And nowhere in Alaska can you witness the traditional Election Eve battle of the signs like you can in two locations – The New Seward Highway and Northern Lights Blvd., and down the road at Northern Lights and Minnesota, in Anchorage.  It’s a combination of spectator sport, pissing contest, and ritual.

So, I took a little drive to see what was to be seen at these two prime areas of sign real estate.

I pulled up to a red light and noticed that Don Young for Congress supporters were on the island in between the north and southbound lanes of the New Seward. I grabbed my camera and snapped a couple pictures, and suddenly noticed the form of a person standing right next to my window. I jumped. I looked. It was Don Young himself peering in my window. I rolled down the window not knowing quite what to expect. “I’m not asking you for five dollars,” he announced. “I just want to shake your hand.” It was quite obvious he didn’t know who I was or he would not have asked to shake my hand. And I was glad he wasn’t expecting five dollars. I did shake his hand, though… just to enjoy the strangeness of the moment.

The next red light revealed the Joe Miller crowd, and an interesting little side show. There were snake flags aplenty. I find myself wondering why the fascination with a flag that was soundly rejected by the founding fathers? I remember studying the flag in American History class in grade school and feeling very relieved that we didn’t end up with the yellow snake flag as our national symbol. A venemous reptile isn’t really the face I wanted to portray to the world.  Little did I know I’d be staring at a bunch of snake flaggers all these years later.

And then I noticed that sitting on the back of a large yellow gas guzzling SUV was someone dressed like “Queen Lisa” in a mask, waving at the crowd with a little wrist wave, like Queens do.  On the street side of the truck were signs saying “Please Don’t Dethrone Me,” “Long Live the Aristocracy and the Elites,” and “Vote 4 Lisa, Sore Loser Party Candidate.”

Unable to resist, I pulled into the parking lot next to the Millerites, and rolled down my window to have a listen. “We’re surrounded by commies!” I heard. I was pretty sure they weren’t talking about me, but rather the KTUU News truck behind me.

The signs on the other side of the truck were all dedicated to slamming the media.

The acronyms were amusing, particularly the one for KTUU in which the signmaker tells us that the NBC affiliate wants to “Keep The Voter Uniformed [sic] Uneducated.” The [sic] part wasn’t actually on the sign. I only put it there because I assume that keeping the voter “uniformed” doesn’t actually have anything to do with the men and women in uniform.  Although with the socialist lamestream media, who knows? Maybe those darn Democrats are supporting some kind of Marxist fascist leftist plot to force everyone to wear a uniform when they vote, just to create bigger government and a voter uniform tax.  I wouldn’t put it past them.

Then a man with an extra tall Joe Miller sign started walking down the line of sign wavers, and presumably to try to get everyone pumped up to wave even harder, he yelled with an extra helping of testosterone, “We’ve got the EXTREME candidate! We’re the only ones with an EXTREME candidate! YEAHHH!”

Joe Miller and his wife were there on the corner waving and posing for pictures.

Midway down the parking lot were the Lisa Murkowski supporters. There were only about a half dozen of them, and no Lisa. Strangely, they were standing right in front of a parked truck with huge placards on the sides and the back of the vehicle that was facing out to the street. They said, “Tru Love” [sic] and then Lisa & Barack inscribed in a huge heart. I wasn’t quite sure why the Murkowskibots didn’t change locations, but there they stayed with the orchestrated backdrop provided free of charge by a Miller supporter.

Further down was a nice crowd for Ethan Berkowitz for Governor. Ethan and his wife were there also, and Ethan was out working the line of cars when the light turned red.

Across the street from there were the McAdams folk. They had a pretty decent turnout too. The day was cold, but not cold enough to dampen anyone’s spirits.

I decided to do a drive-by of prime intersection #2 just to see who was there. I discovered the most adorable sign waver ever.

Sean Parnell and his wife were working the other side of the street, and Scott and Romee McAdams were working the opposite corner, with another crowd of supporters. The McAdams campaign was the only one to have representation at both coveted intersections.  Since this is part contest, I thought I’d just throw that out there.

Just as I crossed over to the McAdams side, Scott and Romee crossed the street the other way. I thought I’d missed them and they were leaving, but it was just Scott crossing the street to say hello to the governor and shake his hand. A class act all the way, I thought.

By this time it was time to head to Carpenters Hall where Scott took the stage and delivered a nice rousing speech to supporters.

The whole McAdams clan was there (L-R) Romee, Gavin, Scott, Chloe and Katie.

Everyone remember to get out the vote tomorrow. Elections in this state are often decided by a handful of votes.  So grab a friend and remember to fill in the oval for Scott McAdams, Ethan Berkowitz, Harry Crawford, and one of the host of awesome Democratic candidates in the local races.  I’ll proudly be casting a vote for Janet Reiser!

If every Democrat votes for Scott McAdams, we’ll have it in a landslide. Let’s make it happen, and end this election cycle on a sweet note.

You can view it live on KTUU Channel 2, or live streaming at KTUU.com

I’ll be watching live, but feel free to blog it in the comments.  I’ve forgotten my laptop, but Mudflatter Writing from Alaska has loaned me hers to start you off!

The room is full of the hardest of the hard core supporters from all the camps and it promises to be a lively evening.  So, pop the corn and cozy up!

Please check the booth for any evidence of campaigning. In Homer, apparently, reports were received that each booth had a written list of the write-in candidates posted. This is electioneering, and absolutely illegal.

If you see anything irregular when you are early voting, please take a picture of it.

Let us know ASAP if you see anything in a booth or at the polling place itself like signs right outside the building, stickers in the booth or at the polling place, or buttons or bracelets left behind in the booth. All of these things are illegal.

If you discover something illegal, you can ask for these illegal things to be removed. Please also keep track of who you talked to at the polling place, and whether or not they were willing to take down the illegal item(s).

HERE are the early voting sites.

