Letters to the Editor

Readers write: Letters to the editor, July 12, 2017

Educate voters on the truth

The public has heard from various politicians that our oil tax and credit system is generous relative to other authorities managing their oil wealth. We repeatedly hear from the Alaska Oil and Gas Association that "without some mechanism to allow recovery of their losses, Alaska's oil industry won't be competitive with other places." The inference is that the oil companies will take their investment elsewhere and further tank Alaska's economy.

It would be a great service to our critical political debate if Alaska Dispatch News would research this issue and educate voters on the truth of how our tax, credit and regulatory framework compares so that we can make a judgement and offer an informed opinion to our legislators re: whether we are being smart and competitive or being had.

— William Dann
Anchorage

Innovate for our future

Thank you to Judy Weiss for her letter to the editor (July 10) about the ADN's recent Local Kid Makes Good story. U.S. Department of Energy innovation programs funding was a bridge for the creative genius of Cordovan Alex Hagmuller. His wave energy device is just the kind of answer that many of Alaska's small coastal communities need for generating low-cost renewable electricity.

Fortunately, we've had a consistent supporter of cutting-edge energy research funding in Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Now, she and Sen. Maria Cantwell from Washington have introduced their highly acclaimed, bipartisan energy bill. This long-overdue bill addresses a wide range of energy fields, including "marine hydrokinetic" energy research and development: precisely the kind of support that is needed for successes such as Mr. Hagmuller's.

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It's time for Congress to quit flogging health care repeal and move an across-the-aisle endeavor to modernize American energy policy.

— George Donart
Anchorage

Give us jobs, education, health care — not corporate welfare

We, as Alaskans and Americans, must love our neighbors as we love ourselves. There is no power more important than kindness. Look into your heart and do what's right. We are a good people and now we are called to show our goodness. To rise to the challenge of kindness, compassion and goodness, we must pass the people's budget. To do what's right takes courage and determination. And we can do it.

While some members of Congress are competing to see who can make the deepest cuts, there is a budget proposal before Congress that would boost the economy for all of us while cutting the number of people in poverty in half. It's the people's budget, proposed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus. The people's budget invests in safe and productive infrastructure, education, affordable housing, health care and nutrition, child care and working-family tax credits. It calls for increasing the minimum wage.

These investments will create 3.6 million new jobs, and set us on a path to cut poverty in half in 10 years. The people's budget invests $2 trillion in infrastructure spending, expanding rural broadband, universal pre-K and free college tuition at state and community colleges.

Every year without fail our elected representatives give over half of the discretionary budget to the Pentagon, leaving less than half to be divided up to fund education, health care, environmental spending, infrastructure and everything else. We can do so much better.

Please contact your congressperson and tell them that you believe in the people's budget and want to see it passed. We can do this and make it happen. Where there is a will, there is a way. And where there is kindness, there is hope. Let us help make America a better country.

— James Apone
Anchorage

An unhappy reader writes

I waited until the last minute before I renewed our Alaska Dispatch News subscription the last time renewal came up. Right after we renewed, you announced that the TV Guide section would no longer be put into the Sunday paper. Then there was not one word put into the paper on July 2 about the 400-mile NASCAR race run on July 1. I thought that it possibly finished too late and it would be in the Monday paper. Again, not one word. The first thing that I read in the paper is the sports section, which is now a joke (three or four pages). I hope you enjoy the money you got from me awhile back, because as far as I am concerned right now you will not get any more of my money in the future.

— Gary Smith
Anchorage

Medicaid essential for family

I would like to thank Sen. Lisa Murkowski for opposing the current health care bill. We have two children ages 6 and 4 who have Pompe disease (a rare degenerative muscle disease). My 4-year-old currently receives an infusion of the enzyme that he lacks every two weeks and will need to continue this for the rest of his life. If he wasn't able to receive this infusion, he would waste away and die within a few years. His treatment, due to its rarity, is very expensive. The hospital bill alone is $40,000 per month and the medication is $360,000 per year. (I am told this is its cost; we don't receive a bill for this.)

My husband is a teacher at Aquarian Charter School and I am a stay-at-home mom. We live modestly and there is no way that we could continue our son's treatment without the TEFRA Medicaid we currently qualify for. Our 6-year-old also has the same condition but fortunately does not exhibit any symptoms and does not need treatment at this time.

I just wanted to share how important the current Medicaid system is to our family and Alaska.

— Kellie Adolfae
Anchorage

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Cut sports, not academics

The University of Alaska's operating budget talks of cutting classes at UAA,while saying nothing about reducing/eliminating its sports programs.

Slashing academics while funding athletics is just absurd and shows the incompetence of the board of regents. The millions UAA spends on athletics (a $10.36 million budget last year) should instead go to keeping open the classes to be eliminated. The rise of competitive sports parallels the decline of society.

The budget also calls for UAA to add a vice provost for student success (with its accompanying infrastructure) to an already bloated administration. Really? What's next, a vice provost for student self-esteem? The university needs less administration (a lot less!), not more.

With the university cutting academics to the bone while funding athletics and a sprawling bureaucracy, it is easy to see why its enrollment is dropping. The U of A doesn't need to aggressively market and advertise — it needs to get its priorities straight. The university president and board of regents are presiding over the liquidation of the University of Alaska. And they have no one but themselves to blame for it.

— Thomas Harrison Morse
UAA faculty
Anchorage

Get to work, legislators

To members of the House and Senate:

It is past time to earn your bloated wages by doing your job. Now!
Accept Gov. Walker's budget compromise for the good of Alaska and all Alaskans.

With the click of a button, we will see how to vote when we see how you voted.

— Theresa Gucker
Anchorage

Cradle of civilization

In his letter to the editor "It's always about color" (July 11), Philip Labay Mikes writes that Europeans admit "Africa is the cradle of civilization." This is not correct.

The cradle of civilization is an area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in modern-day Iraq, part of the ancient Fertile Crescent of the Middle East.

— Rudy J. Budesky
Anchorage

The views expressed here are the writers' own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a letter under 200 words for consideration, email letters@alaskadispatch.com, or click here to submit via any web browser. Submitting a letter to the editor constitutes granting permission for it to be edited for clarity, accuracy and brevity. Send longer works of opinion to commentary@alaskadispatch.com.

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