Why is Sarah Palin popular in Alaska? Easy: as Governor, she gets to play Santa Claus with Alaska's gushing oil revenues.

Over the opposition of oil companies, Republican Gov. Sarah Palin and Alaska's Legislature last year approved a major increase in taxes on the oil industry — a step that has generated stunning new wealth for the state as oil prices soared...

Alaska collected an estimated $6 billion from the new tax during the fiscal year that ended June 30, according to the Alaska Oil and Gas Association. That helped push the state's total oil revenue — from new and existing taxes, as well as royalties — to more than $10 billion, double the amount received last year...

Palin's administration last week gained legislative approval for a special $1,200 payment to every Alaskan to help cope with gas prices, which are among the highest in the country.

That check will come on top of the annual dividend of about $2,000 that each resident could receive this year from an oil-wealth savings account.

So every Alaskan man, woman, and child gets $3,200 from the oil companies. (Did that factor into Sarah's and Bristol's pregnancy decisions? Are they pro-life or pro-cash?)

Why can't every American? Because John McCain and the Republican Party oppose a national oil windfall profits tax.