Hard Times
CNN has a piece on something that has been going on for years: In rural Alaska villages, families struggle to survive
… In many stores, two pounds of cheese costs between $15 and $18, milk costs $10 a gallon, a five-pound bag of apples costs $15, and a dozen eggs costs $22 — more than double the price in the area just two years ago.
…Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, asked the Bureau of Indian Affairs to step in and help the towns most in need.
“I find it ironic, tragically ironic, that it takes an economic downturn in the rest of the country for this Congress to consider an economic stimulus for Indian Country,” she said during a Senate Committee on Indian Affairs economic stimulus hearing.
I find it immensely hypocritical for Lisa Murkowski to complain about a lack of stimulus for “Indian Country” when she voted today not to end the debate on the stimulus package in the Senate, and voted to remove stimulus funds for the states from that bill. Exactly how much help does she think these people will get from tax cuts? She is one of the people in “this Congress” who are blocking assistance to Native Alaskans and the rest of country.
2 comments
Meh. I expect nothing less of Republicans.
I am astounded, though, by the price of eggs. It’s not like they can’t raise chickens in Alaska. Then again, I know a lot of people who have given up dairy for health reasons. Maybe that’s not such a bad idea.
Makes you wonder if it also wouldn’t be worth it to show the people how to coop, raise their own chickens, goats (bag the cows, too expensive), etc…..
Moi´s last blog post..Empathy for Obama
It isn’t the cost of the commodities, it’s the cost of transportation. Everything has to be flown or moved by sled to the outlying communities. Guns are the same price in Alaska as the US, it’s the bulky items, especially if they are fragile, that cost so much.
Heating a chicken house, and moving in feed would jack up the price, but over half of the cost of those eggs is transportation alone.