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The Oscars and the oil tax dramas
This is a time when pop culture weaves intriguingly with the current legislative culture. So, for a columnist, this weekend provides endless possibilities as the warp of the Oscars weaves with the woof of the legislative oil tax debates.
Not wanting to ignore warp and woof possibilities, I offer here my observations on 1) movies; and 2) the drama, themes and sound of the epic Alaska oil tax legislative productions.
Best Actor
The nominees by the Academy include: Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote), Terrence Howard (Hustle and  Flow), Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain), Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line), and David Strathhairn (Good Night, and Good Luck).
The nominees for best actor in the oil tax dramas are: Gov. Frank Murkowski, Senate Resources Chair Tom Wagoner, international oil tax expert Pedro Van Meurs, and the ensemble cast of oil company executives.
My movie pick is Joaquin Phoenix for his portrayal of Johnny Cash in Walk the Line and my tax drama pick is Gov. Murkowski.
The governor gave a very realistic performance that made it look like he walks the oil company line. He planned to announce on Thursday an oil tax rate of 25 percent on net profits but pushed back its debut to Alaskans and the legislature to the next Tuesday so he could meet privately with oil company executives who jetted in from outside Alaska for a private screening. After the screening, he gave Alaskans and the legislature a plan that reduced the proposed tax burden for the oil industry by at least $300 million a year if oil is $40 a barrel. The oil companies save even more if oil prices stay near current levels. While it was tough to compete with the governor in this category, Sen. Wagoner is giving a solid, level-headed performance in his leading legislative role.
Best Actress
The nominees by the Academy include: Judi Dench (Mrs. Henderson Presents), Felicity Huffman (Transamerica), Keira Knightley (Pride and Prejudice), Charlize Theron (North Country), and Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line).
The nominees for best actress in the oil tax dramas are: Director of the Tax Division for the Department of Revenue Robynn Wilson, Conoco Chief Economist Marianne Kah, and Oil and Gas Legislative Consultant Bonnie Robson.
Charlize Theron ought to win for North Country. Ms. Theron was transcendent in her role as the forceful woman who faced down a huge resource industry with economic gravitas in the frozen north country of Minnesota. Bonnie Robson wins this category in the oil tax category for her performance as a counterbalance to the huge resource industry with economic gravitas in our frozen north country--the North Slope.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
The nominees by the Academy include: George Clooney (Syriana), Matt Dillon (Crash) Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man), Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain), and William Hurt (A History of Violence).
The nominees in the oil tax dramas are: Sen. Gene Therriault, Rep. Ralph Samuels, Rep. Les Gara, and Sen. Hollis French.
Matt Dillon should win for his portrayal of the power of redemption in a movie filled with fine actors and actresses. Therriault and Samuels prepped for their roles thoughtfully and carefully as chairs of Legislative Budget and Audit, the joint committee that brought to the legislative oil tax debate great independent analysis. Great method acting that led to solid performances. But Les Gara and Hollis French eke out a shared award for their passion and commitment in roles--talking about oil taxes when nobody else would.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
The nominees by the Academy include: Amy Adams (Junebug), Catherine Keener (Capote), Frances  McDormand (North Country). Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener), and Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain).
The nominees in the oil tax dramas are: former Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources Marty Rutherford and Rep. Beth Kerttula.
Rachel Weisz was the fulcrum upon which basic good battled with political expediency and ought to be the clear winner in the movie category. Beth Kerttula brings to the oil tax drama all of her history as a former Department of Law attorney familiar with oil tax issues and her prep role a few years back in the legislative debate over oil company mergers and resultant consolidation of major players on Alaska's North Slope. Kerttula's stellar and intelligent performance, however, should not overshadow Rutherford's timing, stagecraft and dramatic performance when the former deputy commissioner at DNR walked away from her policy job because of disagreements with the direction the governor was going on oil and gas issues. She brought special grace and dignity to the role.
Best Achievement in Sound Editing
The nominees by the Academy include Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn (King Kong), Wylie Stateman (Memoirs of a Geisha), and Richard King (War of the Worlds).
The nominees in the oil tax dramas are: Gov. Frank Murkowski and oil tax executives.
Richard King kept tension high in War of the Worlds and should win this category on the movie side. Gov. Murkowski wins, hands down, on the oil tax drama side. Especially compelling was the crescendo of sound when he fired DNR Commissioner Tom Irwin and that precipitated the noisy departure of other top DNR policy makers who followed Irwin out the door. The oil executive performances were too typical, too cliché-ish, and too formulaic to merit consideration this year.
