I would like to share an interesting piece of news I found in my AARP newsletter recently. A map of the entire United States listing gas taxes shows that Alaska has the lowest gas tax in the entire country. And just how do we afford the lowest gas tax, no income tax and no sales tax? At this point, it appears we are doing so by gutting our state services!
This reminds me of an incident I had years ago working for the Anchorage Parks and Recreation for around $12 per hour. I had been laid off from a higher-paying job, but was happy to find this job. One day, a fellow worker, also making $12 per hour, came in and began to grumble that our taxes were too high. When I pointed out that we had no state income tax, no sales tax and that the only tax we were paying was the city’s property taxes, he still insisted he was paying too much. It was ironic to me that the very tax, the city property tax, was more than likely paying for his current job! When I pointed this out, he still held fast to his position.
Is this being willing to sacrifice your own livelihood to some higher good? Can anyone explain this thinking to me? My understanding was that the American Revolution was flared by the exasperation of the colonists about being governed and taxed by said government, without representation. Taxation without representation. Today it appears that citizens are now demanding representation without any taxation.
So who, or what is paying for our branches of government, all the services including fire, police, roads, education and so forth? It appears to be the oil companies. Perhaps they are tired of taxation without representation? Is this the new American Revolution, representation for all corporate persons?
Beverly Churchill
Anchorage
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