A priest, an African American woman and a “union thug” walk in to the Sheraton…

But, in reality, it’s no joke at all for the hard working hotel workers in Anchorage.

First, a little background.

Currently, two hotels in Anchorage are under boycott – The Anchorage Hilton and The Anchorage Sheraton. The simple reason is that their treatment of employees leaves a lot to be desired. There have even been huge rallies and demonstrations from the labor community, and concerned citizens from many areas in the community on behalf of these workers who dare to ask for things like safe workloads, and the opportunity to bring a sick child to the doctor.

The Sheraton’s treatment of employees is so bad that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has already ruled in favor of the union on sixteen separate Unfair Labor Practice charges, with 32 more currently pending before the board.

The Sheraton recently filed a petulant lawsuit in which they tried to petition the court to ban legally protected activities like boycotts and picket lines.  Yes, they tried to basically illegalize workers’ rights to protest poor working conditions. The citizens of the United States fought for that right long ago, and won. Yes, Sheraton, unions are still legal and allowed to protect people, and a federal judge tossed that lawsuit out on its ear for just that reason.

The community is outraged enough to have cost the Sheraton almost $700,000 in business this year alone, and is having an affect on them. And that would be the point.  Groups like the Alaska Nurses Association, the National Education Association, the Anchorage Archdiocese, Congregation Beth Shalom, and others, have canceled events there. A host of private citizens outraged by the policies and practices of the Hilton and the Sheraton urge visitors to book rooms in other local hotels, like the Captain Cook. Those who are anti-union like to talk a lot about the free market. Well, there’s the free market in action.

So, back to the story.

On Tuesday, a group of Anchorage civic leaders composed of the Alaska NAACP president Wanda Greene, the head of the Anchorage office of the APEA-AFT Dennis Geary, and a priest from the Archdiocese decided to pay a visit to the new General Manager of the Sheraton – one Mr. Denis Artiles. They came to deliver a message of community concern over the treatment of the workers which now include punitive scheduling and assignments that are relative to the workers’ union activities.

The moment the word “union” was mentioned, Mr. Artiles threw the three community leaders out of his office.  Yes, you heard right. The conversation ended, and the group was told to contact Sheraton’s attorney. “Who is the attorney?” they asked. If we are to believe the General Manager, he doesn’t know who the attorney is, but believes they are “somewhere in Atlanta.”

So, the new General Manager from outside, the giant hotel owner in Texas, and the mysterious legal counsel somewhere in Atlanta (we think) are allied in their mission to continue the mistreatment of Anchorage residents on the job.

You can hear the segment about this incident on “Thursdays in the Mud” on KOAN with Shannyn Moore HERE.

(Photos of Sheraton protest by Melinda Taylor)

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!

Lisa Murkowski has been the first to complain about the other candidates lying.  She says Joe Miller distorted her voting record (which he did), and she says that Scott McAdams lied about her voting record (which he didn’t). But Lisa Murkowski sent out a nice glossy colored mailer that went out to Alaska households and arrived in mailboxes across Anchorage this morning, and it was full of lies.  Under a banner that said “Alaskan Democrats Who Are Voting for Lisa Murkowski – and not Scott McAdams” was a list of people who supposedly fit that category. 

This one was absolutely stunning.  It claimed that Democratic candidate for Governor, Ethan Berkowitz was voting for Lisa Murkowski.  It also claimed Don Mitchell, Democrat and Huffington Post contributor was voting for Lisa Murkowski.  But before you pick up your phones to flame these two, or throw shoes at them if you see them in Costco, keep reading.

This particular act of desperation was refuted by both Ethan Berkowitz and Don Mitchell.  Berkowitz cleared the record immediately after being made aware of the situation.  “I am voting for Scott McAdams.  I unequivocally deny what Lisa claims and call on her to correct this blatant lie.” 

 Don Mitchell also stated today, “I have NOT said I am voting for Lisa Murkowski, and I was not contacted by her campaign before she sent this.” 

