oil company property nor income tax from oil corporations, so the minimum 25% deposit is closer to 11% if those sources were also considered. The Alaska Permanent Fund sets aside a certain share of oil revenues to continue benefiting current and all future generations of Alaskans. Many citizens
also believed that the legislature too quickly and too inefficiently spent the $900 million bonus the state got in 1969 after leasing out the oil fields. This belief spurred a desire to put some oil revenues out of direct political control.
The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation manages the assets of both the Permanent Fund and other state investments, but spending Fund income is up to the Legislature. The Corporation is to manage for maximum prudent return, and not—as some Alaskans at first wanted—as a development bank for in-state projects. The Fund grew from an initial investment of $734,000 in 1977 to approximately $28 billion as of March 2008. Some growth was due to good management, some to inflationary re-investment, and some via legislative decisions to deposit extra income during boom years. Each year, the fund's realized earnings are split between inflation-proofing, operating expenses, and the annual Permanent Fund Dividend.