GOP “leadership” & Alaska’s COVID catastrophe
NOT THAT SPECIAL Welp. Another special session has come to a close, with the legislature settling on an $1100 PFD – pretty much the same as we’ve had for years and no thanks to the governor who could have had this outcome long ago, but in an interesting choice vetoed the PFD down to nothing, and started the process all over again. It was actually a nail-biter for a second and it looked like Alaskans might have no PFD at ALL. But we drove back from the edge of that cliff. There will be no veto this time, but before you think…
The Whole State Has Gone Mad – a Tour.
This week has been particularly mind-boggling everywhere from the Capitol in Juneau to the Anchorage Assembly chamber, to the Kenai Peninsula, Fairbanks, and the Mat-Su. All I can say is suit up, because we’re going to take a dive and look at it all. IN JUNEAU The Special Session took a crazy turn Wednesday night. The legislature was slated to vote on what was shaping up to be an $1100 PFD, to fund scholarships, and get it done, and the floor session was ready to start… But 18 of the 38 legislators who were in the Capitol decided not to show up. Taking into…
AK lawmaker speaks at Pillow Symposium & the losingest losers lose again.
THE LOSING STREAK CONTINUES In the recent history of Alaska legislative elections, there’s never been someone so smug, so obnoxious, and so mansplainy that his loss deserved celebration like Lance Pruitt (R-East Anchorage). His Twitter trolling, and actual stalkerish drive-by’s of his opponent’s home taking pictures were the icing on the cake. Then there was this, on the day before the election. File that one under “This Aged Badly.” Dr. Liz Snyder pulled off a win IN HOUSE DISTRICT 27 and sent “Speaker Pruitt” (yes, he’d moved into the office in his mind) packing. He was even fined almost $20,000 for…
Alaska Gov Pals Around With Insurrection Instigator
DOZENS ATTENDED! The on-again-off-again fundraiser to fight the Recall Dunleavy campaign has finally happened after being canceled earlier this summer. The governor, who decries “east coast elites” and out-of-state influence on Alaska campaigns, brought at least a dozen Alaska Republicans with him to Donald Trump’s east coast elite golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey to collect out-of-state money to influence an Alaska campaign. Donald Trump, you may remember, is the one who fomented a violent insurrection attempt to overthrow of the United States government because he lost the election. He and the Tall One are buddies. The dozen or more Alaskans…
Shenanigans & a Secret Stalker!
It’s a shortened week because of the holiday, the legislature has gaveled out for now, and it seems that most of the political world was quiet during the fourth of July weekend. With one major exception. THE GOVERNOR DID SOMETHING GOOD! No, you don’t need to clean your glasses, he really did. Okay, granted, it was totally by accident and not what he intended to do at ALL, and he tried to worm out of it once it was done, but none the less. Last Thursday, Dunleavy made the big announcement that he was going to veto a proposed $4…
The Good, the Bad, & the Beginning of the End
NO BY PROXY Remember a few months ago when an angry rioting mob stormed the Capitol in Washington D.C. armed with bear spray, flag poles, baseball bats, and other assorted weaponry and tried to hunt down members of Congress, and overthrow a legal democratic election? Apparently some members of Congress would like to just gloss that over. Last week the House of Representatives voted 252-175 to create a bipartisan committee to investigate how that happened and what we ought to do about it. 35 Republicans voted for it. Don Young was not one of them. Don Young has missed 14.2% of roll…
Misfire and $$ Down the Toilet
SHOW ME THE MONEY It’s budget time in Juneau, and we’re looking at a strange set of circumstances that is complicating the process. Weirdly, it’s a giant influx of cash! You were not expecting that, were you? Joe Biden’s amazing American Rescue Plan means Alaska will receive about $1.1 billion, plus hundreds of millions more for education from K-UA, tribes and local governments, and infrastructure projects. You’ll recall Sen. Murkowski, Sen. Sullivan, and Rep. Young all voted against this bill. Guess they are not interested in bringing home the bacon anymore. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Now, the Alaska House and Senate must determine how to legally invest the money for the greater good of all Alaskans. Thankfully, there…
The Big Breakdown – Alaska Elections 2020
THE BIG BREAKDOWN It took two weeks, but at last we have the final numbers in Alaska’s 2020 election! We can officially say that in 2020, Alaska had more voters turn out than in any other election ever. That’s something! It’s also worthy of note that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won in Anchorage, and performed better statewide than any presidential ticket since Lyndon Johnson! That means Democrats were motivated, showed up, and are a larger force in the state than ever before. The final was 42.8 Biden/Harris to 52.8 Trump/Pence. The state we match most closely with is Iowa,…
Meet Your Republican Candidates, & Bring the Popcorn
It’s hard to know where to begin these days, but let’s start with something nasty that’s brewing which will directly affect the policy positions of Republican candidates, and tells us exactly what to expect if Republicans manage to take back the majority in the State House this November. HINT: It’s going to look a lot like the horrific beginning of last session only there won’t be anyone to stop it. WHAT AR THEY DUIN? A strained pun is about the best you can get out of the absolute fiscal disaster the Republican Party is cooking up. Remember when Tuckerman Babcock,…
Alaska Politicians Exposed – Stooges, Shills & Shenanigans
TALL TALES from Juneau and the DC Debacle AND IT’S ALLLL ON TAPE Sometimes you know things, but it’s nice to have them proven right out loud, through dramatic and surreptitious means. Such is the case with the immediately infamous “Pebble tapes.” If you haven’t heard them, make yourself a beverage and get ready to be a fly on the wall as your beautiful state and all its salmon get sold down the river (not the beautiful blue Nushagak of today – the contaminated, cyanide-filled Nushagak of tomorrow). We now know what our elected Republican leadership thinks of us,…