Best Adapted Screenplay
The nominees by the Academy include Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana (Brokeback Mountain), Dan Futterman (Capote), Jeffrey Caine (The Constant Gardener), Josh Olson (A History of Violence), and Tony Kushner and Eric Roth (Munich).
The nominees in the oil tax drama category are: the governor's chief negotiator Jim Clark, Gov. Frank Murkowski, and the executives of Exxon, BP and Conoco.
McMurtry and Ossana should win hands down in the movie category. They produced a provocative script that spurred discussion of an important issue in the nation's culture wars. On the oil tax drama side, the oil company executives win hands down with their rewrite skills. They were given one script and quickly churned out another after meetings with the governor. Their work has the makings of a blockbuster--for them.
Best Achievement in Directing
The nominees by the Academy include: Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain), Bennett Miller (Capote), Paul Haggis (Crash), George Clooney (Good Night, and Good Luck),  and Steven Spielberg (Munich).
The nominees in the oil tax dramas are: former Department of Revenue policy maker and now contract employee with the governor's office Dan Dickenson, Department of Revenue Commissioner Bill Corbus, and oil company executives.
Well, my sentimental favorite is George Clooney in the movie category. Good Night, and Good Luck was deftly directed by Clooney and the audience was rewarded with a morality tale from the '50s that has lessons for today. Unfortunately, on the oil tax drama side, this award goes to that ensemble group that has already won the Best Adapted Screenplay Award. Oil company executives helped direct a production uses deftly applied soft focus to gloss over lessons from the past--the separate accounting debates in the '70s and '80s, and the 1989 ELF oil tax revisions.
Best Foreign Language Film
The nominees by the Academy include: an Italian flick Don't Tell, the French film Joyeux Noel, Paradise Now from Palestine, the German entry Sophie Scholl--The Final Days, and Tstosi from South Africa.
The nominees in the oil tax dramas are: the Dutch oil tax expert Pedro Van Meurs who didn't let English as a second language get in the way of telling the legislature "wealth is slipping through Alaska's hands", some oil company executives for doing something completely foreign for them and signing off on even a small tax hike (a hike, though, that left a lot on the cutting room floor after a weekend with the governor), and the majority of Republicans in the legislature who consistently said "no habla" to oil tax proposals by Democrats until Pedro and the governor agreed with the Dems that something had to be done.
I don't have a clue who wins in the movie category so I'm going with Paradise Now because that title encapsulates the dream many legislators share when it comes to increased oil taxes. But the clear winner in the oil tax drama column are quite a few of the Republicans who, in a significant break-through role, now habla oil taxes after years of ignoring Democrats on the issue.
Phone: (907) 465-4947
Fax: (907) 465-2108
Mail: Sen. Kim Elton, State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801
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Capitol Undercurrents
 They're back--There's a governor's race brewing so one of the most highly caffeinated and partisan special interest groups in the nation is beginning to perk--again--right here in Alaska. Americans for Job Security--a very conservative outside group that has never revealed who its corporate sponsors are or where their money comes from has already started planning ad buys for the fall.
 Above self--Maryland State Senator John Giannetti was waiting for his penne pasta at an Italian restaurant, reports the Associated Press, when he saw a man choking. He ran over and performed the Heimlich maneuver and out popped a chunk of seafood from the endangered man's mouth. The choking man was Jim Rosapepe and is Gianetti's Democratic primary opponent. "It was one of those really weird, cosmic things," said the incumbent. The primary race, by the way, is still on.
Wisdom for the ages--"At 95, who needs term limits?" So said Texas congressional candidate and nonagenarian Sid Smith to the Associated Press.
 Really?--A representative of one of Alaska's major players in oil and gas fields testified to the House and Senate Resources Committee on the governor's proposal to increase oil and gas taxes. One of his points--"In business, we have something called 'earnings', and that's very important to us."
An activist judge?--A circuit court judge in Maryland recently ruled that mooning, while distasteful, is not illegal. So notes the monthly magazine State Legislatures. The core of his finding was that the buttocks are not "privates." The judge did suggest that if the man had been on trial for being a jerk he might have found him guilty. The defendant's attorney said the ruling "should bring comfort to all beachgoers and plumbers in Maryland."
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