Dividends don’t grow on trees

When I was seven, I read a book titled: The little red hen. The Little Red Hen found four stocks of wheat her farmer had dropped. The Little Red Hen thought to herself, “if I plant the grain from these stocks of wheat, the seeds will grow enough grain to make a loaf of bread.”

One at a time, the Little Red Hen asked the pig, the cat, and the duck, if they would help her plant the wheat so she could make some bread. One by one the pig, the cat, and the duck, all refused to help plant the grain. When ask to help harvest the grain, they all said no, no, no! They refused to grind the wheat into flower and they refused to help make the bread.

The Little Red Hen did everything herself. But when the smell of fresh baked bread came wafting through the barnyard, they all came running to help eat the bread. The Little Red Hen said no, no, no, I’m going to eat it myself.

I’m reminded of this story every time I hear that whining sound, “Where’s my PFD?” And where is that whining sound the loudest? Mat-Su and Eagle River; where voters have for decades, elected Senators and Representatives who absolutely refuse to vote to tax for the extraction of the oil we all own.