Misfire and $$ Down the Toilet
SHOW ME THE MONEY It’s budget time in Juneau, and we’re looking at a strange set of circumstances that is complicating the process. Weirdly, it’s a giant influx of cash! You were not expecting that, were you? Joe Biden’s amazing American Rescue Plan means Alaska will receive about $1.1 billion, plus hundreds of millions more for education from K-UA, tribes and local governments, and infrastructure projects. You’ll recall Sen. Murkowski, Sen. Sullivan, and Rep. Young all voted against this bill. Guess they are not interested in bringing home the bacon anymore. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Now, the Alaska House and Senate must determine how to legally invest the money for the greater good of all Alaskans. Thankfully, there…
Bonfire of the Insanities
“IT’S UNBELIEVABLE” This is perhaps the best way to sum up the confirmation hearing for Alaska’s third Attorney General under Gov. Mike Dunleavy held in the Senate Judiciary Committee this week – a post from the Chair herself. Reinbold, unsurprisingly, spent the bulk of the time complaining about having to follow rules, “drilling down” on the nominee’s opinion on separation of powers, the executive branch overreaching on civil liberties, and the governor’s mandates on “cloth face coverings” in government buildings. “As you know in the building we have negative tests but we still have to wear these,” she said. And…
Anti-masking Alaska Senator Banished from Capitol. Maybe.
Welcome to the theater of the absurd. If you’re getting tired of watching Alaska Senator Lora Reinbold’s middle school “you’re not the boss of me” antics, you’re not alone. Even her fellow Republican Senators have had enough – and they’re the ones who thought she’d be just swell as part of their “Caucus of Equals,” and installed her as the chair of the powerful Judiciary Committee. Because what could possibly go wrong? Should we still be talking about this? No. Does Sen. Reinbold (R-Eagle River) make that impossible? Yes. Since the CDC-compliant mask mandate went into place at the Capitol, Reinbold has been wearing…
No Room for Nazis, & more committee madness
NO ROOM FOR NAZIS The good news is that the actual Nazi apologist on the Alaska Human Rights Commission was removed. Gov. Dunleavy felt that her defense of Nazi phrases was… “distracting.” I think the word he was looking for was “wrong” or “abhorrent.” But regardless, Anchorage Assembly Member Jamie Allard is off the commission even though she still sits on the Anchorage Assembly. Tuesday night, when Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson addressed the chamber saying we must speak out forcefully against Nazism and hate, she was booed by a contingent of Allard fans in the audience. It’s irrelevant what your political party is, when…
Governor, Senator, & Republicans Caught in the Act
YOU DON’T WANNA BE LIKE MIKE It’s one thing when the “I wanna be like Trump” Governor decides (hours after telling Alaskans to mask up and keep their social bubble small) to show up at a swanky cocktail party fundraiser on the Anchorage Hillside. But it’s another level of irony to be outed by the bumbling ineptitude of your own propagandist. Dunleavy’s blogger, Suzanne Downing/Must Read Alaska, begins this weird video foray into the underground world of unsanitary Republican fundraisers by looking at the sunset and musing, “An orange, orange view for an orange president… although he looked a little…
Alaska AG Resigns When Workplace Harassment Uncovered
GOOD RIDDANCE TO BAD RUBBISH It’s been a very bad week for faux “family values” Christians in positions of power this week. First, Jerry Falwell Jr. was outed by the pool boy for an ongoing sexual dalliance with him and his wife that spanned seven years and began when he was barely out of his teens. This revelation prompted Falwell to 1) throw his wife under the bus and disavow his own involvement (new developments on that today) and 2) step down, giving way to his temporary (or maybe not-so-temporary) replacement, Alaska’s own Jerry Prevo of the Anchorage Baptist…
The ‘Law & Order’ Party Cheers AK Law Breakers
OH REEEEALLLLY… So, it seems that Don “I call it the beer virus” Young is perfectly happy to wear a mask in the White House for a photo op, just not in his own state to protect his constituents. Here he is at the elbow of the Maskless One, at the now famous bill signing where the President referred to Yosemite National Park as “Yo Semites.” The bill was signed in the hope that it might help the beleaguered candidacies of Republican Senators Cory Gardner of Colorado and Steve Daines of Montana. No Democrats were invited to the signing of…
Wasilla GOP Candidate Forum Madness!
I WATCHED THE MAT-SU REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FORUM SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO Yep, I watched it all, courtesy of the video taken by the eponymously-named Republican blogger, “Politadick.” There’s no easy way to prepare you for this, so let’s just dive in. But first, a visit to the United States Flag Code: THE EMCEE: Mike Coons, recently reappointed by Gov. Dunleavy to the Alaska Commission on Aging hosted a Mat-Su candidate forum this past weekend. It took place at the Senior Center in Wasilla. Why isn’t the governor’s appointee to the Commission on Aging wearing a mask at an…
Alaska Republicans Say the Darndest Things
TALL TALES from Juneau Eyes on the Dunleavy Disaster NEVER LET A GOOD DISASTER GO TO WASTE That’s the hallmark of Republican politics. Remember the Patriot Act that got shoved through during the immediate aftermath of 9/11 – chock-full of provisions to trample civil liberties and violate the Constitution? It was basically ready to go, and waiting for an opportunity. Well, don’t think that COVID-19 isn’t going to have its own set of nefarious legislation that gets implemented during these days of crisis when people are looking the other way. We’ve already seen public money dumped into funding the private…
Don Young – King of CoronaDenial
TALL TALES from Juneau Eyes on the Dunleavy Disaster It’s Day 4,836 of the stay at home mandate. At least that’s what it feels like. We hope you are all staying well, taking good care of yourselves and each other, and following the stay-at-home direction from the state. We need you. Now, on to the usual shenanigans: THE DC DELEGATION Congressman Don “I call it the beer virus” Young has stopped backpedaling, and is now OUTRIGHT DENYING that he poo-pooed this pandemic, urging high-risk seniors to go about their daily lives as though nothing was happening, just a few…