Letter: The high court, the gas line and the fine art of timing

I have two questions.

First, why did the U.S. Supreme Court issue its decision gutting the Voting Rights Act on April 29? It often waits to issue major decisions in late June, just before it shuts down its current session. Had the court waited until late June, it would not have thrown this year’s midterm election season into total disarray. I think it is clear that it was intentionally timed to give Republican-controlled and/or Southern states the opportunity to further gerrymander their voting districts before the November general election. The current court has proven that politics, and not justice, is on its docket.

Second, as Gov. Mike Dunleavy agitates about the supposed inaction of the Legislature on the gas pipeline and his tax giveaway, one has to ask: Has he forgotten a key aspect of governance: tit for tat? Had he not vetoed the bipartisan election bill, 10 years in the making, and if he made it clear he would either sign or let HB 78, the pension legislation, become law without his signature, he might find his pipeline bill facing a more responsive Legislature. The governor apparently believes Alaskans have not learned from past revenue giveaways to energy companies that if our resources have value to the world, then we should be given meaningful compensation.

— Randall Burns, Anchorage

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