Letters to the Editor

Readers write: Letters to the editor, May 23, 2017

Where's the sane path?

In my state, we know how to pay our way. And we don't lay off teachers. Who will lead us toward a sane path?

— Vicki Vermillion
Anchorage

Check history for the facts

We read the commentary (May 14) by Alan Gross, orthopedic surgeon, "Alaska needs a single-payer health care system."
Plans to adopt a single-payer health care plan do not look at history and lock in place many of the mistakes the health care system has adopted over the last
50 years.

Fifty years ago I cut the back of my hand. Went to a nearby doctor's office — five stitches and the doctor had to deal with a blood vessel or two. When it came time to pay, the doctor asked if I had insurance. I said, "No," and I asked would he charge me more if I had insurance. He said, "Yes."

The doctor charged me the equivalent of one day's wages at minimum wage for his 25 minutes of work. It is not going to happen today. An individual working today for minimum wage would be charged upward of several thousand dollars for the same procedures.

ADVERTISEMENT

Before the elite design a health care system for individuals most likely to carry a pitchfork and a torch, the elite should look at a broad spectrum of past history.

— Faith Myers and Dorrance Collins, Mental Health Advocates
Anchorage
Trial's done; time for lawsuit

Well, the court has done its job on the Sockeye fire. Now it's time for the people affected by the fire to do their job! We need to file a lawsuit against them to get pay back. We need a class-action lawsuit. I hope a lawyer will step up and back us in Willow. It's not only the people who lost everything, but also the people who thought they would lose everything. PTSD.

— James Christenson
Willow

No-drill zones
can protect wildlife

Some places where we drill aren't the best and I know many people want to help the environment; however, many of our resources are made or used with oil and gas. For example, our cars run on gas; iPhones, tables, clothes, etc., are made with oil.
Sens. Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski explain that oil drilling should be allowed in limited areas. I agree with this to protect our wildlife. Alaska animals such as the caribou could be harmed by oil spills. These areas where the caribou reproduce need to be no-drill zones.

There are also some things that I disagree with. The senators want to drill where the animals reproduce, and that would really hurt the Gwich'in people's food source. I think that we should have a protected area so they could have babies. And they could drill around that point.

— Levi Bryant-Carlino
Anchorage

For shame, legislators

Shame on the Alaska Legislature for their failure to approve Gov. Walker's nomination of Drew Phoenix to the Alaska Commission on Human Rights. Mr. Phoenix is a trained professional who has distinguished himself as a strong advocate for the gay community in Alaska. I look forward to the replacement of the bigots who voted against him, by representatives who are educated and more inclusive of all the people who live in Alaska.

— Patrick M. Cunningham
Anchorage

Senators shun compromise

Surprise, surprise, the Republican-led Senate rejects income tax. Senate President Pete Kelly crows, "Compromising is not the goal here." Politics is the art of compromise. Thanks for your bold leadership.

Sen. Cathy Giessel opined last week that the Senate supports overhauling Alaska's government budget without harming our state's families, businesses and jobs. That same day, the Anchorage School District announced that it planned to lay off 200 teachers because of budget uncertainty. The university is also looking at big cuts under the Senate's plan. Evidently, those families and jobs don't count.

Who elected these clueless people? I am ashamed to say Sen. Giessel represents my district.

The people of Alaska deserve better.

— Michael Henrich
Anchorage

ADVERTISEMENT

Listen to the adults in House

My state senator sent out a chirpy newsletter saying "The Senate has finished a productive regular session."

Productive? In this time of plummeting revenue and economic uncertainly, surely their most important job was to produce a balanced, sustainable budget. The Senate budget, which draws down our savings and yet still leaves a big deficit, would hurt us not just this year, but every year in the future that we don't earn interest on those funds they spent.

The House, on the other hand, did produce a budget that would work now and in future, without draining all our reserves.
Studies by ISER, and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, show that an income tax would hurt Alaska families the least. In an email my senator claimed she was concerned about how an income tax would affect small business owners, but who do you think are the customers for small business? Alaska families!

For those who say no to an income tax: Why exactly do you feel entitled to a free ride? Is your mother still washing your clothes for you? Grow up. And I for one am ready for all those highly paid, nonresident Slope workers to chip in, aren't you?

Senators, listen to the adults in the House.

— Gail Heineman
Anchorage

How about some fair
and balanced reporting?

It goes without saying that the Alaska Dispatch News is on board with the anti-Trump agenda that is running through our country. But it's so extreme that it's pathetic. Whatever happened to "fair and balanced" reporting? Oh! I forgot! That's not politically correct anymore. What a sad day in America when we can't even trust our own newspaper. Reminds me of other countries where the citizens only get to hear and read things the government wants them to know. Except in this case, it's reversed.

Our local liberal, anti-Trump newspaper doesn't want anything good to be printed about our president or his administration. ADN wants to manipulate your mind into thinking that hardly anyone is pro-conservative or pro-President Trump. They want you to think that if you feel this way, you must have something wrong with you. It's called brainwashing, folks! And unfortunately, it's working on a lot of folks who don't bother to check out all sides of an issue, but only get their info from one, very biased side of the news, whether it be on TV or in print.
I challenge every Alaskan to use your own brain, and search out both sides of the news. That is the only way you can come to your own conclusion. Don't just blindly follow what is put in front of you hour after hour, day after day.

— Gayle Sanders
Anchorage

A little rabble-rousing is good

If you've ever watched a debate in the House of Commons, you'll remember it as a rowdy affair with lots of yelling and speaking out of turn. The U.S. Senate is staid by comparison. Which might explain why Sen. Dan Sullivan began his town hall in Anchorage last Saturday with a plea to his constituents to be polite. Mostly the senator got his wish, but there were also boos and interruptions and, off and on, shouts of "answer the question."

Before Sen. Sullivan and the rest of our congressional delegation conclude that this rowdiness made the town hall unsuccessful and not worth repeating, I would like to offer a different narrative: a little rabble-rousing is good for democracy. Most of us are polite by nature, and rudeness makes us shift in our seats. But there is also a dark side to politeness: It can lead us to be silent when things very much need to be said. This form of politeness — which can be a guise for self-protective or strategic reserve — appears to have infected the majority party in Congress, which has been mostly mute in the face of threats to our electoral process, the free press, science, democratic institutions, free assembly and basic human rights.

So while Sen. Sullivan might have preferred a less-noisy town hall, he is a better senator for having stepped outside his comfort zone, and we are better Americans for having invited him there.

— Alyson Pytte
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.

ADVERTISEMENT