Letters to the Editor

Readers write: Letters to the editor, May 22, 2015

It’s not only about the fortunate few

So according to Sen. Kevin Meyer (ADN, May 19) the blockade to a balanced budget is all the fault of the Democrats in our state Legislature. Seems to me the Democrats are holding out trying to get some help for the working class.

The expansion of Medicaid would help 40,000 Alaskans with no insurance and on the low end of the income scale. But then, they probably don't live on the Hillside where those residents are represented by Mr. Meyer.

Meyer also manages to get a slap into his commentary about union workers; not too many of them reside on the Hillside either.

Our children need educating because they are the future of our state and the people with no health coverage need Medicaid expansion — it's about all of Alaska's residents, not just the fortunate few.

— Carol J. Fuller

Anchorage

Consider going veggie on the grill

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What ever happened to the good old days when the worst things we had to fear on Memorial Day were traffic jams and indigestion?

This year, it's all about food poisoning by the nasty E. coli, salmonella, and listeria bugs lurking in hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken nuggets at millions of backyard barbecues. The U.S. Meat and Poultry Hotline's advice is to grill meat and chicken products longer and hotter. They fail to caution that high-temperature grilling forms lots of cancer-causing compounds. Do we really need to choose between food poisoning and cancer?

Luckily, enterprising food manufacturers and processors have met this challenge head-on by developing a great variety of healthful, delicious, convenient plant-based veggie burgers, veggie dogs, and soy nuggets. These wholesome foods don't harbor nasty bugs or cancer-causing compounds. They don't even carry cholesterol, saturated fats, drugs or pesticides. And, they are right there, in the frozen food section of our supermarket.

This Memorial Day, let's stay safe on the roads and safe at the family barbecue.

— Alexander Durbin

Anchorage

Avoid education cuts at all costs

I am surprised by our state's government, namely the legislators. The people of Alaska spoke when we voted for Gov. Walker. The vast majority of Alaskans want Medicaid expansion but still the legislators deny the will of that majority. Then the legislators' great money-saving device is to drain our public school system of funding. How shortsighted, unless of course you're part of last year's failed attempt to introduce school vouchers. What could make vouchers more appealing than the failure of the public school system?

My note to the Republican majority: listen to the public majority. Expand Medicaid. Fully fund our schools and rework the now obviously failed oil tax. Hell! If you have to, introduce a state income tax. Don't sacrifice the education of the children who will determine Alaska's future.

— Timothy Sell

Anchorage

Zealots have hold on state Legislature

If Alaskans are confused about the actions of the legislative majority it may help them if they understand that the "libertarian" arm of the Alaska Republican Party is firmly in control of the Alaska Legislature. The leaders are not focused on Alaska's future. They are responding to a higher calling. Theirs is a crusade. The mission is to roll back the role of government. They are crusaders. They will use any and all tactics to achieve their ends.

They are aided and abetted by the moderate members of the majority who have chosen to sit on their hands in silence like dutiful children. Speak only when spoken to is the cardinal rule. Take orders, respond appropriately, and do not challenge the leadership. The stranglehold on the Alaska legislative process would dissolve if the moderate members of the majority left and formed their own caucus. With three caucuses no ideology would be able to prevail. Legislators could vote their consciences again. Negotiation and cooperation would once again be prime tools in forging Alaska's future.

Let's hope that those members of the majority who have been silenced by the libertarians decide that we should let representative democracy be our approach to dealing with the difficulties we face. If nothing happens a small radicalized group of zealots will continue to run this state.

— Brett Delana

Anchorage

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Flip-flopping candidates still the norm

After 12 years of serious contemplation, Jeb Bush decided he supported the war in Iraq, which resulted in around 4,500 deaths of young Americans, and with the Islamic State ruling a good portion of that country. Then after one week of serious contemplation he decided he was against that war, as his Republican competitors began criticizing him.

Before being too critical of Gov. Bush, please remember that Sen. Hillary Clinton, who is opposed to that war, voted for it — as did Sen. John Kerry. I also noticed that Clinton was opposed to gay marriage when it was unpopular but is now for it when it is no longer unpopular.

I have also noted how quickly Sen. Rand Paul backed off his foreign policy, which would not go over well in Republican debates. I also noticed that it did not take Sen. Marco Rubio very long to back off his position on immigration which was also not going to go over well in Republican debates.

One might wish that after all the flip-flops of President Obama, Gov. Romney, and Sen. McCain, that we might be tired of this. I am so grateful to Bernie Sanders, Ron Paul, and Jerry Brown, that there actually are some politicians, whether we agree with their positions or not, who are people of integrity.

— Sean O'Hare

Anchorage

Eagle River is prime FSED candidate

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I just wanted to voice my opinion in favor of a freestanding emergency department in Eagle River. I have lived in Eagle River for over 15 years and raised all three of my children here. There have been several times when one of my children have required emergency care and we have had to go to Providence or JBER. One incident in particular, was when my son was in a wrestling accident. He was finally sent to the Providence emergency room after being in limbo for over four hours waiting on crucial care. He had broken a vertebrae in his neck and it took quite a while to come to that conclusion and finally get him to Providence in Anchorage where he was able to get more specialized care. By having a satellite location here in Eagle River, they could have worked directly with a Providence specialist to determine a diagnosis and transport him much quicker.

Due to the fact that we have two high schools, several hiking trails, lakes and other recreational areas in the Eagle River area, I feel that there are many families area who would greatly benefit from his type of facility in our community.

— Dawn Hoxie

Eagle River

Ripple effect of cuts affect everyone

For some of us, the 1980s do not seem that long ago. Those of us who were here in the late '80s remember the drop in oil prices then and the deep cuts the Legislature made to the state budget. This sent the state economy into a tailspin. I remember whole neighborhoods in the Mat-Su that were shuttered when people turned their keys in to the banks because they had lost their jobs and could not pay the mortgage. I met a man who had moved to Anchorage from Juneau who complained that he could not sell his condo in Juneau.

Some people think that they are immune to state budget cuts, but state spending drives the state economy. The ripple effect of the budget cuts affects everyone. The Legislature needs to make wise cuts. I hope legislators and their constituents realize the importance of being judicious about how the state budget is shaped.

— Jeanne Foy

Juneau

Check out legislators' 'family values'

It is with deep distress I read of Alaska's privileged Republicans destroying options for education and health care. The treatment of Erin's Law is a shameful display of the real "family values" of those delaying, playing politics with, or opposing it. This from the "leaders" in a state with the highest child abuse rate in the U.S. The Legislature gives lip service to supporting our children but votes to spend money for bridges, not education or health care.

Working toward a realistic budget using a variety of funding options including income and/or sales tax, appropriate taxes on the oil companies, needed changes in health care that help increase jobs and provide insurance to those unable to obtain it, and appropriate reductions in government spending could set the groundwork for government that works for the people.

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Given the current behavior of certain legislators I am left wondering who is actually paying them. It seems they owe allegiance to someone or something, not the people of Alaska. Perhaps it is time to recall them.

— Marcia Barnes

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 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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