*UPDATE – The posted write-in candidates came from a judge clerk who apparently made a bad call and fixed the mistake as soon as they realized the problem. If I get any further details I’ll let you know.  The main point is to keep irregularities whether intentioned or innocent mistakes from happening.  Thanks to the voter who noticed the problem and made it known.  There are sure to be legal challenges in this election, but we need to keep them to a minimum if we can.

Contact Scott McAdams headquarters and send information to leslieridle@gmail(dot)com and you can also send them to me at akmuckraker@yahoo(dot)com.  Thank you for your efforts to keep this election honest.

Rumors have been swirling since the night of the Alaska gubernatorial primary that Republican Bill Walker might launch a write-in campaign after his defeat by current Republican governor Sean Parnell.

But, this morning, after measured and thoughtful consideration, he decided against it.

“I will not be running as a write-in candidate for governor,” said Walker, “but my commitment to Alaska and the critical issues that caused me to enter this over race one year ago remains strong.”

Hmmmm. I guess he figured a write-in campaign was basically impossible to win, but that he could still affect Alaska issues from the private sector until the day he might decide to run for office again. Interesting.

~I bore holes into Lisa Murkowski with my eyes

Elsewhere, across the nation, a similar series of events is playing out.

Rick Lazio, former congressman from Long Island ran in a primary for the Republican nomination for governor of New York against wingnut Teaparty candidate Carl Paladino. Paladino actually pulled it off, but it wasn’t over yet…

Although Lazio lost the Republican nomination, he qualified to run for governor in November’s general action on the Conservative Party ticket. Since then, GOP leaders in the state have urged him to drop his bid in order to clear the way for a two-way contest between Paladino, who is strongly backed by Tea Party supporters, and Cuomo.

But this morning, he announced he would do just that.

Hmmmm. The establishment Republican who lost to the Tea Party guy has moved out of the way so that there can be a straight-up two-way race between the nominated Republican and the nominated Democrat. Interesting.

~I bore holes into Lisa Murkowski with my eyes

Here at The Mudflats, we take pride in not being party hacks. While the writers on this site clearly have certain political leanings, I don’t think that there is any question that when a politician of any party acts badly, we’ll call them out.

Case in point: Ethan Berkowitz and Alaska Hire. Now, I know that Alaska Hire is a mighty popular draw for politicians. After all, what could be an easier thing to support? Alaskan jobs for Alaskans! It’s cat nip to voters. Of course, there is one small problem with the whole Alaska Hire schtick: Alaska Hire is unconstitutional. Period.

Now, in recent weeks, I’ve questioned whether Joe Miller really went to law school, and whether he is a liar or an idiot.  It’s time to ask the same of Ethan Berkowitz. In a recently released commercial Ethan states, “Instead of waiting another 30 years, it’s time we build an All Alaska Pipeline ourselves with All Alaska workers. And it’s time we had a Governor that stopped letting Alaskans get taken.”

Which brings us to the not-so-little matter of the fact that Ethan — an attorney — is saying what is politically expedient rather than what is true (and yes, I’m being far kinder with Ethan than I was with Joe Miller. Just call me the lamestream media, although as a sometime blogger, I doubt that I truly qualify).

The part of Ethan’s commercial that I find to be objectionable is this: All Alaska workers.  While it’s a noble goal, to be sure, it is simply not possible.  Both the United States Supreme Court and the Alaska Supreme Court have found Alaska Hire to be unconstitutional.

In Hicklin v. Orbeck, 437 U.S. 518 (1978), the U.S. Supreme Court shot down an attempt by the State of Alaska to reduce unemployment by requiring that all Alaskan oil and gas leases, easements or right-of-way permits for pipelines contain a requirement giving hiring preference to qualified Alaskans over non-Alaskans.  A group of non-resident workers brought suit against the then-Commissioner of Labor (Orbeck) to prevent enforcement of this statute and have it declared unconstitutional. The Supreme Court held that this statute violated Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article IV, Section 2 of the United States Constitution.  This clause provides that “the Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the Several States.”  Not to be confused with the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the 14th Amendment, what this clause basically means is that when it comes to fundamental rights, one state cannot discriminate against the citizens of another state. Employment is one of the fundamental rights covered under the Clause.

Note, however, that if something is not a fundamental privilege of citizenship, like subsidized education, then states may reasonably discriminate against out-of-state residents. This is why states can offer lower tuition at state universities for in-state residents, and why there are residency requirements for the Permanent Fund Dividend.

The Alaska Hire case, however, involved the fundamental right of employment.  Unless the state has a good reason for the discrimination against non-residents — for example, that Alaska’s unemployment was particularly high, and non-resident workers were the cause of the high unemployment (or as the Court puts it, “a peculiar source of the evil”) — then it cannot be done. Additionally, even if the state could demonstrate that the non-residents were the source of unemployment, it must further demonstrate a substantial relationship between the legislation and the ill to be addressed.  In other words, the Alaska Hire bill would have to specifically remedy the problem of unemployment for Alaskans unable to find jobs because of non-resident workers. Here, while Alaska’s unemployment rate was high at the time that the bill was passed, this was due to a lack of education or training rather than an influx of job opportunities. Further, even if the non-residents were the source of Alaska’s unemployment, the statute was not tailored narrowly enough to address only that problem; it gave the hiring preference to all Alaskans rather than just those who were unemployed because of out-of-state workers.

Approximately a decade after the Hicklin decision, the Alaska Supreme Court determined that a different Alaska Hire statute — this one giving a hiring preference to residents of economically-depressed zones within the state — violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Alaska Constitution (“all persons are equal and entitled to equal rights, opportunities and protection under the law.” Article 1, Section 1). In State v. Enserch Construction, Inc., 787 P.2d 624 (Alaska 1989), the Supreme Court held that this type of regional hiring preference violated the Equal Protection Clause. The Court determined that the right to engage in an economic endeavor (the right to work) is an important right that “….the government may impair only if its interest in taking the challenged action is important and the nexus between the action and the interest served is close.”  In essence, this is the same analysis used in Hicklin, above: why is the state doing this, and does the law achieve the goal in a proper manner? The Court answered in the negative: “the disparate treatment of unemployed workers in one region in order to confer an economic benefit on similarly situated workers in another region is not a legitimate legislative goal.” Id. at 634.

