Letters to the Editor

Readers write: Letters to the editor, April 14, 2017

Paul is getting all the money

Alaskans need and want a good future for our state, for all our children and citizens.

My mother used the expression "Robbing Peter to pay Paul." If that's what the Republican Legislature is doing, Peter is all Alaska citizens: city dwellers and villagers; ferry riders and drivers; elders and infants; students and teachers; state and muni workers and the businesses they patronize. The Republican Senate pays Paul: the well-to-do who don't want to pay any taxes at all on their income, and the oil companies with economies bigger than many nations'. They justify and excuse penalizing the disadvantaged and destroying our state's services, institutions and infrastructure.

Consider these points: Relying on any one "crop" is disastrous. In Alaska our one crop is oil; even the PFD program is really just some old oil. An income tax is an important start toward diversifying our state's budget. During this fiscal crisis, neither oil companies nor citizens deserve to be exempt while the poor and our institutions balance the budget.

Thank you, Gov. Walker and Revenue Commissioner Hoffbeck for your leadership in these hard times.

— Ken Higgins
Anchorage

An injunction needed?

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So why doesn't some federal judge somewhere issue an injunction against Donald Trump from further attacks against Syria?

He could use several justifications: further attacks would violate the war powers clause; as a Muslim majority nation, attacking Syria is prima facie discriminatory against said Muslims and disparately impacts them.

Why not? The injunctions by federal judges against the travel ban have as much legal justification.

Oh, but liberals like the extra-constitutional attacks on Syria — the constitutional travel bans, not so much.

— Ryan Kennedy
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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