Letters to the Editor

Letter: A fundamental misunderstanding, or manipulation?

Recently on the radio, I heard Gov. Mike Dunleavy discussing the importance of the Permanent Fund dividend:

“I’m having a difficult time believing that we take that money off of elders in rural Alaska, we take that money off of 10-year-olds who are saving it up for college, we take that money off of single parents that have three or four children in their families that are struggling.”

Does that rural elder live in a village accessible only by ferry or state-run airport? Does that 10-year-old attend public school? Is that struggling single parent on Medicaid? If any of those things are true, then a once-per-year payment of $3,000 can never equal the value they receive from government services. To try to convince constituents otherwise is at best disingenuous, and at worst manipulative.

Either Gov. Dunleavy has a fundamental misunderstanding of the needs of everyday Alaskans, or his goal is to impress small-government Outsiders who don’t have to live with his cuts. Alaskans have been honest with him about our needs. It’s time for him to be honest with us about his plans.

— Elizabeth Feucht

Anchorage

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