Letters to the editor, Aug. 3, 2016

Dogfighting is a problem in the Valley

Recently Channel 2-KTUU News did a report about pet dogs being stolen out of yards in the valley. They stated that there is suspected dogfighting in the valley. When Michael Vick got busted out for it and the horrors of what the dogs suffered came to light, I couldn’t believe there were individuals twisted and degenerate enough to consider death, gore, maiming and bloodshed as something to enjoy. It is my belief that there is a special place in hell for these people. It makes me actually physically sick to know that there is nothing I can do to help these suffering animals that are in hell right now at the hands of such sick characters.

Della Dempsey, Wasilla

Alaska Business Report Card Biased Towards Continued Oil Industry Giveaways

Anchorage – Today, a group of organizations that support continued giveaways to the oil and gas industry in Alaska released grades for the members of the Alaska Legislature. Republican-led Majority lawmakers who support policies to continue unsustainable oil industry cash subsidies received passing grades. The members of the Minority in the Alaska House of Representatives, who have consistently fought for common sense reforms, all received F grades.

“I wear that F grade as a badge of honor because I am fighting for the future of Alaska, not the failed policies that have contributed to our ongoing and growing fiscal crisis,” said Alaska Independent Democratic Coalition Leader Representative Chris Tuck (D-Anchorage). “This is no more than praising lawmakers and policies that led to this crisis while passing judgement on lawmakers working on solutions.”

The 2016 Alaska Business Report Card was issued by the Resource Development Council for Alaska, Prosperity Alaska, the Alaska Support Industry Alliance, and the Alaska Chamber. All of these groups are on record supporting the current, unsustainable tax structure that has resulted in a scenario where the state receives even less from oil and gas production taxes than from fish and game license fees.

“I don’t mind being graded by the people of Alaska that I and my colleagues in the Minority fight for every day, but I’m not interested in biased grades handed out by organizations that take their cues from those sitting around corporate boardrooms instead of those sitting around family kitchen tables,” said House Finance Committee member Rep. David Guttenberg (D-Fairbanks).

Alaska Independent Democratic Coalition