Among Sean Parnell’s various bad decisions as Alaska’s Governor—made with the Republican-led legislature—was building ferries outside the competitive bidding system used normally to fund federal transportation projects. For ferries Tazlina and Hubbard, the state paid essentially 100% of the construction cost, instead of an affordable 10%. It turns out that Alaska never could afford such rogue fiscal policy.
While sailing the good ship AMHS away from the mooring of entrepreneurial, bid-based contracting, Parnell and his…