September 16, 2008
Tuesday

To the many Ketchikan residents who are loudly aghast at Governor Palin's remarks concerning the Gravina access project, please remember that she is a politician.

To paraphrase an old joke: How can you tell when a politician is lying? Answer: Their lips are moving.

Governor Palin is not the only politician in this presidential race; just the least experienced. So, in comparison her lies are easier to detect. Give her a few years (or months, she is a quick study) and her lies will be on par with those of Obama, McCain, Biden, and the Clinton's. Her campaign promises when she visited Ketchikan were not the only lies of the gubernatorial campaign and they are not the only lies in the presidential campaign.

In defense of politicians-- we are begging them to lie to us; withholding our vote if we don't get our way. Ketchikan residents; what are we thinking demanding bridges costing hundreds of millions of dollars in an area with less than 15,000 residents. That would be roughly $20,000 for every resident of the Ketchikan area. It is time to suck it up and start living within our means. Maybe that means accepting that we choose to live in a remote corner of our great nation and cannot reasonably expect the same level of infrastructure that is available in large population centers.

The bridge money isn't the only monies Ketchikan residents are asking for; we seeking funding for an intertie project, marine highway subsidies, a library, hospital improvement, other road projects; education funding and countless other necessities.

If Ketchikan residents are going to demand more than their fair share of the tax pie they need to be prepared to be targets of derision by not only politicians but to American taxpayers as well.

Barb Lander
Ketchikan, AK

About: "Ketchikan resident and voter."

Received September 14, 2008 - Published September 16, 2008

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