In a recent article about the budget, Gov. Mike Dunleavy mentioned twice that the people are better at spending money than the government. He mentioned New York, Illinois and California as examples where government spending is too high. Are the people going to spend their money on road construction, schools, police protection, clean the air/water, solving homelessness and health care cost containment?
I have lived in two of the states mentioned (Illinois and California), and I can say that they had cleaner water and air, higher school attainment, better wages, lower unemployment, better parks, better and safer roads, much less crime, longer longevity and lower health care costs — and they received much less federal money than Alaska. Maybe the governor should be looking to these states for examples of success instead of being obsessed with corporate tax welfare and large Permanent Fund dividends?
- David R. McCorkell
Wasilla
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