Even Democratic U.S. Senator Patty Murray was featured in the mailer leading readers to believe that she supported Lisa Murkowski.  In response to inquiries from the McAdams campaign, Murray’s campaign manager Jeff Bjornstad issued the following statement:

“Neither Sen. Murray nor her campaign authorized the use of these comments. It’s unfortunate her comments about bipartisanship were used in a partisan manner against an excellent candidate like Scott McAdams.  Scott McAdams shares the values Sen. Murray fights for every day. She’ll be proud to work with him as Alaska’s next senator.”

So, not only is Lisa Murkowski confusing Alaskans wiht her voting record, but now she is falsely claiming support that she does not have, in an attempt to gin up Democratic votes.  It’s a “win at all cost” strategy that only serves to show Alaskans how far the Murkowski campaign will sink to put forth the story they want to sell. 

“Lisa has lied about a very crucial issue: how people are voting. This most recent blatant deception shows once again that Lisa cannot be trusted.  Alaska needs a Senator who will tell the truth, and the only one who is telling the truth is Scott McAdams,” Chair of the Alaska Democratic Party Patti Higgins said.  “Lisa has lied about
fellow Alaskans in order to win. This is truly outrageous.”

Outrageous, yes.  Surprising?  No. Murkowski has been confusing Alaskans with her voting record for years.  The Alaska Democratic Party put together some information on that at “Lisa Says, Lisa Does.”   

McAdams spokeswoman Heather Handyside stated,  “I know that passions run high during campaign season, but we are doing our best to run a straightforward, positive campaign.  And we expect the same from Senator Murkowski’s campaign.”

Good luck with that.  As Scott McAdams continues to gain support and momentum, Murkowski just seems to be getting more desperate.

Handyside also pointed out several other instances of behavior and tactics from the Murkowski campaign which are being used to influence potential voters and are less than honest.

• Exaggerating the impact of her seniority
• Hiding her recent voting record that cost Alaska $400M in 2010
• Downplaying her failing grade from Planned Parenthood  and NARAL
• Taking credit for Alaska projects she voted against
• Using an ad campaign with fake poll results that indicate her popularity is increasing

There’s an old quote that I like very much that all Alaska voters should remember in any campaign, and with every vote they place – “When people show you who they are, believe them.”

In June of 2009 I embarked on an idealistic journey. Thanks to many Alaskans and folks across the country, I was able to raise enough money so that the State of Alaska would release the Records Request they had been sitting on for months. When the emails arrived and the only “good stuff” was redacted  or witheld due to bogus-sounding claims of “privilege,” I was not worried. I was sure that as soon as the email lawsuits brought by Andree McLeod and Don Mitchell against Palin were resolved (in McLeod/Mitchell’s favor…no one thought otherwise), I would then be able to go to court and get the emails the State had held out.

I was wrong.

The same week that SCOTUS made the horrific decision in the now-infamous Citizen’s United Case, Judge Patrick McKay made a similar type of decision with far-reaching implications  for a (lack-of) transparency and accountability among Alaska government officials. Allowing private (and therefore un-archived) email accounts to be used for State business gives Alaska politicians authorization to hide their activities from the public. Judge McKay refused to reconsider his position and this was a terrible blow for Alaska’s already long-suffering “sunshine” laws.

But it got worse.

McLeod/Mitchell’s case against Palin’s claim of “privilege” based on “deliberative process” to justify witholding emails when private citizen, Todd Palin, was among the recipients also went terribly wrong. The same judge, Patrick McKay ruled that it was OK to count Todd Palin as an (unofficial) advisor – he then also denied an appeal.  This allowed privilege to extend and Palin to keep the emails from the public.  This ruling was made in spite of the fact that the way Todd skated out of Troopergate trouble was when Tim Petumenos claimed he was a private citizen.

(NOTE TO THE READERS: Judge Patrick McKay is up for a retention vote in just 12 short days — this is the same guy that got his second DUI this year.)

The decisions in these two cases taken together dashed any hopes I had of trying to get the emails I was looking for through the courts. One of the very sticky issues that quashes public activism…the fact that Alaska is a state that punishes the person who loses a lawsuit. The loser must pay the court/legal fees of the winners.  With these two case rulings now in place, the risk was far too great.

During Palin’s reign as Mayor and then Governor, her lack of transparency (along with her lack of ethics) became legendary. However, her much quieter successor is no better. On October 5th, the State of Alaska sent out a 14TH REQUEST FOR AN EXTENSION ON A RECORDS REQUEST FILED TWO YEARS AGO:

Every one of Palin’s appointees who held up the records requests in the past are still in place…including those folks at Department of Law who take all of that time to redact everything. 

