The ADN recently featured two letters of fiscal concern by Daniel Sager and Jon Goniwiecha. Goniwiecha laid out a jabbing truth about the cuts in our oil taxes, and Sager called for consideration of reality.
But Sager should be more cautious about his cry. Austerity is a common occurrence in Europe, and the results have been austerity for the poor and handouts for the rich. We should address as Goniwiecha did, why we have such little reserves.
Norway, oil rich, has the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world, and Alaska has never been lacking for that resource. And as for fiscal conservatives, what so far has been the record? The Marine Highway slashed, the university pared severely, and an encroaching tightening of the belt for Medicare and preschools? The most vulnerable suffer from “fiscal reality?”
And who isn’t affected by this? Those who have already long left the state. Those who can afford to move out of state. I, for one, can not, and have already had to change my degree, as it has been cut. Alaska is the only state in the country to not teach sociology.
— Russell Sauve
Anchorage
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