Letters to the Editor

Letter: Anti-oil tax campaign backfired

Thank you Art Hackney!

Between his bombastic op-eds and his $20,000 "private" campaign to interfere with the signature-gathering process, Art Hackney's attempts to derail a public discussion about oil taxes have backfired beautifully.

Alaska newspapers first published Hackney's essay branding signature volunteers as traitors two weeks ago. Since then, the repeal movement has gone from worrying that it might not reach the minimum requirement of 35,000 signatures to turning in more than 50,000 signatures to the Division of Elections on Sunday.

Alaskans like a good debate. Hackney's heavy-handed efforts to silence criticism have actually helped put the oil tax repeal on the ballot. Now the only question is which consultant the oil companies plan to hire to run their expensive anti-repeal campaign.

— Harvey Tanttila

Wasilla

ADVERTISEMENT