A Citizen’s Guide

To the editor:

Our political system works, but not very well. Previous elections of Frank Murkowski to the U.S. Senate and to governor illustrate this nicely.

After failing as a banker, he became a non-entity as a U.S. senator and again a failure as a governor. The disaster he is leading us into with the oil tax reform law makes his other failures seem insignificant.

Once the secretions, slime and oil spots are wiped off this deal, it seems obvious that it’s great for oil companies and contrary to the long-term interest of Alaska’s people. Alaska will be paying the price for this abomination for the next 35 to 40 years. We need to reject this plan and start taxing near the world average. We also need to ensure that Alaska gets its share of the buck as oil prices continue to rise.

Oil companies are good at arm-twisting and manipulating the political process with money, lobbying and propaganda. It works really well when you have a sympathetic audience such as Murkowski and other oil patch legislators. The people of Alaska have a right to expect better. Any politicians who vote for this deal should have their butts kicked out of office.

Once elected (or appointed), an Alaska U.S. senator has a virtual lifetime tenure despite token elections. Perhaps it is this sense of entitlement that has led Murkowski to believe he can win the upcoming race for governor.

Charles Simmons

Fairbanks