It’s readily apparently from these two seminal cases, then, that what Ethan Berkowitz proposes to do (and in fairness, what many, MANY other politicians and legislators have attempted to do) is unconstitutional. As a lawyer, Ethan should know better; for attorneys, this is pretty basic, black letter law. Political expediency is not an excuse: this proposal is flatly unconstitutional. Shame on you, Ethan, for blatant pandering.

As a side note, it has been suggested that the State can use project labor agreements (PLAs) to achieve Alaska Hire goals.  This idea has already been rejected by the Alaska Supreme Court in Laborers Local #942 v. Lampkin, 956 P.2d 422 (Alaska 1998). The state cannot accomplish by indirect means (PLAs) what it would be unable to do by direct means (a law).  And yes, I am aware that there are Alaska Hire laws on the books today, including in AGIA. Let me just say that once challenged in court, they will most certainly be deemed unconstitutional. Alaska has a much lower unemployment rate than most states, and frankly, a lot of unemployment in Alaska can best be described as voluntary.

The best solution? First, stop lying. Second, train Alaskans. The best way to get Alaskans working is to ensure that they are qualified for these jobs, not by making promises that you have no way of keeping.

***UPDATE and clarification from Legal Eagle Readers:

In my haste to post this article, I realize that I short-changed what is a very important topic: Project Labor Agreements. In doing so, I may have created the impression that the use of PLAs is illegal or unconstitutional in all cases. This is certainly not true.

The point of my comments about the use of PLAs by the State to achieve Alaska Hire goals is that the STATE cannot achieve by contract what it could not do by statute. To give an example, the State couldn’t sign contracts with vendors that required them to discriminate against women and minorities; that would be an attempt to do something by contract that the State could not do by legislation. The Lampkin case referenced above (http://www.touchngo.com/sp/html/sp-4958.htm) involved Fairbanks North Star Borough’s decision to require successful bidders on a construction project to sign PLAs with local unions. The Alaska Supreme Court analyzed the Borough’s PLA requirement using the equal protection analysis described above; because the right to work is an important one, the Borough’s interest in the PLA requirement must be important, and the nexus between the requirement and the Borough’s interest must be close. Because the project in question was the largest and most complex in the Borough’s history, and because the Borough had specific articulated reasons for requiring the use of a PLA, the Supreme Court found that this requirement withstood equal protection scrutiny. The Borough’s requirement that a successful bidder sign a PLA was upheld.

This isn’t to say, however, that the State itself can use PLAs to achieve Alaska Hire goals. In a 1999 opinion, the Department of Law analyzed the Lampkin decision as it relates to the legality of Project Labor Agreements (http://www.law.state.ak.us/scripts/dtSearch/opinions_search.html):

Generally, project labor agreements that serve a legitimate and important state interest and that contain terms that are closely tailored to achieving or protecting that state interest will probably be deemed constitutional, even if they impair the right of non-union workers or employers to engage in economic endeavors. However, a project labor agreement that is focused on creating regional hiring preferences would likely violate the constitution.

This opinion is well-worth a read for its analysis of the Lampkin decision, and why the Supreme Court held in favor of the Borough. It also stated:

In light of past legal precedent, a project labor agreement may not have as its focus or goal the establishment and enforcement of regional hiring preferences. Regional hiring preferences have been declared unconstitutional under the equal protection clause. The department may not accomplish indirectly through a project labor agreement that which it may not accomplish directly in its contracts. [citations omitted]

The point of all of this is that the STATE cannot use PLAs to achieve Alaska Hire goals unless it can demonstrate that its interest in Alaska Hire is important, and the nexus between the use of a PLA and interest is close. Yes, the State can use PLAs as a general matter, and there are a lot of great reasons for it to do so, as demonstrated by the Lampkin case. The State and local governments should be using union labor — period. However, if the State is using that PLA to accomplish an impermissible objective — if what it is trying to do without violate the constitution if it were a law — then it would be most likely be stricken. This is not to say that PLAs cannot be used, or that a union hall can’t have hiring preferences. It only means that the State itself cannot require a PLA for the specific goal of Alaska Hire. If the State has a valid reason to require that a successful bidder sign a PLA, as the Borough did in Lampkin, and that reason is permissible under the above analysis, then it’s fine. If the State’s reason to require the signing of a PLA is for Alaska Hire, then there’s really not much of a question that such a requirement will not withstand judicial scrutiny.

In terms of Ethan Berkowitz’s ad, this distinction is significant. A gubernatorial candidate cannot actually promise that only Alaskans will build a gas pipeline, because the State generally cannot make that promise unless very specific conditions exist (such as a very low Alaska unemployment rate that is directly linked to non-resident workers). Frankly, those conditions don’t exist in Alaska today. Of course, this is largely political puffery, and perhaps Ethan knows darn well that Alaska Hire is generally unconstitutional. That brings us back to our original question: does he not know this, or is he aware and merely stating what is politically expedient in order to get votes? I’m inclined to believe the latter.

In 2006, a relatively unknown small town mayor in Alaska toppled the incumbent Republican governor in the primary. Garnering more than 50% of the vote in a three-way race, and leaving the incumbent in the dust with 19%, the political career of Sarah Palin was born. The governor that was sent packing was Frank Murkowski. He’d been Alaska’s Junior Senator under Ted Stevens for decades, and decided to come home and try his hand at the governorship. It didn’t work out very well. His mismanagement, pandering to the oil companies, corrupt administration, and subsequent devastating defeat would have seemed to end the Murkowski reign in Alaska – except for one little thing. Frank Murkowski had appointed his daughter, former state lawmaker Lisa Murkowski to fill the empty senate seat.

