Readers write: Letters to the editor, January 17, 2017

Israel can stop leeching

Where are the "pro-life conservatives" when you really need them?
Israel has begun its third year of free abortions for 20- to 33-year-olds in its Netanyahucare socialistic health care system.

Why does a country so rich it can pay for all abortions need $3.9 billion a year in welfare handouts from working U.S. taxpayers?

Maybe we ought to tell those Israelis with their hands in our pockets to stop leeching off us and go get jobs like the rest of us.

And maybe the self-styled "pro-lifers" can tell us why loyalty to a foreign country trumps the lives of innocent babies.

— Geoff Kennedy
Anchorage

Murkowski should not support DeVos' confirmation

On Tuesday, President-elect Trump's nominee for education secretary, Betsy DeVos, will go before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee for confirmation. DeVos comes from a wealthy and politically active family that has often used its wealth to push through legislation in a manner that can only be described as "pay to play." Beyond DeVos' lack of experience or qualifications, the way she has used her family's wealth to advance her own political agenda is unseemly for a public official charged with overseeing the education of America's children.

As she approaches her confirmation hearing it appears that DeVos' latest political cause is herself, as she has donated $50,000 to members of the Senate committee overseeing her confirmation, including Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Murky ethical questions have been the downfall of many Alaska politicians. If Murkowski wants to maintain her reputation of political independence she will not support DeVos' nomination for education secretary.

— Will Brennan
Girdwood

Astonishing contrast

Earlier this week there were two noteworthy broadcasts. One, President Obama's farewell address. The other a series of "tweets" regarding Meryl Streep. One, articulate and smart. The other, well … petulant.

It's abundantly clear, Little Hands has some big shoes to fill.

— Ken Flynn
Anchorage

Sessions hangs up sheet, dons suit for confirmation hearing

Someone recently commented it was "ghastly" for protesters to wear KKK garb to satirize Jeff Sessions at his GOP confirmation hearings. I submit it's far more ghastly to have an "uptown klansman" leave his sheet in his closet and don a business suit so he can smile benignly while awaiting appointment to head the U.S. Department of Justice. By way of explanation, "uptown klansmen" was how we once referred to Southern officials who were — and still are — no less white supremacist than the more traditional Klan, but for the most part avoided open association with them because of the bad PR.

Before moving to Alaska I lived in Missouri, Mississippi and North Carolina. My ex-wife and her siblings grew up in Jim Crow Arkansas. Her late mother (rah'matullahi alayha — may God have mercy on her) told me how it was during WWII, living in a town in which she and her family had fewer human rights than Nazi prisoners of war quartered in camps outside that town.

In my own lifetime I've seen firsthand how easy it is for guys like Sessions to utterly destroy people's lives and get clean away with it — because they had names like "Beauregard" and were descended from privileged, well-connected people who used to "own" the ancestors of those their arrogant progeny continue to walk on today.

Lannatullahi alayhim alf-mura'at: May God curse them a thousands times.

— Al-Hajji Frederick H Minshall
Anchorage

Repeal professional licensing

There is a free-market replacement for the Affordable Care Act that is consistent with Republican principles. Repeal all licensing requirements for health care professionals except to buy malpractice insurance.

— John Beebee
Anchorage

Population underserved by health care providers

I moved to that state of Alaska with my husband almost 10 years ago. I still marvel at the vast, stunning landscape and how different it is from Chicago where I was born. I moved so my physician husband could provide critical care to the intensive care units in Anchorage hospitals. I remember being shocked that physicians of his type were not in every ICU here as they were in Denver where we previously lived.

I learned quite quickly that we should not take for granted any privilege we are afforded in this remote part of the USA, whether it be health care or other necessities or benefits. I have learned a great deal about the health care in this city and believe that many people have trouble accessing both preventative or specialized care for myriad reasons. For these reasons, it is quite appalling to witness this hasty effort of Paul Ryan and the GOP to get rid of "Obamacare" and cease federal funding for Planned Parenthood. Ryan has tried to play the hot-button issue of abortion when speaking critically about Planned Parenthood. In reality, it is very uncommon to ever see federal dollars pay for an abortion (see The Hyde Amendment) and in this state the neediest women are able to access things like cervical cancer screenings, diabetes and cholesterol screenings, which are the same types of things anyone gets in their annual checkup.

Although I understand many folks are uninterested in where others receive their health care, I think it may be time for them to wake up to the reality that having a population underserved by health care providers will result in a less vibrant economy and a worse future for the people of our state.

— Caroline McGhan
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.