''But obviously, we've got to stand with our North Korean allies.''
—Sarah Palin, on how she would handle the current hostilities between the two Koreas, radio interview with Glenn Beck, Nov. 24, 2010
HOW CAN SHE BE THIS RIDICULOUS????????
October 28th Deadline DUN DUN DUN
''Only dead fish go with the flow.'' spoken on July 3rd, 2009, by our beloved former governor, Sarah Palin, whom also gave an important history lesson on Paul Revere's midnight ride- apparently he was actually warning the British, not the Americans. ''He who warned, uh, the British that they weren't gonna be takin' away our arms, uh, by ringing those bells, and um, makin' sure as he's riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be sure and we were going to be free, and we were going to be armed.''(June 3rd, 2011) Luckily, the Sarah Palin jokes are starting to diminish. Who do you have to thank for the cease in "wisecracks" that consist of "can you see russia from your house?" Sean Parnell is your answer. If you don’t know, our current governor is republican Sean Parnell. He took over Sarah Palin's run in 2009 and was formally elected in 2010 for a full five years of governorship. In his recent years of office, Parnell has made advancements toward public safety through the Choose Respect program as well as increasing Village Public Safety Officers' ability to serve rural Alaska, and promoting Alaskan's education through the Alaska Performance Scholarship and Alaska Education Opportunity Act. Also, the deficit that Alaska faces was not created by Parnell's governorship, but will be combated, in fact he already has a plan to attack the deficit using the More Alaska Production Act otherwise known as Senate Bill 21. If Sean Parnell were to stay in office then he could further these advancements and provide a much needed stability to the governor position.
As parents or high school students we can all relate to the upcoming doom of college. Picking the right one, dealing with costs, applications, and scholarship essays are among the fun that await the college bound student and their family. According to bloomberg.com, the cost of college since 1985 has surged 500%. This has brought us up to a whopping twenty three thousand dollars for one year of public college. (college board) For upperclassmen senioritis and the impactful decision of choosing a college is well upon us and one of the factors that we must consider is the Alaska Performance Scholarship. After all, we must restore our reputation as smart Alaskans after what happened in the Palin era. (say correctly) The Alaska Performance scholarship was created by Governor Sean Parnell to help Alaskan student's afford an education instate. As the cost of education prices sky rocket, check books often become tight- but with up to $4,755 a year in scholarship money the scholarship will help pay the average seventeen thousand dollars it costs to attend University of Alaska Southeast. The Alaska Performance Scholarship benefits Alaskan’s education, and Alaskan jobs. Further, Parnell not only backs immediate college bound students, but he also supports career technical fields. The Alaska Education Opportunity Act provides for a way in which you as a student could take classes, for example, welding and receive dual credit towards both your high school graduation and certification. By the end of your four long (say this correctly) high school years you could be completely certified in a career and and begin collecting pay checks right away.
Public safety has been another of Sean Parnell's key priorities. For the past few years we, as students of Skagway, have all participated in the Choose Respect March. You know the day when we get to skip half of the school to march from the National Park Service building to the Elks. Just like Paul Revere's self sacrificing ride to warn the "british" we march in the freezing cold, with wind blowing against us all the way to the Elks. There we listen to guest speakers on domestic violence and a messege from the governor. The small tromp that we are involved in is a state-wide movement created by Sean Parnell. He has taken it upon himself to raise the awareness of domestic violence. Another bill, House Bill 199 passed by Sean Parnell supported Village Public Safety Officers ability to carry firearms. We are fortunate enough to have a Police Office Department, but many rural communities in Alaska are not; the only form of law enforcement that they have are state troopers, whom often take a long time to respond, and Village Public Safety Officers. VPSO officers are often the first to respond to any volatile situation, therefore, they must be prepared for any possible situation. The ability to carry firearms allows the Village Public Safety Officers to perform their job better by providing the necessary protection from the men and women that they must confront.
One of Alaska's major economic influences is natural resources, primarily, oil. "New Money" also stimulates the economy. Eight billion dollars has been committed by publicly traded companies to extract oil from Alaska. The Alaska Production Act stimulates and supports the new money coming into our economy by providing a tax incentive for outside companies to spend their money here in Alaska to extract oil rather than somewhere foreign, such as our close neighbor Russia (after all we can see it from Alaska right?) , where we would not reap the benefits. Oil production has been declining at a rate of 6 to 8 % a year; this past year, for the first time in 10 years oil production declined by only .13% practically flat lining. Sean Parnell's plan is to rely on new production and new revenue. He will also reduce spending. The spending was at eight billion dollars in 2012 and then was reduced to 5.9 billion this year. They did this by addressing the unfunded pension liability. It was at a debt of 12 billion dollars; Parnell payed down that debt by taking 3 billion dollars from our Federal savings into paying off that debt.
Sean Parnell already has the experience, motivation, and plans to help further Alaska's future. You do not want another Sarah Palin in office. In this time of economic downfall for the entire nation, Alaska needs stability and control, not a new, unpracticed face. You, as an Alaskan resident, want someone that is a concerned Alaskan, someone who will stand up for Alaska, and someone who will stand up for you, and that someone is named Sean Parnell.
Websites:
http://juneauempire.com/state/2014-10-10/parnell-walker-joust-soldotna-forum#.VDtWd7xg7lR
http://vimeo.com/alaskagov/videos
http://www.adn.com/article/20131212/deficit-spending-forecast-jumps-past-3-billion-parnell-lays-out-2015-budget
http://juneauempire.com/opinion/2014-04-08/my-turn-budget-deficit-different#.VDtWd7xg7lR
http://www.alaskabudget.com/fiscal-gap/
http://www.oildecline.com/
http://www.adn.com/article/20140818/alaska-oil-production-continue-decline-company-officials-testify
http://vimeo.com/101380085
http://www.adn.com/article/20141011/sean-parnell-answers-questions-about-issues-2014-election-alaska-governor
http://www.adn.com/article/20130821/re-examining-alaska-domestic-violence-crime-and-punishment
http://www.adn.com/article/20140816/gov-parnell-vote-no-one-alaska-s-future
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-26/college-costs-surge-500-in-u-s-since-1985-chart-of-the-day.html
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