10-point plan would strangle state economy

A Spectrum, by Art Carney

In spite of his political views (Spectrum, May 7) which I have always disagreed with, I have managed to maintain some respect for Rep. Vic Kohring because he seemed to only be doing his job like any other politician, but recently the adulation of his "freedom loving Alaskan majority" must have gone to his head. When he unveiled his "revolutionary 10-point plan" last month, I figured he wants to get out of politics in order to join his new wife in Oregon, and he hopes to leave office on a high note by making his conservative buddies look good -- by comparison. Obviously I was wrong, and he is really serious about his budget plan, which I still find hard to believe.

Cutting the budget by a billion dollars in six years is even worse than the cuts the Sheffield administration had to make in the 1980s, but I don't recall anyone feeling "freed" by the smaller state government that ensued. Many people abandoned new homes, leaving keys in the open front door, and thousands of others left the state in search of employment or a better quality of life.

Big government often goes overboard, but our two-party system provides checks and balances to keep it somewhat in line. The welfare reform of 10 years ago is a good example. I knew it was needed, but feared there would soon be homeless people begging for food on the street corners. I was gratified when that didn't happen, but it seems too soon to cut welfare by an additional 50 percent as Vic hopes to do. Removing non-constitutional functions from the state budget and eliminating half the state laws and thousands of regulations also seems a bit radical to me. Evidently, I'm one of those gullible folks who believe the "big lie" the liberal press is feeding us. What Vic wants is to merge state government departments into a core group of agencies that will take care of the roads, troopers and schools -- especially private schools.

Creating such government may be possible if we can find a few former Enron executives, otherwise, it will take some old-fashioned foresight, compromise and cooperation, instead of rejection.

From his "freedom loving Alaskan majority," Vic had received more than 200 e-mails and all but a dozen were in favor of budget cutting instead of taxes. My oh my, will wonders never cease? He probably has two or three times that number of e-mails by now, and I'll bet they all favor larger permanent fund checks too.

As a 19-year-old Wasilla resident in 1954, I experienced the good old days of small government and freedom from its regulations. The "good" part of those days was being involved in trying to civilize this great land, which required everybody to help everybody else "make it," because people were needed to live here in order to sustain the economy, such as it was. It was a hard but fulfilling life, and I mostly enjoyed it, but within two years I'd had enough "freedom," and went back to Ohio until the mid-1970s. Alaska has been good to me, and while I'm not a great fan of taxes, I don't think I'm a fool either. The state is now somewhat civilized, and neither I, nor any of the old-timers I know, want things to go back to the way they were. Complaining about taxes may be the "in" thing to do, but actually expecting to forgo them isn't very realistic.

Alaska is big enough and diverse enough to offer just about any kind of lifestyle a person can seek. City dwellers have Anchorage, while I and my neighbors are content with the likes of Wasilla and Palmer. For those who really want to be mostly free of government -- and a lot of other things -- there is Skwentna or the bend of some river, however, not even in Alaska is it possible to have your cake and eat it, too. Any positive choice we make in life must be paid for with the negative consequences that come with it. For everything we get, we must give up something, such as part of our individual freedom from marriage, or eight hours a day for a paycheck, etc. If we live in the midst of paved roads, unemployment insurance and the other benefits of civilization, then we should expect to pay taxes. Anything less is wishful thinking.

Art Carney is a Wasilla-area resident.