Guest Editorial: Governor's sales tax doesn't make sense

Alaska is 30 years into state budget deficits, borrowing billions from savings to pay the bills.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy is five years into the job, still pledging mega Permanent Fund dividends even if the money isn’t there.

Three months ago, Dunleavy in his State of the State address couldn’t even manage to acknowledge the need for a long-term fiscal plan, despite the budget math that adds up otherwise.

Then the governor had an epiphany last week. Not a religious one, a fiscal one.

He said the word “taxes.”

Only he didn’t say it in public. That would have been a bridge much too far for Dunleavy, w...