Jim Wright
Alaska is the perfect storm of Republican economic stupidity
Conservatives gutted the state.
They got rid of the tourist tax and gave big tourism a freebie. It'll bring in more tourists, they told us. And it did. Those tourists arrive on ships owned and operated by giant out-of-state companies like Princess Cruise Lines and Holland America, then they get on buses owned by those same companies and ride to giant lodges and hotels owned and operated by those same companies, and all the money they spend goes right into those companies' pockets and out of state. Meanwhile, Alaska gets to pay for infrastructure to support this influx, WITH the added benefit of being unable to access any of the stuff people come to Alaska to see - like Denali National Park where the tours are booked solid by the big cruise lines and Alaskans can just go screw themselves. Oh, and all those jobs this was going to create for Alaskans? Yeah, those are filled by cheap labor, typically college kids from the lower 48 and foreign countries.
But that wasn't enough, the GOP gave big oil a huge tax break. It'll create jobs for Alaskans, they told us. Here you go, boys, free money. Take all you like, there's plenty more! You'll, uh, create jobs, right? Sure, you bet. And as soon as all the campaign checks were deposited in various Alaska politicians' accounts, well, the price of oil dropped. Wow. Totally didn't see that energy glut coming. Probably a good thing then Alaskan Republicans fought so hard against diversification of the Alaskan economy. Oil. Oil. Oil. That's it and that's all. And now? Now crude oil prices have tanked. Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon, BP have all shut down production because they can make money in any warzone the world over, but not here in Alaska, oh and sorry about those jobs, Alaska, but our shareholders DO thank you for all those free millions.
And so, here we are. Flat broke. No money for schools. No money for jobs. No money for roads. Nothing. The only thing trickling down is the warm piss dripping down our faces from our Republican state government. And their proposed solution? Income taxes, sure. They'll tax US, but not the companies making BILLIONS from Alaska. That, that right there, tells you in no uncertain terms who these sons of bitches work for, and, Baby, it ain't us.
Meanwhile, in true Republican fashion, what's the important thing?
What are Alaskan conservatives like Representative LYNN Gattis and Senator Mike Dunleavy worried about?
Condoms.
It's not enough that Gattis and Dunleavy have worked daily to gut Alaskan schools and hand over education to their buddies in the for-profit Charter School flimflam. No, now, they're terrified Alaskan kids might get access to birth control or hear the word "abortion." This morning these two pinch faced religious fanatics introduced a bill to that would jail teachers who might even mention the dreaded name "Planned Parenthood." Because, yeah, in a state with one of the highest levels of teen pregnancy - whose former Governor and poster child for Abstinence can't even keep her own goddamned kids from getting knocked up, TWICE - and which currently can't fund its schools due directly to the spectacular failure that is Republican economics, THAT'S the fucking problem. Condoms.
And it isn't just Alaska. Down in Missouri, Republican legislators are threatening to jail the head of Planned Parenthood if she doesn't turn over a list of every woman who's ever had an abortion in the state of Missouri. That's right, they've demanded the names and medical records of every woman who's ever had an abortion. Last time that happened, in Kansas, Bill O'Reilly had that list within a day and broadcast the names on the air. Now you tell me, what do Missouri Republicans plan to do with that list?
Alaska is the perfect storm of Republican stupidity. And as Alaska goes, so goes the nation if these silly sons of bitches get their way. Flat broke, uneducated, and knocked up, little better than a Third world theocracy owned by corrupt religious nuts and big money.
Again, if you don't vote, you voted.
For these people.
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