Less corrupt, less conservative, and harder-working than dear ol’ dad, Lisa Murkowski appealed to the large chunk of centrist Republicans, centrist Democrats, and Independents which make up the majority of Alaska voters. Her approval ratings soared into the high 70s, and there they stayed. The Murkowski dynasty appeared poised to last another lifetime.

One of the casualties, however, of Lisa’s installment to her father’s senate seat was Sarah Palin. She’d been interviewed for the job, along with a handful of others, and had ultimately been rejected by Frank Murkowski, in favor of family ties. Palin was not pleased. Alaskans didn’t much like the royal appointment either. A ballot measure put to voters and passed into law stripped sitting senators of the ability to make appointments to fill their own seats. It would now be left to a vote of the people via special election. Ironically, that very ballot also contained Lisa Murkowski’s first legitimate run for the senate on her own merits. She won.

Fast forward to 2008. After Palin’s failed VP run, rumors swirled that Sarah would exact revenge and make a run for Murkowski’s senate seat when she came up for re-election in 2010. The Republican Party began to grumble. To ease fears, Sarah made nice and wrote her very first check from SarahPAC to Lisa Murkowski in the amount of $5000. But the uneasy truce was not to last.

Former Palin campaign supporter and family friend, attorney Joe Miller from Fairbanks decided he was going to be the David to take a shot at the Goliath of the Murkowski family. First came a formal endorsement from Todd Palin. Then came the formal endorsement from Sarah herself. Miller got a little bump in the polls, but not much. Then came the endorsement of the Tea Party Express, and the financial floodgates opened. In a market where $10 will buy you a radio ad, and the entire state has only 600,000 people, the torrent of money that the Tea Party brought created an instant professional campaign the likes of which Alaskan candidates seldom have. Slick ads, four-color mailers, a revamped website, campaign signs everywhere – Miller’s numbers started to grow, but still lagged by well into double digits.

But in the last two weeks, things began to change. Just when it looked like the Palin endorsement wasn’t working as well as expected, the final media blitz hit. Every available moment of air time on TV and radio was overtaken by Miller ads – Murkowski is a liberal! Murkowski is part of a political dynasty. She’s entitled. She says one thing and does another. She’s sold out for political power in D.C. She’s a liberal, and also by the way, she’s a liberal.

The Murkowski campaign, believing in their own numbers, her popularity with constituents, and in the reasonable nature of most Alaskans, didn’t seem to think that catastrophe was nipping at their heels.

In the final 48 hours, a popular local radio host interviewed Miller and framed Murkowski as a “rabid abortionist.” This in itself would have riled up the Christian conservative base, but on top of that there was an added bit of ballot bait this time around. Ballot Measure 2 stated that doctors of any girl 17 years of age or younger needed to notify her parents if she sought to have an abortion, or face felony charges. Like red meat to the wolves, Ballot Measure 2 brought out the Right to Life crowd in force. Churches devoted entire services on the Sunday before primary day to talking about why congregants should support Measure 2. Signs promoting “Alaskans for Parental Notification” showed up in their lobbies.

The beneficiaries of the voters who came out to support Measure 2 were Miller, Sean Parnell and Mead Treadwell. Parnell was Palin’s Lt. Governor who assumed the seat after she resigned. Treadwell, the Lt. Governor nominee was one of the top donors to Yes on 2, with credit on the website. All three men appear to have won their respective slots on the party ticket – Parnell with the Republican gubernatorial nomination, Treadwell as the GOP’s Lt. Governor candidate, and Miller officially once the absentee ballots are counted. As a measure of the issue’s ability to bring out the vote, there were 10,000 votes cast just for the ballot measure alone, with no senate candidate even selected. The ones who chose a senatorial candidate while they were there anyway, presumably also numbered in the thousands.

Another mitigating factor were progressives who, trying to play political chess and overthrow Murkowski, crossed over and voted for Miller. The logic was that Miller, a far right fringe candidate, would be far easier for the Democratic candidate to beat in a head to head race with all Alaskans in the voting mix. And this may come to pass.

Scott McAdams, little known to Alaskans outside the southeast pan-handle, is a popular small town mayor. He runs the city of Sitka and has balanced budgets, focused on education, served on the school board, and has even figured out how to sell water to India. He was a deckhand on a commercial fishing boat all over the state, and is all the kinds of things that Sarah Palin said she was, before the media began to shine a flashlight in all the dark corners. He’s a “real Alaskan” in the style of the politicians of old, before oil was discovered and turned a libertarian blue state reddish.

I say redd-ish because despite the meme that Alaska is ruby red, and that it’s full of a bunch of Palin-style conservatives, Alaska is actually very… plum-colored. Democrats have an equal number in the state senate, and in November stand a good chance of getting a decisive majority in both the senate and the house. It has one Democratic Senator and one Republican Senator. Before Frank Murkowski and Sarah Palin, Alaska had a two-term Democratic governor. The Anchorage Assembly has a progressive majority. It’s a complicated state.

McAdams who unlike Miller, is a fiscally conservative moderate Democrat, has executive experience, was born and raised in Alaska, and has worked with his hands in the fishing industry, suddenly finds himself with an incredible opportunity. One could even say that attorney and Yale Law grad Joe Miller who was born and raised “Outside” is kind of “elite,” while McAdams is all about Alaska, and “real people.”

And despite what they say, Alaskans do like their power in D.C. and the perks it brings home. After Palin rejected a portion of federal stimulus money for her state, there were demonstrations in the streets, and the Republican legislature eventually overturned her decision, bringing in much needed funds to assist Alaskans in rural areas to make their homes energy efficient for the winter, fix crumbling infrastructure, and a host of other things. Electing a minority party freshman on the outer fringes of conservative philosophy and who is doomed to be powerless might not sound too appealing to Alaskans who are used to the likes of Ted Stevens, The Murkowski Dynasty, and Don Young who for decades made a career by bringing home the congressional bacon.

