The recent op-ed by Erick Giorgana of the libertarian group Alaska Policy Forum (ADN, Jan. 30) was highly misleading, to say the least. He quoted a study done by a Koch-funded group called the Tax Foundation that, surprise, finds that taxes are bad.
Nowhere in this piece did he mention that pretty much every study, including one by the Tax Foundation, concludes that Alaska has the lowest state tax burden of all the states. Couple that with the Permanent Fund dividend, and Alaskans contribute far less to their state government than the rest of the country.
We have been a low-tax libertarian utopia for decades now, and what do we have to show for it? As reported recently in the ADN, Alaska is at the very bottom, or close to it, in state rankings in economic growth, unemployment, school performance, etc. The idea that further budget cuts are the solution to our problems has been thoroughly tested and disproven. Even Jay Hammond, the father of the PFD, felt that abolishing Alaska’s previous state income tax was a mistake.
— Robert Hall
Anchorage
Have something on your mind? Send to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Letters under 200 words have the best chance of being published. Writers should disclose any personal or professional connections with the subjects of their letters. Letters are edited for accuracy, clarity and length.