As  the nation gears up for the most important vote of the Obama administration, tensions are high, and the “Tea Party” Movement has been kind enough to remove the mask.   Reworking a phrase – “Better to remain silent and be thought a bigot, than to speak and remove all doubt.”  Today the Tea Party spoke [...]

During the President’s Day recess from Congress, Don Young (R) was back in Alaska. And then, when the weekend was over, he went home to Washington D.C. Mudflatter J happened to be in the airport with him, and passed on this little tidbit. I flew into Seattle yesterday with Mr. Young. Waiting in line to [...]

I’ve tried and tried, but there’s really no way to actually describe Alaska Rep. Don Young. OK “idiot” works to a degree - but it’s so much more nuanced and complex than just simple idiocy.  Usually when confronted with the prospect of writing about Don Young, the best thing to do is just let him speak for himself. [...]

Honey, Lemon or a flask of Jack Daniels? Got an extra $350 burning a hole in your pocket after the holidays?  Well, pool those Christmas checks and get ready.  For $350 you get to see Sarah Palin deliver the keynote speech at the National Tea Party Convention in scenic Nashville Tennessee!  If she shows up! [...]

It’s that time again Mudflatters and Mudpups!  As 2009 draws to a close, we reflect back on the year that was. We Alaskans expected to slip back into obscurity once our governor and ex-VP candidate decided to come home, learn a little something about politics and international affairs and keep her nose to the grindstone. [...]

A few weeks ago, Cook Inlet beluga whales got some good news. The federal National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) took an important step toward protecting critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for the Cook Inlet beluga whale in Alaska by proposing to designate more than 3,000 square miles of the imperiled whale’s habitat [...]

No, not even a blizzard could keep me away from the Bartlett Democratic Club luncheon today.  Diane Benson was going to be “announcing her intentions,” which means she decided to run for something, or not run for something, and I wanted to be there to see which it was.  She ran against Don Young 2 [...]

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has made good on her promise to put congressional spending records online for the first time ever.  Score one for transparency in government! As long as a Representative stays within the guidelines, they have broad latitude about how to spend their alloted money.  At first glance the report is a bit overwhelming, [...]

Republican lawmakers are whining up a storm about the length of the proposed health care bill. You’ll recall that Senator Orrin Hatch from Utah bloviated that HR3962 was “longer than War & Peace.” Not so. War and Peace has about 560,000 words and the Senate Health Care Bill has a mere 314,900, so there. Granted [...]

  Security was tight to say the least.  I’d actually never been on Elmendorf Air Force Base before, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.  ID, insurance and registration at the gate.  “Please pop the hood, ma’am,” I was asked, after I pulled over as instructed.   My car is fairly new.  Well… new to [...]

Today, President Barack Obama will visit the only one of the 50 states he has not visited before.  On a refueling stop between the U.S. and Asia, the president will take the opportunity to meet with some of the troops at Elmendorf Air Force Base.  Here is his schedule: Private meeting with service members, 1:10 [...]

Here’s where I start with the first half of a post I had written earlier in the day, and then change the ending all around to include new information that makes things even more confusing than before. Well, there was plenty of drama last night on the floor of the House, where congress voted at [...]

Looks like Levi isn’t the only one “leaking on” Alaska’s notorious politicos. A memo that wasn’t supposed to be public was accidentally put on line in full public view by a low level staffer, and Bingo!   Suddenly we know all sorts of stuff about all sorts of members of congress who are being investigated [...]

As the sentencing for former Veco CEO Bill Allen looms, a new strand in the web of corruption that rocked Alaska’s political world has been discovered.  It’s not much of a discovery really, but it’s been made official.  Bill Allen has formally fessed up and admitted that his company gave gifts and payed for lavish [...]

  [clip from September, 2008] Everyone knows about the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere.”  Former Senator Ted Stevens, and current Congressman Don Young were the bridge’s main advocates in Washington D.C.  The project would have connected the City of Ketchikan (population 8000) to Gravina Island, location of the city’s airport and home to 50 people. In [...]