And don’t underestimate the damage that Miller has done to the Republican Party and to good will of those who actually really liked Lisa Murkowski recognizing that she actually did work hard to benefit the state, and that she wasn’t… crazy. There will be many Republicans who will not be able to bring themselves to vote for Miller, and who will investigate and ultimately hop to the other side of the aisle to vote for McAdams. As we’ve just witnessed, all it takes is money to get the message out and bring voters to the polls. Our newest Republican candidate for Senate made that very clear.

All in all this makes for some fascinating political theater up here in the Last Frontier, and a golden opportunity for Democrats to reclaim Alaska’s past and usher in a new era of moderate, hard-working sensible and centrist Democrats to guide the state to a profitable, post-oil future. Nationally, that’s one more coveted chair in the Club of 100 from a very unlikely place.

In the words of a Murkowski campaign worker last night at election central in downtown Anchorage at the prospect of Senator Joe Miller, “The world as we know it is coming apart at the seams, and frankly I’m terrified.”

This article is cross-posted at The Huffington Post Buzz it up!

~Thick and fast they came at last, and more, and more, and more!

The old adage is true – you play, you pay.  I have almost completed shoveling a path to my desk, after returning from vacation, and the only thing that’s going to help today is an Oyster Roundup where I tell you all the things I’d be writing about if the day were 80 hours long, or if I had the ability to freeze time for all of you while I hung out behind the keyboard for a couple days.

So here’s a half dozen oysters plus one.  Shuck ‘em!

Captain Zero is a No Show… Again

On the Shannyn Moore Show earlier this week, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Walker said he’d been at 27 debates and campaign events in recent weeks, compared to a whopping FIVE where Governor Sean Parnell showed up.  Pretty soon he’s going to have to start counting on the other hand…

But no worries. Parnell has used the death of the late Senator Ted Stevens to “suspend campaign activities” and continue to be a no show.  Any excuse will do. At the recent candidates forum at the Anchorage Baptist Temple:

(Parnell) was represented by a vase of flowers on a small round table that also held a  framed letter addressed to “Dear Anchorage Baptist Temple Congregation.”

Personally, I think he should have been represented by an empty suit… But that’s just me.

Snubbage

I continue to get “you didn’t hear it from me” reports from various lawmakers and politicos from both sides of the aisle, that the Palins were pretty much snubbed at the Stevens funeral. “Nobody wanted to have anything to do with them,” was my favorite quote.  And also too, there was apparently a giant eye roll when Senator Daniel Inouye, talking about bipartisanship made the remark that the Vice President who had just delivered the eulogy was a Democrat.  Maybe someone will come up with a video of her rolling her eyes so she can link to it and say, “Look! I didn’t roll my eyes!”

Also, there was a tweet from Palin’s Twitter account which came at 3pm Alaska time, which was right in the middle of the service.  It didn’t come from a Blackberry though, so it was probably one of her ghost tweeters telling you what she thinks, and what you should think.  They obviously don’t follow her personal schedule very closely.

Sleepage

Most inappropriate moment of the Stevens funeral though goes to Ralph Seekins, former lawmaker from Fairbanks.  He apparently pulled the trifecta – talking on the cell phone, sleeping, and using his laptop.  He did wait for the service to be technically over before the laptop part, but not the cell phone or the sleeping.  Is that worse than making out during Schindler’s List?

Or maybe Teaparty candidate Joe Miller wins the ‘most inappropriate’ title.  He was speaking to a TV crew immediately following the service and basically campaigning – talking about why he was the best candidate for senate. (Cringe)

No On One!

The Alaska Public Offices Commission is assessing a fine against the main backers of Ballot Measure 1 to the tune of $339,000.  The ironically named “Alaskans for Open Government” is balking at the penalty.  Seems they failed to file as a group, and didn’t file timely spending statements.

The stated aim of ballot Measure 1 is to prevent public money from being used to fund lobbying. They want people to think, “Hey, that sounds good!”   BUT… (you knew there was a but coming) if this law was enacted, thousands of average Alaskans would lose their ability to petition their state and local governments, and be unable to donate freely to candidates of their choice.

The Alaska attorney general has already issued the opinion that the initiative won’t stand up to a constitutional challenge, meaning Alaska taxpayers will have to foot the bill to undo it if it passes. So remember this Tuesday to vote NO ON ONE.

Vitamin Democracy!

Here’s your daily dose of Vitamin Democracy!  And it’s a thank you note!  Enjoy a nice positive act of gratitude by thanking BOTH of Alaska’s senators for their support of the UPS pilots facing unnecessary furloughs.  This is a huge hit to Anchorage, where 262 good paying and important jobs will be lost.  People with good jobs means money and involvement in the community.  This loss will hurt us all.  Please show your support.  One click, and you can send a postcard! CLICK HERE! And pass the link on to your friend, family, and coworkers.

Senator Begich Welcomes the FAA to AK

Sen. Mark Begich is hosting Federal Aviation Administrator (FAA) Randy Babbitt next week for a series of meetings and events focused on flight safety, the importance of aviation in Alaska’s economy, and the critical role of aviation in the state. Babbitt is making his first trip to Alaska as administrator.

“Alaskans know better than anyone the unique and important role aviation plays in our state,” Begich said. “Flying is the only reliable, year-round means of transportation for many Alaska communities. I look forward to talking to Administrator Babbitt and showing him how the use of new technology in Alaska can be implemented across the country and make air travel safer for everyone.”

A series of high profile fatal crashes, including one that caused the death of the late Senator Ted Stevens has put aviation safety at the front of everyone’s minds.  Mark Begich’s father, the late Congressman Nick Begich was also killed in a plane crash.

