August 01, 2011
Monday

An open letter to Senators Begich and Murkowski and Congressman Young:

Where the cuts should come from: 1.Defense budget private contractors. The DOD budget is a stuffed pig. In Alaska alone there are millions of dollars being siphoned out of public funds to private for-profit companies doing work that used to be done by uniformed service people. The recent fallacy that those tasks are done for less money by private contractors doesn't wash. No generals or admirals are being paid the bonuses and salaries paid to execs in private enterprise. Blackwater, Halliburton, and others are examples in other states and other countries. There is at least 300 billion dollars a year in this category alone.

2. Unnecessary construction projects. Remember the Bridge to Nowhere? I do. 60 million dollars of taxpayer money funneled from the fed through the state, then the borough, to build a road on Gravina Island. A road that will soon be a grove of alder trees. Meanwhile Ketchikan's roads that people use every day are falling apart. There are hundreds of such projects all over the country.

3. Industrial and agricultural subsidies. Everyone knows about the silly money from the federal treasury going to the oil companies. There are many other examples of the same thing going to farmers, and other for-profit entities. Private enterprise and capitalism are supposed to sustain the government and vital social services , not vice-versa.

Thanks for your attention,

Michael Spence
Ketchikan, AK