Gov. Mike Dunleavy likes to keep saying that he makes “tough decisions.” He likes to emphasize that his choices to unilaterally gut senior benefits, support for the homeless, drug treatment programs, support for students and investments in Alaska’s future were hard for him. But he is not a senior living on a fixed income. He is not a student who is losing their school or their degree program. He is not yet losing his job. He is not a family facing the hard decision of whether to stay in the state they love or leave to find work. He is not a recent graduate wondering if they have a future here. Nor is he a homeless veteran or someone living on the edge for whom a single cut may mean the end.
Gov. Dunleavy is well paid for his work. His out-of-state budget director and the others will decamp once their damage is done, and the billionaires who promoted them will get what they want. The oil companies, as usual, are not expected to share the pain.
Whatever Gov. Dunleavy thinks he is doing, the real pain is felt by others, not him. His repeated insistence on telling us that he feels tough is an insult to those who have to feel the real consequences of his choices.
— Collin Lynch
Anchorage
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