He’s No Quitter

OK, you remember when I put up a picture of the WORST political sign ever? I like to call it the Regurgitated Saffron Pasta Special.  It belongs to Lt. Gov candidate Jay Ramras (R).  Well, here’s the best – also belonging to a Republican.  Now mind you, I wouldn’t vote for Ralph Samuels for governor in a million years.  Actually… that’s a lie.  I wouldn’t vote for him in a million bazillion years.  But this is truly awesome. (h/t Mudflatter @jrgwynn!)

Until last week, we believed that both Democratic candidates for governor were good choices. We believed that both put the interests of Alaskans first, supported Democratic achievements, and could be effective leaders working across the aisle to pass legislation and to support policy and existing legislation that benefited the people of Alaska. Many of our readers support Hollis French. Many of our readers support Ethan Berkowitz.  But very few had substantial angst about the other.

But last week something happened that rocked the boat, and by ‘rocked the boat’ we mean pitched the boat to the point where a lot of the crew got washed over the side.  And this is not good.

ACES v. PPT in a Battle to the Death

First, a little background. As much as we disliked and disagreed with many things that came out of the Palin administration, there was one piece of legislation that was very good. It’s called ACES (Alaska’s Clear and Equitable Share).

ACES was Alaska’s answer to one of the most corrupt pieces of legislation ever – the PPT (Petroleum Profits Tax). The PPT was Frank Murkowski’s baby and it was crafted under his watch. Under the PPT, Murkowski had set the rate for Alaska’s share of oil industry profits low – so low that the oil companies themselves really liked it, which should tell you something. It made money for Alaska, but much less than a fair share.

And in a not so mysterious turn of events, the corruption of oil companies, and the oil services company VECO who found that Republican legislators could be bought cheap, resulted in lots of lawmakers going to jail. That was 2006, Palin’s first year, and Ethan Berkowitz’s last year in the legislature.

And so, there was a special session of the legislature in 2007 to discuss what to do about the PPT and how to get a fair share for Alaska. It was grueling. Numbers were crunched, heads were bonked together, there were late nights, compromises, arguments between the oily legislators and the ones who really wanted to see Alaskans benefit. It was a bloodbath. It was ugly. It was the reason people say making law is like making sausage. When the PPT was passed, 10% of the legislature was under investigation or indictment for selling the state down the river for the oil companies – John Cowdery-R (Senate Rules Chair), Tom Anderson-R (Chair, Labor & Commerce), Vic Kohring-R (Chair, Oil & Gas), Bruce Weyrauch-R, Ben Stevens-R (Pres. of Senate), and Pete Kott-R (Speaker of House). There may still be more to come.

The Democrats risked their political lives on ACES because they knew it was that important. It lives in the memories of those who were there like a war they survived together.

ACES Wins!

Ultimately, the Democrats in the legislature, and even a few independent Republicans who left their party ranks worked hard to take Palin’s somewhat tepid proposal and made it stronger, added important investment incentives , and closed oil tax loopholes that were sending billions in windfall profits to Exxon, Conoco-Phillips and BP. ACES was passed, and the force behind it was people like Hollis French, Bill Wielechowski, Les Gara, Beth Kerttula and many others. The Palin administration would never have gotten this legislation passed without their help. The public was elated, and at last Alaskans felt like they weren’t getting fleeced. It was a hard-earned achievement.  Legislators from both sides joined to work on improvements to the bill that passed, and to get it passed at the last minute, over substantial oil company opposition. And right now, we’re getting our fair share in a state where the oil companies pour huge amounts of money into getting legislators elected who want to stop us from getting it.

ACES was the biggest political achievement in a long time, and the final product was led by our Democratic legislators.

Of course, you know the story of what happened between Palin and the Democrats… After the VP nomination, under the bus they went, and now they’re evil Marxist-Socialist-Leftist-…whatever. She’s happy to take credit for ACES, but conveniently forgets that the Republicans were the ones trying to stop her, and the Democrats were the ones who allowed her to put the ACES feather in her cap. So why throw them under the bus? Because it suited her political purposes and her ambition. Period.

Show Me the Money!

Fast forward to today. ACES is clipping along, and doing exactly what it was supposed to do – mutually benefiting both the oil producers and making money for the state that owns the resources – Alaska.

So here’s the important question. What happens to all that money from ACES?  Where does it go? It goes to things like education, health care, renewable energy projects, foster care, the university, property tax relief, fire stations, airports, senior care, road repair, and savings. If not for the influx of ACES money, the state would likely have cried poverty, not funded those things, and the people on the losing end would have been US.

To date it’s meant $5.1 billion for the Constitutional Budget Reserve, and $1.25 billion into the Statutory Budget Reserve. These are the two major savings accounts the state uses to protect against future lean years. That sounds pretty good right about now.

And numbers show that there are more jobs on the North Slope since ACES passed then there used to be, and 2009 was an all time high.

What About the Oil Companies? Poor Babies…

Right now, poor ConocoPhillips is saying that the $8 billion they’ve made in Alaska profits over the last four years, just isn’t enough, despite the fact that Alaska represents 12% of their worldwide investment, and 37.9% of their worldwide profits.  Exxon wants more too – the same Exxon that has reported annual profits that make it the most profitable corporation in the history of the world. And BP wants more too. They all want more.

They all want more. They always do. More, more, more. You can’t blame them. They are corporations, and that’s what corporations do.

BUT, we can hold leaders accountable to fight for Alaska to get its fair share of the profits, to see what works, and to encourage success. It is our oil after all. Says so right in the Constitution.

