LETTERS TO THE EDITOR MAYOR GETS AN F
Nobody in the mayor’s office seems to be able to do basic math. If his proposed budget relied on $4.6 million less in property taxes, divided among 92,000 property tax payers, the average savings would have been only $50. How does the mayor come up with savings of $560 per property taxpayer?
— Harriet Drummond Anchorage
So Mary Peltola wants to govern with “love.” How insulting. We don’t need a mommy legislator. We need a legislator who will conform her actions to the ordinary meaning of the words in the U.S. Constitution.
— Paul Wharton Girdwood
I am deeply concerned about elected and appointed officials’ obvious conflicts of interest both in regards to LGBTQ rights, as well as those related to women’s rights to bodily autonomy. It seems they are letting their religious convictions cloud their ability to justly represent those they are meant to serve.
As a child, I wrote a poem for a contest. A poem about “what patriotism meant to me.” It was well-written and true to the conservative culture in which I was born. It talked of military service, freedom and the rockets’ red glare, bombs bursting in air, and that flag, the ultimate symbol of our great nation. It brought my war-hardened, cantankerous grandfather to tears. It made my mother and father proud.
My poem did not win. The poem that won, years before its time with a wisdom unfathomable for someone his age, talked of the destruction those rockets caused, the idea that patriotism can be dangerous. The poem that won was a warning of things to come. Things it would take years for me to wake up to.
Now I sit here, in the wake of a holiday that once was my favorite, knowing I was never truly free. The thoughts of the girl who wrote that poem were never hers, but rather regurgitated nonsense of Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and a deeply conservative, highly toxic family. I sit here on this dark day, having learned of intersectionality, having listened to voices of Black, Indigenous and people of color, having lived and experienced life as a woman in this country, having been homeless, having survived sexual assault and domestic violence. And now, years later, that little girl, now a woman, sees patriotism quite differently.
So let my family members who have passed roll in their graves because that little girl is gone. In her place stands a loud, educated warrior, who believes patriotism means freedom for all. Without justice, there can be no peace.
— Emma Alvrey Soldotna
Why is the general public is so unaware of the causes of this inflation? President Joe Biden has tried to tell the public about Vladimir Putin, but the public is so ignorant of the U.S. ongoing international war with Russia/ U.S.S.R., which has been ongoing since 1945 — first with the autocratic domination of Poland, East Germany, Finland and a number of other countries; then with the arming of Cuba. It was dismantled by American news broadcasting the truth to the citizens of these small countries, as well as U.S. financial support.
In recent years, the Russians were in Afghanistan, but we supported the resistance and eventually they withdrew.
Now it is Ukraine, and the Ukrainians are providing the soldiers and we are providing some weaponry. Plus we are trying to restrict their monetary flow. Since grain and oil are the main exports of Russia, restricting these commodities causes us to go to other sources, just like in any war, and those sources, knowing that there are shortages, are charging more for these commodities.
One can always check if the cost to develop these commodities has gone up. Such as oil in Alaska, when the price for oil increased to more than $100 per barrel today. At the same time, the oil companies have reduced oil searches and staff in Prudhoe Bay. So what cost more is executive compensation.
— Bill Culbertson Anchorage
A couple pieces on the opinion page caught my eye the other day. They really should go together. Tim Hinterberger showed us how an American Carbon Border Adjustment helps motivate other countries to clean up their manufacturing pollution. Ky Holland helped us see how Alaska can develop a clean hydrogen export industry to provide the U.S. and other countries with the means to cut the industrial and domestic carbon emission levels. Both these developments will be big wins, providing new jobs and investment for Alaska.
I want to point out that Sen. Dan Sullivan’s Energy, Jobs and Climate plan includes a BCA. It is an important step in the right direction, especially if is paired with a price on carbon. A Border Carbon Adjustment, a price on carbon and an Alaska clean hydrogen industry: This trio will spur cleaner energy production in Alaska, America and abroad.
— George Donart Anchorage
