Here we go again: Regressive leftist politicians, driven by special interests and a lack of ethics, are wasting yet another year of opportunity and a dwindling bucket of available funds in a pathetic display of mismanagement and childish behavior.
For five years, they have had to deal with a shrinking budget, plenty of time to develop a physically responsible glide slope to a sustainable, manageable balanced budget that reflects our revenue. We had an election last year. Remember? Mike Dunleavy won by a very large majority on a campaign of balancing the budget and restoring the PFD.
Now, unlike regressive leftist folks like Reps. Gary Knopp, Gabrielle LeDoux and Louise Stutes, who lied to their constituents during their respective campaigns, Dunleavy has been true to his promises. He has recognized that an over-bloated budget that continually year after year exceeds our revenue by more than $1 billion is unsustainable.
Apparently, our Alaska Democrats, like the national ones, don’t understand how our country functions. See, we vote, and whoever wins has the mandate. Our reserve has shrunk from about $14 billion to $2 billion in these past five years because these children managing our budget keep kicking the proverbial can into the next budget cycle. In the meantime, they just burn through the dollars staying in special sessions, essentially becoming year-round legislators.
Common sense states that overspending our annual revenue is not sustainable. Eventually, they will burn through the Permanent Fund as well. Then what? By the way, the Permanent Fund was never set up to be an option for general budget fallback. There are plenty of bloated items to cut. Education and subsidies for arts and the university system are examples. The university was given large chunks of land to be used to offset costs not covered by revenue.
Stop playing us.
— Duane Christensen
Anchorage
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