Allegiances

So right now, allegiances fall out like this:

Sean Parnell (Republican incumbent and former Palin Lt. Gov.) Pro-ACES, but pitched the idea of rollbacks between $250-$500 million a year, last session.
Ralph Samuels (Republican oil candidate) Anti-ACES
Bill Walker (Republican candidate, pro-AK jobs) good with ACES
Hollis French (Democratic Senator) Pro-ACES
Ethan Berkowitz (Democratic former legislator) ANTI-ACES….

Chins Hit Desks

If you’re wondering why on earth a Democratic candidate (or any candidate who’s not shilling for the oil companies) who knows all of what you now know could possibly be in favor of axing ACES, you’re not the only one. ACES was basically miracle legislation that could only have occurred when it did and how it did, with the governor and the legislature that were there at the time.  It’s basically like the stars and planets coming into a rare alignment that created a giant glittering dollar sign in the sky right over Alaska.

Last week in the Anchorage Daily News, we learned about Ethan Berkowitz’s new plan… to do away with ACES. It’s OK if you’re still sitting in stunned silence. We were too. And so were scads of Democrats across the state.

His plan is to operate on a royalty system. But he has no details except that he just knows it will be better than ACES. He says he’s open to ideas, and that he’s “starting a conversation.”

Then he says he’ll take all the money that Alaskan oil produces, that we need for all those things we mentioned before – schools, health care, housing, the University, savings, roads and infrastructure – and he’ll put it into Alaska’s Permanent Fund and that’ll be great because it will mean that your annual dividend check will be bigger!

Then he said in an appearance on KUDO, chuckling, that he likes to call the PPT the “Palin Parnell Tax.” Why doesn’t he like to call it the Murkowski tax? Or the Corrupt Bastards Club tax? That’s what it was. It seemed an awful lot like he was trying to sound like he was anti-Palin and anti-Parnell to justify his new plan because he was talking to a progressive audience that generally doesn’t like Palin. Maybe he figured they wouldn’t notice.

And after Democrats were still rubbing their jaws from the right hook of the op-ed, they got one right between the eyes, in the form of an email from the Berkowitz campaign:

What the ?!?

As we all know, the Permanent Fund is our money, for our future. Most importantly, a bigger permanent fund means a bigger permanent fund dividend, so Ethan’s plan ultimately puts more money in your pocket!

It’s up to us to educate Alaskans about Ethan’s visionary plan. Please write a letter to the editor about Ethan’s visionary plan!

Here are the details everyone needs to know:
1. With Ethan’s plan, the royalties go to Alaskans. With Sean Parnell’s ACES tax, the money goes to the government. Ethan thinks Alaskans surviving these hard economic times need the money more than our government, which is already running billions of dollars in surpluses. The Royalty system ensures that the Legislature doesn’t run off and spend your children’s college fund on pet projects. ACES gives YOUR money to the Legislature. Ethan’s Royalty plan sends YOUR money to YOU.

[It isn't Sean Parnell's ACES tax. It's everyone's. And "the government" isn't some scary entity that has nothing to do with you. It IS you. It's schools and roads and health care. It's bridges, and foster care and the university system. It's even property tax relief.]

2. With Ethan’s Royalty plan, the government works harder and, as a result, your PFD gets bigger. With Parnell’s ACES system, the government doesn’t try and you just get by. Ethan knows YOU are working hard for your paycheck, and he thinks it’s time the government did too. Sean Parnell telling you “it’s too hard to negotiate field by field” is just another way of saying “I don’t want to try, so let’s keep the mediocre system we have”. Ethan thinks that is insulting. Under the Royalty system, sure, the government, including Ethan, works harder, but it’s you who takes home the bigger check year after year!

[Bumper sticker slogans aside, if you think that $6 billion that we never had before is "mediocre" then come up with an actual plan to explain how it's going to be more. Otherwise, we think it's pretty darn good.]

3. With Ethan’s Royalty system, the Permanent Fund grows and grows. It’s PFD insurance! When the oil is long gone, Ethan’s Royalty system will leave a bigger Permanent Fund for our families and all Alaskans. With ACES, your family will have to scrape by for generations to come. Ethan isn’t going to let that happen. That’s not what leaders do.

[Scrape by for generations to come? Big fat dividend check in your pocket instead of going to the big bad government? This is sounding an awful lot like Republican fear-based talking points. And "leaders" should have a plan to explain why we should scrap something that's actually working.]

Let’s spread the word. Visit our website and write a letter to the editor now so that more Alaskans know that Ethan has a visionary plan to put more money in our pockets!

[Wonder how many letters will pop up in the ADN that regurgitate talking points?]

If Ethan Berkowitz’s “visionary plan” had been in place in the past, it would have taken $2.5 billion away from schools, and roads and all those things we just mentioned – just this year alone.  Imagine what that would look like. The permanent fund has lost almost $200,000,000 with our investments in BP since the Gulf disaster. The return on funding a renewable energy project in rural Alaska? Priceless.

We’d like to know what rational policymaker thinks you can take $2.5 billion in annual revenue away from funding our basic services, and do anything other than create poverty in education, health care, and crumbling roads and bridges.

Berkowitz then says that maybe he’ll only apply his plan to new fields. If the plan is so great, then why only new fields?  Why leave the majority of the fields with a system he claims is no good? We have no good answer other than coming up with a plan before rooting to dismantle an existing one that’s working.

And the state can put extra money into the permanent fund any time it wants to, and it has regularly done so over the years.

It’s pretty clear to us that Ethan Berkowitz is playing politics instead of policy.

And, even though Palin and Berkowitz passed each other in the revolving door of Juneau, as she was coming in and he was going out, it looks like he picked up at least one annoying trait from her – how to throw his friends under the bus. That’s what he did to every Democratic legislator this week. In trying to criticize the work of his opponent Senator Hollis French for finally getting Alaskans a fair share for our oil in 2007, he also dissed every other Democrat in the legislature. And we think that’s pretty sad.

