Dan and Angi have something to say

Welcome to our site! This is the Lovejoy family blog where we talk about all kinds of stuff. Mostly we talk about minutia and our beautiful son Elijah.

Monday, October 09, 2006

Dan says:

This is patriotism

Alaskan Yup’ik (Eskimo) natives refuse Venezuelan donations

In Alaska’s native villages, the punishing winter cold is already penetrating the walls of the lightly insulated plywood homes, many of the villagers are desperately poor, and heating-oil prices are among the highest in the nation.

And yet a few of the small communities want to refuse free heating oil from Venezuela, on the patriotic principle that no foreigner has the right to call their president “the devil.”

The heating oil is being offered by the petroleum company controlled by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, President Bush’s nemesis. While scores of Alaska’s Eskimo and Indian villages say they have no choice but to accept, others would rather suffer.

“As a citizen of this country, you can have your own opinion of our president and our country. But I don’t want a foreigner coming in here and bashing us,” said Justine Gunderson, administrator for the tribal council in the Aleut village of Nelson Lagoon. “Even though we’re in economically dire straits, it was the right choice to make.”

I could hardly blame them for taking the oil, but they are made of sterner stuff. Some people would call this sacrifice stupid, but I’m very impressed.

This is not a big problem for Alaska. Here are just a few ways Alaska could help pay for this:
1,) Spending some of that “Bridge to Nowhere*” pork.
2.) Setting aside some of that +$1 billion budget surplus which resulted from petroleum tax receipts. Specifically, with regard to this surplus, divert some of the $300 million that the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation is “saving” for a rainy day.
3.) Spend some of the $34 billion  in the Alaska Permanent Fund.

I’m not a fan of government spending, but this is money that Alaska already has and is not using. It would be sad and ironic if these patriotic Americans were to freeze this winter because they couldn’t get some of that high-priced heating oil that the government has grown rich from.

Here’s the letter I sent to Governor Murkowski:

Dear Governor Murkowski,
It was with great pride that I read of the Nelson Lagoon Eskimo Village’s rejection of Venezuelan energy assitance due to Hugo Chavez’s remarks at the UN about President Bush.

I humbly suggest, as winter approaches, that the State of Alaska find a way to help these patriotic Americans. Alaska is awash in oil revenues right now. It would be a great shame if these great Americans suffered in the cold this winter. I am writing to my Senator and Congressman as well.

All the best,
Dan Lovejoy
Edmond, OK

You can write the governor here.
*- Yes, the earmark itself was removed, but the funding was still given to the state to use at its discretion.
UPDATE:  You can donate to the Unangan Energy Assistance Fund here. Thanks to “I will not submit” for the tip.