If government shuts down, Dunleavy and GOP legislators deserve the blame

Gov. Mike Dunleavy sent a letter at state expense urging Alaskans to contact their legislators and oppose the budget because the Permanent Fund Dividend is not big enough.

“Urge your legislators to vote no on this coercive budget,” said Dunleavy.

“Our legislators must stand up to the bullies who believe government deserves your PFD,” Dunleavy said.

Dunleavy’s letter preceded a legislative vote in which extremist Republicans loyal to Dunleavy took his advice in the House. They also refused to vote for a July 1 effective date on the budget.

The GOP opposition to having a budget take effect July 1 is setting the stage for a shutdown that the GOP House members and Dunleavy want to blame on the majority of legislators, both Democrats and Republicans, who approved a reasonable budget.

If there is a government shutdown in Alaska, Dunleavy and his Republican allies deserve the blame, but he is already dancing away from his diatribe about bullies and saying it’s not his fault.

Dunleavy’s office later claimed to the Juneau Empire that the “vote no” letter signed, “Sincerely, Governor Mike Dunleavy,” is not the work of Dunleavy, but of unnamed employees in Dunleavy’s office who were not authorized to speak for Dunleavy.

The letter “had been sent by mistake and did not reflect the governor’s point of view,” the administration told the Anchorage Daily News. It may have been sent by “mistake,” but it is pure buncombe to claim it does not reflect Dunleavy’s point of view.

Duleavy wanted the budget to be defeated and now he wants to shut down the government and blame the entire Legislature—instead of accepting responsibility for his role in triggering this mess.

Even worse, the letter repeats the latest big lie from Dunleavy, which is that his plan for bigger dividends, no taxes and no real cuts in services will balance the budget in five years. He is recycling the pandering plan of 2018 in hopes he will be re-elected next year.

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