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I completely disagree with Rep. Kito. The minority wants to hit pause on any economic development in Alaska to fund programs that have shown themselves to be short-term boondoggles that have zero return on investment. We don’t need more people in Alaska sitting on one welfare roll or another. We need people working and growing our state.

Minority fighting for Alaskans on budget – Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Community Perspectives.

Medicaid expansion will cover working Alaskans making up to $54,000 (for a family of four) who must currently pay a premium employer provided medical insurance. Many of these people are State of Alaska employees who pay $200 a month for insurance.

Let’s think about that. $54,000 a year, $2400 a year in premiums — they need “free” medical care???? The cost to the state under the current federal scheme seems reasonable until you remember that the federal government is $18 trillion in debt and currently borrowing more than 25% of its annual budget. What happens when reality sets in?

Alaska will be on the hook for the full cost of this program and probably unable to opt out. That’s billions of dollars. Which means this is a program that will eat the state budget, chew up the Permanent Fund and leave us with NOTHING.

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Win Gruening says pretty much what I think on Medicaid expansion and the WAMMI program. I would note something. Win is a fiscal conservative. He doesn’t say what party affiliation he claims, but his famous ancestor Ernest Gruening was the long-time Democratic-appointed Territorial Governor of Alaska and then was active in Alaska Democratic politics for years afterward. You don’t need anymore evidence of how far to the left the Democratic Party has drifted than that a name so greatly associated with the Democratic Party in Alaska is now on the side of fiscal conservatism.

My Turn: Reasons matter, labels don’t | Juneau Empire – Alaska’s Capital City Online Newspaper.