Oil Tax

Governor Murkowski signs the new oil tax bill.

Hollis French questions the timing:

On Saturday, French accused the governor of playing politics with the tax bill by calling a press conference to sign it three days before Tuesday's Republican primary election.

"The governor was trying to kind of throw a 'Hail Mary' pass here, trying to generate some enthusiasm prior to Tuesday," said French, who attended the bill-signing at Murkowski's Anchorage office. "More like a fumble to me."

My particularly favorite part of the whole thing is that this a tax rate that Murkowski clearly didn't want, as he made clear on number of occasions during the process. And now he signs a 41-page bill (remember, his initial proposal was only about 14-pages long), with a higher tax rate, and takes all the credit for being the oil tax visionary.

Yes, I'd say French's charge sticks.