Had ACES not passed, we would likely be in deficit spending now. “Ethan’s visionary plan” actually endangers the PFD because, if you’ll remember, the last time the state didn’t have money for government, proposals popped up everywhere to raid PFD, reinstate income tax and enact a state sales tax. He should know this because he voted to do all of that – to dip into the PFD, and to implement a sales and income tax instead of attempt to raise oil taxes.

It seems clear to us that Berkowitz is looking for issues to run on rather than issues to govern on, and that he’s willing to throw his friends and his party under the bus for his own political gain. And it brings us no joy to say it, but this isn’t about who our friends are, it’s about the future of Alaska.

Meep, meep, meep! Captain Zero Alert!

I’ve only wanted to hug Don Young once. And it was when, during their primary race to become the Republican candidate for Alaska’s lone Congressional seat, Young dubbed Parnell “Captain Zero.” It made me smile. And it stuck. Which made me smile again.

It’s one of those things we can all agree on – a Kumbaya moment when we can invite the likes of Dan Fagan and Don Young to come sit around the campfire, toast a marshmallow and agree that we all can’t stand the governor.

Granted, our reasons aren’t always the same, but we can hope that if the left and the right keep after it, eventually Captain Zero will smile his toothy smile, wave his empty wave, and fly right into the side of a giant skyscraper.

Here’s the latest irritation to add to the growing list that includes denying health care to more than a thousand children and a couple hundred pregnant women, creating cushy jobs for sitting legislators, and vetoing millions in renewable energy projects.

Seems that SP 2.0, (the new version of SP after that other governor…) has decided to pick up where she left off by continuing the state’s lawsuit against the federal government to get the polar bear delisted as a threatened species. Apparently some shocking new evidence has come to light that shows the feds have grossly underestimated the impact of the designation of area on the north slope of Alaska as “critical polar bear habitat.”

Where did this information come from? Who is refuting the findings of the federal government? Who says that whatever sea ice we have left isn’t really important for polar bears who hunt there for seals? Well, you’ll be happy to know the source is completely impartial. Completely.

An independent economic review, paid for by the state and a private corporation, estimates the designation will cost hundreds of millions of dollars in added expense for the oil industry and lost revenue for state and local governments.

The state, and a private corporation? Really. Somehow “independent” seems like a stretch. And mind you, the polar bears were listed as threatened not by a bunch of hummus-eatin’, natural fiber-wearin’ bear huggers. They were listed by Dirk Kempthorne, who headed the Department of the Interior under George W. Bush. THAT’s how threatened they actually are. But fear not, Alaskans. Captain Zero is ready to swoop to our defense.

“We will continue to fight improper listings and critical habitat designations with sound science and cost data,” Parnell said in a prepared statement.

Alaskans can now sleep tight in the knowledge that our money isn’t going for bogus stuff like health care for children. Instead we’re fighting the good fight by sueing the feds over polar bears and their use of …what’s that thing called again?…. oh, yeah. “SCIENCE.” The kind that doesn’t trail back to oil. And we thought Sean Parnell had given up his job with Conoco Phillips. Silly us.

Slicker than an oily fish, emptier than his own suit, able to leap over thousands of sick kids in a single bound… It’s a shill, it’s a hack, it’s…. Captain Zero!

Those Alaskans prone to a more cynical outlook might say that the Alaska summer is already over, based on the rain we’ve been experiencing most of the last two weeks.  However, I choose to believe that the rain is merely an opportunity to enjoy indoor events…or in the very least, an opportunity to use those expensive-to-rent canopies!

Saturday, after our family spent the morning and early afternoon at the Scottish Highland Games, I skipped over to the home of Patrick and Patti Higgins (Pat is on  the Anchorage School Board while Patti is the Chairwoman of the Democratic Party).  I joined a number of prominent Anchorage names (including Assemblywoman Harriet Drummond, pictured above) at a fundraiser for the Democratic Candidate for US Senate, Sitka Mayor Scott McAdams.  In keeping with their pattern of excellent fundraiser cuisine, they were serving fried turkey.

I went because I wanted to meet Candidate McAdams.  I’ve been wanting to meet Scott for awhile because I’ve heard so much about him.  True to those descriptions, I found him to be an energetic, enthusiastic and forward-thinking candidate…someone I could get excited about as a member of Alaska’s Congressional Team.

…and the turkey SERIOUSLY ROCKED as well!

To donate to Scott McAdams for US Senate, GO HERE!

Sunday morning we were greeted with an attack from our leaky roof.  However, we stuck a bowl under it and braved the rain to attend the Union Solidarity Picnic at Anchorage’s Downtown Parkstrip.

The event was emceed by the lovely feather-covered Shannyn Moore and the almost-equally lovely AFLCIO President Vince Beltrami.  At many events it would be an exagerration to claim that “everyone who was anyone was there”–it was no exagerration here:

The entertainment was provided by my dear friends and the band at my wedding, The Aquanets.  The candidates were there–Hollis French and Ethan Berkowitz who are running for Governor.

The Democratic candidates for the Congressional Delegations races were also there–Scott McAdams (Senate) and Harry Crawford (running against Don Young for House) pictured below:

Harry is pictured with Legislator Lindsey Holmes below:

Campaign managers (below, for Diane Benson) as well as assistants, bloggers and politicos all came together discussing campaigns, strategies and a dose of gossip:

And fun was had by all.

One important issue brought up at this event were the rejection of the Hospitality Union and unfair labor practices conducted by the Sheraton and Hilton hotels in Anchorage.  Representatives for the workers spoke:

And they passed around a petition, encouraging a boycott of the two hotels.  I happily signed it and so did my husband:

For more information on the issue, GO HERE.

DONATIONS:

to Harry Crawford for Alaska Congressman At Large, GO HERE.

to Scott McAdams for US Senate, GO HERE.

 to Hollis French for Governor, GO HERE.

to Ethan Berkowitz for Governor, GO HERE.

to Diane Benson for Lt. Governor, GO HERE.