With one stroke of his pen on Monday, President George Bush more than likely struck Chinese energy giant Sinopec from the guest book for AGIA bidders.

On November 30, Sinopec was one of four bidders who submitted  proposals to compete for the right to be awarded the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act license. Immediately following the announcement of Sinopec as an AGIA bidder, anti genocide groups voiced concerns and encouraged Governor Palin to drop the application due to Sinopec's close ties with the murderous regime in Sudan. 

In this morning's letters to the editor in the Anchorage Daily News, a local resident proposes spending the state's projected oil revenue surplus on a natural gas pipeline with the idea that it would lower monthly fuel bills.

Looking ahead to 2008 brings hope, opportunity and the realization that we have a lot of work to do in many areas to strengthen Alaska's economic well being. Economic development, health care, education, long range fiscal planning, public safety and affordable energy lead the list.

One of the years most glaring deficiencies in state government was absence of any leadership vision for Alaska. It seemed almost like watching a group of five year olds play soccer where every player had their head down, huddled in a group while kicking the ball between themselves. 

At the end of every year we're deluged with lists. Not the just the naughty and nice, but lists that rank everything from the best tech gadgets to the worst celebrity comebacks.

So in the spirit of the season, I give you the year's top five best and worst political moves, strictly for your entertainment.

On the final day of 2007 we take time to do a little reflection on the progress of Alaska's state government during the last year.

After the last 365 days, one could reasonably say that we've been forced to enjoy the sizzle instead of the steak. While many Alaskans remain content, for those who pay attention to the dramatic impacts that government has on the economy, the sizzle has been hard to understand. 

In 2007, there we're plenty of @$&*# moments in Alaska politics.

With a glass raised to toast the New Year, we take a look back at a few examples that validate the old Groucho Marx quip, "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies." Cheers!