While it’s true that Senator Johnny Ellis has a Bill in the Senate Rules Committee which deals with the private email issue as well as several others, everything would be made easier with a change in leadership. No matter how you feel about politics in Alaska regarding the gasline, education, family violence, the PFD, etc…there is one thing for certain — Sean Parnell has proven he will continue to hold up any information that he or Sarah Palin does not want to reach the public.   The only way to change that is to vote for Ethan Berkowitz and Diane Benson for Governor and Lt. Governor.

Yes, it’s just that easy.

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.

The sign wavers have been out en masse today.  The energy and excitement seem to be trending with Bill Walker whose signs and sign wavers are EVERYwhere!  This is only down the New Seward Highway corridor, so others may have showings elsewhere.

In my district, Jennifer Johnston was out waving her own sign with one other guy.  There was a small group for Cathy Geissel and a smattering on both sides of Rabbit Creek Road for Moronell.

I’ll be heading out shortly to make the rounds and take some pictures to post later.  My grand plan is always to live blog with updates on the numbers as they roll in.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, depending on my internet connection.  But, I’ll give it my best shot.  Linda Kellen-Biegel and Shannyn Moore will be milling around downtown as well.  Hollis French will be at Sub Zeo Microlounge, Bill Walker at Platinum Jaxx, Ethan Berkowitz and Diane Benson will each be somewhere in the Captain Cook.  Others, you’ll have to check on Facebook or their campaign sites. Then everyone will make the march to election central at the Egan Center.  So go find your candidate, and share some election night excitement!

And how about you Arizonans, Floridians and Vermonters?  What’s going on in your neck of the woods?

UPDATE -

28 percent in

Joe Miller is ahead by a point… Holy cow.
Diane Benson well ahead
Mead Treadwell well ahead
Don Young well ahead
Sean Parnell up by 12 over Walker
Measure 1 failing
Measure 2 passing

UPDATE

Man with Murkowski button “The world as we know it is comong to an end. This is really terrifying.”. Miller up by 3.5 percent.
32 percent in
Miller still ahead by 1
Everything else the same
Nail biter!

44 percent
Holding steady….

2:00am

Well, it was quite a night.  The big race, obviously was the Murkowski v. Miller Republican Senate seat.  It appears as if Joe Miller has about a 3.5% lead which seems to fluctuate a little, but Murkowski has not been ahead since the beginning.  The gasp was audible when the numbers first flashed on the screen showing Miller in the lead.  There are still many thousands of absentee ballots to be counted, on top of the precincts left outstanding at this point, so we’re in for a long wait.  Kind of feels like the recount of last years Congressional primary between Don Young and Sean Parnell.  Obviously Young won that one and Parnell stayed in the Lt. Governor’s slot.

Speaking of Parnell… Yes, it looks like he’s got it.  I cannot find a single person who voted for him, but nonetheless Captain Zero is now officially on the ticket.  On the Democratic side, Ethan Berkowitz will be the candidate.  Hollis French made up a huge deficit over the last weeks, making a very respectable showing for his first statewide race.

Bill Walker wasn’t as close as I thought he might be, but did well.  He had a huge and dedicated group of supporters flanking him in the main room in the Egan Center as he marched in.

Lt. Gubernatorial candidates will be Democrat Diane Benson (D)who won a resounding victory, and a huge cadre of loyal supporters; and… Mead Treadwell (R), who ran on the “I’m not hinky or insane” platform running against Jay Ramras and Eddie Burke.

Don Young (R) trounced his competition Sheldon Fisher with 70% of the vote.  The Democratic candidate for the lone Alaskan member of the U.S. House of Representatives Harry Crawford smoked his competition by garnering 100% of the vote.  OK, he didn’t have any competition… but 100% just sounds so nice.

Bob Lynn (R) won his primary easily.

Cathy Geissel won for Senate District P.

And that’s about all I can muster for tonight….err…. I mean early this morning.

I’ll put up some pics and further wrie up tomorrow.

The plot thickens…

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.

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.