A Letter to My Senate Heroes
As the “not so special session” rolls on in Juneau, the Heroes of the Senate square off against the minions of Governor Sean Parnell who want to give away the farm (farm = $2 billion/year) with no strings attached. Senate Heroes vs. Captain Zero, if you will.
Here’s a great letter to those heroes from Mudflats’ contributor Elstun Lauesen.
To: Senator Bert Stedman, Senator Bill Wielechowski, Senator Joe Paskvan, Senator Hollis French, Senator Gary Stevens
Dear Senators,
I am a lifelong Alaskan well into his 60s and I have lately come close to losing hope that this State, which I dearly love, will survive the Parnell administration, the extremist House leadership and the machinations of Big Oil. I worry that my grandson, Arrom, will not grow into his manhood in the kind of Alaska envisioned by the founders of our State. Instead, his heritage will be funneled to Houston and London as unearned and undeserved bonuses for some of the wealthiest corporations in human history.
The Governor’s job is not to be the evangelist for what Multinational Corporations deem to be ‘competitive’ or ‘meaningful’ ; the Governor’s job is to enforce the existing leases and legal and binding contracts already in place. In the absence of performance on those leases, the companies should be invited to surrender them so the state can issue new leases to someone else. Many companies would be more than happy to take our legacy oil leases under ACES.
Multinational corporations are notoriously deceptive in their accounting practices and the fungible nature of their profits makes it nearly impossible, without separate accounting, to assign costs or benefits to their activities in Alaska. This makes the flippant comment of Commissioner Butcher (quoted in the Daily News) all the more outrageous. In response to questioning, Commissioner Butcher said that he does not know any internal investment information of the oil companies, but he doesn’t need to. He knows that they will invest elsewhere. Isn’t it the Commissioner’s job to be an informed policy-level leader for our state; for my grandson’s heritage? The fact is that the State and the oil companies are in an adversarial relationship (Reagan: ‘…trust but verify’) and we have a commissioner who negotiates on our behalf from a standpoint of ignorance? In all my days, I have never seen such arrogance and incompetence so visibly and proudly on display than from this administration and its allies in the House.
Which brings me, at last, to the point of this note: Thank you.
Thank you, leaders of the Senate who have boldly stood up to the pummeling and abuse by Big Oil and their supplicants in the Alaska Oil and Gas Association as well as the Parnell Administration. If the future of this state is hanging by a thread, it is thanks to you, the thread-bearers, who give us hope that we will resist this terrible siege.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
With Utmost Gratitude, I remain,
Sincerely Yours,
Elstun Lauesen
One can only imagine the threats and pressure these legislators have been under to vote with the governor. God bless them for standing firm!
Mr. Lauesen, If only more of the people elected to serve Alaskans,not korporate amerika, had your spirit and willingness to fight the good fight for your home,there would be less of a divide between the majority of citizens and the entitled wealthy. Every state is unique unto itself and yet the same problems beset each of them. Favoring those who don’t need help and virtually ignoring those that do.Please to keep making your voice heard for the sake of all.
Mr Lauesen-
Everything you said here is important and this :
“The Governor’s job is not to be the evangelist for what Multinational Corporations deem to be ‘competitive’ or ‘meaningful’”
most of all.
I am proud of our hero Senators who remember what their own job is and their work to try to get the Gov and silly House majority to do theirs.
Time for me to send them all another email too.
It is a thin line they are trying to hold but a most important line.
This Gov has smeared the line of equal partners under contract with each other and rung the iron triangle loud and clear.
We need our Senate to hold fast against the call.
Aye.
I’ll be further giving thanks to those who were adults (the Senate) in a room (the House) of supplicant-sychophantic children in a candy store and remembered Alaska as our home (Not Houston’s or London’s) and had the sense to beat back the arsonists who set fire to our Prosperity and Peace.
Gotta love those firemen.
Lovely letter, Elstun. I always enjoy the passion expressed in your writing. Thank you.
Senate heroes: two antlers up. Sean Parnell: a strong kick from the rear hooves in his rear side.