Will elected officials say ‘no’ to anything?

If they won’t say no to this, what will they say no to? That’s why the Great Alaska Shootout taxpayer-funded airline ticket giveaway scandal is a really big deal.

If you haven’t heard, our governor and legislators signed off on a plan to spend $400,000 of taxpayer money to subsidize cheap airfare from any of 18 Alaska cities or villages to Anchorage. Travelers will pay $230 to fly and will need to travel between Nov. 16 and 28.

Why is the state offering such a generous deal to as many as 1,200 Alaskans? The hope is those traveling to Anchorage will attend the Great Alaska Shootout tournament. That’s the hope.

The problem is attendance at the once popular tournament has been dismal the past couple of years. Even though it’s held in the most populated region in the state.

I guess folks are having a hard time getting excited about seeing teams like UC Riverside play Central Michigan in a preseason basketball tournament. I think Central Michigan is a welding school, but I might be wrong about that.

The notion that flying 1,200 extra bodies in at taxpayer expense will result in those folks attending a tournament that the vast majority of the 270,000 living in Anchorage choose to ignore is pure insanity and elevates the concept of government waste to new heights.

Our state’s elected leaders are taking a stand with this scandal. They are making it crystal clear that when the question is “can we have state dollars?” the answer will always be “yes.” Because saying yes to this scheme proves they believe there is nothing too trivial, wasteful or just plain silly to spend taxpayer money on.

This should serve as a wake-up call for us all. It should be a canary in the coalmine moment. We are suffering from a considerable courage deficit.

Remember, it is in the politician’s best interest to say “yes.” It’s the easy thing to do.

Saying “no” takes courage. Saying “no” could lead to losing support, financial or otherwise.

You may wonder, who cares if our state leaders spend taxpayer money like drunken sailors? It’s just the rich, evil oil companies’ money. That argument is part of the problem. The misunderstanding is that just because oil companies pay our bills we can spend, spend, spend!

This frenzy of spending has gotten us into the mess we are in today, bringing on some of highest oil taxes on the globe. Our tax structure (ACES) is forcing oil companies to hold onto their money we are so quick to waste.

Our out-of-control spending and job-killing taxes are working hand in hand to drive away investment. If we don’t fix this, it is guaranteed to lead to the premature closing of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline.

I believe one of the main reasons our state Senate blocked tax reform this year is to feed its wasteful spending addiction. The extra $2 billion a year ACES brings in allows legislators to say “yes” to more people.

I believe they believe they have to keep saying “yes” to keep their power, but that lack of courage and self-serving ambition is prohibiting the oil industry from producing more oil for the pipeline.

How big of a deal is this? If our spending addiction keeps ACES on the books, and that leads to the premature shutting down of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, that will take offshore drilling and ANWR off the table for good. That’s how much is at stake here. We have to get this right.

Keep in mind ACES has been on the books for six years now. Don’t think for a second it’s a given this destructive tax policy will just go away.

I don’t like to speculate on motives, and I may be wrong about why our leaders are wasting so much money, because you can never see inside the human heart. In fact, I hope I am wrong.

The upside to all of this is there is nothing more contagious than courage. See Chris Christy and Scott Walker. All we need is a small group of leaders to take a courageous stand and say “no.” That small group can lead us out of where we are today.

I believe they will rise up and we will fix this. But we’d better get started, because the dipstick to our pipeline is getting very low.

Dan Fagan is host of the “The Dan Fagan Show,” which is televised statewide, 6 to 9 a.m. weekdays on Fox-4 KTBY, and is video-streamed globally on The Dan Fagan Show Facebook page. Contact him at faganreport@me.com.