Raise the minimum wage
As a retired Alaskan senior, it hurts to see how hard-working folks who have entered the labor force in the last 20 years have to struggle to make ends meet. I was lucky to begin and end my career before corporations, and our elected representatives who hand out corporate welfare, chipped away at the middle class during the last couple of decades. Today a full-time minimum wage worker in Alaska makes $310 a week. This does not even come close to enough to support a family faced with the high costs of housing, food and energy in Alaska.
A primary reason I'm supporting Mark Begich in the upcoming election is his support for a significant increase in the minimum wage. Mark co-sponsored the Minimum Wage Fairness Act, which would raise worker pay to $10.10 an hour by 2016, as well as increase the income of tipped workers, while rejecting any pay raises for himself and members of Congress. This legislation would be a small step in helping those who try to support a family while working one or more jobs for minimum wage. It would lift 5,000 Alaska workers out of poverty, and increase the wages of 49,000 Alaskans working minimum wage jobs.
Dan Sullivan has said many times that raising the minimum wage is not the answer. He is correct, it is only a small part of fixing the problem of income inequality in our country.
Mr. Sullivan comes from a multi-millionaire family in Ohio, and won't even be honest about how long he has lived here. Needless to say, we can't trust him on policies that matter to working Alaskans.
-- Van Waggoner
Juneau
Is this another reckless war?
Do not rush into another reckless war.
1. The Mideast sectarian conflict has been going on for at least 1,000 years. This is part of the culture: This is what they do. War will not change, only exacerbate the conflict. The U.S. invasion of Iraq cost $2 trillion; more than
4,000 American lives were lost; more than 35,000 casualties were incurred. It did not work, but only gave rise and credibility to another fringe group: ISIS, (after al-Qaida).
2. The Chinese are benefiting from Iraq's restored oil industry that has become one of the world's top producers. Let the Chinese handle the conflict.
3. If you really want to do something about the Middle East conflict, institute Madrasas: schools that teach democratic values and negotiation skills to the children. That's the only way to change Mideastern culture. If Bush did this 10 years ago, we would be well on our way to an Iraq-led political solution.
-- Mary Turner
Anchorage
Alaska bar failing the public
Shannyn Moore described the conduct of Pebble attorney Michael Singer, who knowingly paid $50,000 to a disgruntled former anti-Pebble Mine consultant for confidential documents, in her column Sunday. The documents, whose disclosure was found to be illegal by a California court, were used by Singer and his law firm to attack Pebble Mine opponents. Moore then contacted the Alaska Bar Association "to see if it was OK with Singer's conduct." She was told that she could personally file a bar complaint which, in this case, would require an arduous research project involving court decisions and actions by the Alaska Public Offices Commission. She later discovered that Singer sits on the ABA's Discipline Committee that is involved in reviewing bar complaints.
The ABA, under its rules, can't tell anyone if a complaint has been filed against a particular attorney. It can, on its own, initiate a complaint, but I wouldn't bet on that here. So unless someone wants to gather enough evidence to prove that Singer's conduct was unethical by clear and convincing evidence, the preposterous standard of proof that must be met before the ABA even initiates an investigation, it is likely that Singer will never be held accountable for his alleged misconduct.
This is but one example of how the Alaska Bar Association fails in its duty to protect the public by policing its own.
-- Brant McGee
Member of the Alaska Bar Association
Anchorage
Gateway drug analogy wrong
Jose Palanco (Letters, Tuesday) has a rather simplistic view of addiction. I don't hear much about how junkies got started. If it is his assertion that pot causes heroin addiction, does it follow that with no pot there would be no addicts? Junkies I've known (five or six) have all smoked cigarettes. Maybe it's tobacco. Or coffee. Or sugar, which has much more in common with heroin than pot does.
The "pot is a gateway drug" has long ago been put to rest. Quit dragging that tired old dogma around. Educate yourself, people. Please.
-- Theron McGrew
Anchorage
Approval sends a message
This is the message teens are getting as states legalize marijuana: It's legal, it's safe, let's give it a try!
Those pushing legalization will continue to argue that marijuana is not as harmful as alcohol. Those fighting against Ballot Measure 2 will cite recent studies showing brain damage occurring in adolescents who use marijuana on a regular basis. (New England Journal of Medicine, June 4, 2014.)
Regardless of arguments for and against, teens are concluding that legal means safe.
In states that have legalized medical and recreational marijuana, teen use has increased. In Seattle's Eckstein Middle School, eighth graders who said they had used pot the previous month more than doubled from 4 percent to 10 percent. Now marijuana is the controlled substance found most often among Eckstein Middle School students. At nearby Roosevelt High School, pot use rose from 18 percent to 27 percent for 10th graders surveyed (Alaska Dispatch, Sept. 4).
What message will we Alaskans send our teens in November? For our kids' sake, I urge you to vote no on Ballot Measure 2.
-- Alyce Hanley
Former Anchorage School Board member
Anchorage
Candidates ignore ADA laws
I am so very tired of politicians claiming "All I've done for Alaskans." Sen. Mark Begich and Dan Sullivan have both sat in the mayor's office while receiving directives from the U.S. government regarding Americans with Disabilities Access guidelines. Neither of these gentlemen has accepted calls from me. I have sat through three of Begich's town hall meetings, not being allowed to speak. Once he was even told he had no other calls in the queue. So voters, remember that these people ignored directives to help the most vulnerable -- handicapped. There have been laws on the books since 1991 and yet we still issue building permits that do not meet federal law. There are no grandfather clauses; all business owners must come in compliance.
For all you handicapped citizens who are tired of ice, snow, and gravel in parking spots, these laws are supposed to be enforced by the U.S. Department of Justice.
-- Ramona Snyder
Anchorage
No kisses from BP, Parnell
When I heard the news that BP is laying off a significant portion of its Alaska workforce, a decision that had to have been in the works prior to the vote on SB 21, along with the governor's shock upon hearing the news, it occurred to me that neither Sean Parnell nor BP kissed me first.
-- Jim O'Toole
Anchorage
Is Big Pot around the corner?
Really. The best pros on the marijuana issue so far have been Bumpo from Homer and Ms. Patkotak's among many. The cons … well. My thoughts have always been that pot would never be legal as long as the big pharmaceutical companies didn't have a profit angle. But now big companies are being created just for this industry. I have mixed feelings about big business (however, I really would like a new job). As to children getting into edibles, what if they down a pint of vodka?
-- Melissa Hart
Anchorage
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