Red letter day for red pens

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BY ANCHORAGE DAILY PLANET

Those of you who have invested your time, money and red pens to remind lawmakers you want smaller government are giving our big-government betters in Juneau the heebie-jeebies. The pens are piling up and the government-first guys are afraid of the effect they may have on our elected officials.

The flood of red pens has rattled them so badly they desperately now are making up outlandish narratives to deflect attention from their daily arrival at legislative offices.

Oh, it’s an Outside job, they say. A shadowy campaign consultant is behind it all. Or Gov. Mike Dunleavy himself is behind the campaign to remind legislators that 145,631 Alaskans voted for him and his agenda in the last election.

Dunleavy’s laudable agenda includes making government outgo match government income – and he said he would do it without taxes or dividend cuts. That has the Left in a steaming snit because no taxes and full dividends mean only one thing – sizeable spending cuts to close a $1.6 billion spending gap. That is anathema to the Left.

Former Democratic lawmaker Les Gara, who never tired of trying to fund his fantasies with your dollars, even posted this on Facebook:

“Turns out ‘Governor Dunleavy’s’ Veto Pen Campaign is being run by #NotHim – But by a campaign consultant who was funded by Outside money to get the Gov. elected. Pay $19.99 and he sends a red pen & form letter to legislators. #For Free I’ll send the Gov. Alaska’s How to Write a Budget guide. I might charge postage to send on to his budget writer in Florida.”

[Read the rest of this editorial at Anchorage Daily Planet]