Contributed by Jessica Wright
Do you remember, in the two towers of The Lord of Rings movie, Gandalf asked King Theoden to fight the orcs? At first, Theoden rejected the idea because he was afraid that he would lose a great number of his people in the battle. Later, he changed his mind because he knew he had no choice, but fight for their survival.
It has been 15 years, since I watched this movie in the theater. I still remember seeing how terrified they were and how they finally gathered their courage to fight their enemies. This battle occurred even though orcs were beyond human and super violent. This idea taught me three things: 1) The war between good and evil continues even in this day. 2) We may not want to fight, but our enemies do. 3) The only way we can survive is to fight back against our enemies.
Believe it or not, there is a war between our state government and the people of Alaska right now. Where do I start? SB 91 took away Alaskans’ “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness” basic rights, by allowing criminals walk away unpunished. SB 26, so called “Reconstructed PFD”, tries to permit the state government to have the access to the PFD fund, which means our PFD will permanently disappear.
Governor Walker, along with his legislature friends, robbed Alaskans by capping the PFD in 2016 and 2017. The same legislature also gave permission to leaving funds for Governor Walker to start his pet-project (natural gas pipeline), and later to sign a contract of understanding to make a deal with China. The state government claims we are in fiscal crisis, yet we raised the state employees pay and benefits, expanded Medicaid and created false revenue narratives. Alaska has the most extensive and expansive form of this type of coverage. In 2016, the national average of state expenditure per capita is $6,385, and Alaska topped the nation. It spends nearly three times more than the national average at $17,529. Some argued that the cost of living in Alaska is higher, but look at Hawaii, only slightly above average at $8,715.
According to our state government, to pay for these expenses is to surrender our PFD and pay more taxes and unwanted government management and user fees. The answer for our governor is to tax or fee us to death. In 2017, the state budget increased by $665 million. That’s the amount they withheld from Alaskan’s PFD last year. Just like Venezuela, Alaska is turning into a social state. Just like Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, we have Bill Walker and his Legislature/Supreme Court buddies, who rule against people’s will.
When looking at political undertones, all you have to do is look at the money. Consider how special interests outside of our government are quietly donating money to campaigns that make our PFD fund their pet projects. Even though they have a federal grant, they want state money. When a company decides to take no risks other than collude to take our PFD, then there is a big problem. These are enemies foreign and domestic to our PFD rights, and Walker is supported by and supporting them.
Alaskans want Governor Walker and state legislature to 1) keep their dirty hands out of the PFD, 2) cut state budget, 3) make criminals accountable, 4) cut extensive medical/welfare programs, 5) stop using PFD and taxes as scare tactics, 6) stop any and all government waste and 7) stop negotiating with China with our mineral rights, because of when we lose and they win in non-revenue-producing state-funded projects.
This is the reason why Governor Walker and the majority of state legislature fail to listen to the people: Because they don’t have Alaskans’ best interest in mind, they fail to see eye to eye with the rest of the Alaskans. They have so much greed in their heart, that they fail to comprehend how the Alaskans’ struggle.
It’s up to us to decide who’s in charge of our state next year. Do we want the same corrupted people back in the office, or do we want people who actually listen to us to represent us? We need to highlight those who are running in our districts, who have taken from us what is ours through legislation - the very mineral rights we hold in common. This election of 2018 is going to be critical for us because if we are wise and united, we can throw these corrupted politicians out.
So Alaskans, “What say we? Are you going to join the fight for our beloved state, or watch these same special interest-promoting people get elected because you neglect your civil duty to protect the common tradition of our shared values? Freedom or bondage? Prosperity or destitution? You decide.”