Paul Seaton didn’t abandon the Republican Party, the party has strayed away from responsible politics. Many of us have been left out. Some of the issues raised by the Republican Party in the primaries (Never the candidate; only the Party) include: restore the permanent fund, balance the budget, cut spending, improve law enforcement and no income tax. These sound bites are as unrealistic as they are in conflict with each other.
In a state where over 80 percent of the government revenue comes from the oil industry, we are naturally tied to the rise and fall of this key commodity. Oil drives the state economy — not fish, not timber, not tourism, nor even the military.
Let’s take ”Balance the budget.” Well, the legislature has been trying to cut services for years in order to forestall using the permanent fund reserves or earnings. Citizens’ demands and a crumbling infrastructure have resisted such cuts. Citizens should not complain about law enforcement without providing the necessary funds for prosecutors, police and, yes, even public defenders. Hypocrisy runs amok in the political scene, both local and national. Paul Seaton has taken steps to alleviate some· of the state’s problems. I would suggest that the Republican Party needs to get real with a few meaningful ideas of how to fix state finances and skip the endless sound bites.
— Philemon D. Morris, former mayor of Kachemak City
