What is going on in our country? It seems that almost every day I open the paper to another shooting or assault. APD stats report a rise in violent crime in 2012. I shudder to see what the 2013 figures will be.
We have a mayor who wants to cut property taxes and provide indoor tennis courts for his rich friends while raising bus fares on the poor and instituting a sales tax.
Our governor refuses to accept free federal money to expand Medicaid to the 40,000 Alaskans who would qualify and need it.
Republicans in Congress want to cut food stamps, Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, while giving additional tax breaks to their rich donors. Since the so-called national recovery began in 2009, the average worker has a net loss income while the income of the 1 percent has risen substantially. We now have the highest income inequality ever.
The government shutdown shows the extreme division that exists in our society. There is something very wrong and scary with this picture.
— Jamelia Saied
Anchorage