Parnell Should Choose Support for Youth
In 2011 the state conceded that its protection system to discover child abuse and neglect, and lead foster youth to greater success, was in need of improvement. It came up with a cost-effective request: What if they filled the massive staffing gaps at the Office of Children’s Services (OCS), which investigates these cases, with lower-cost support staff rather than Masters-level social workers? That would free social workers to do their fieldwork, and let lower-cost employees do their paper and administrative work. The governor needs to govern and find efficiencies, rather than excuses to ignore our child protection system or his…
BREAKING: Conoco Rakes in Your Money
ConocoPhillips makes a lot of money. This seems like an obvious statement, but its one that Governor Sean Parnell, and his oily ilk in the Alaska legislature are hoping you and everyone you know will forget when it comes time to vote on the repeal of SB21. So they run around with their hair on fire yelling things like “Incentivize production!” and “It’s complicated!” and tell us that if we don’t start sobbing and throwing cash at the big 3 oil producers, and if we repeal SB21, well… they’re going to leave us for someone else like Libya or North…
Do Alaskans Like Fish More than Pot?
Me: Hey, Alaska! Alaska: WHAT? We’re busy fishing. Me: Just a couple quick questions… you can keep your line in the water. Alaska: Make it fast, the silvers are running. I don’t want to get distracted. Me: Would you rather have more money in the coffers of the state, or make sure you always have fish? Alaska: Fish. Me: Would you rather have people earning more money and boosting the economy, or make sure people can earn a living fishing. Alaska: Fishing. Me: Would you rather smoke pot, or salmon? Alaska: I can’t do both? Me: No. Alaska: OK, salmon….
Walker/Wielechowski – Right for Alaska
We like Sen. Hollis French, and respect him. He’s been an outstanding legislator. We think he’d make a good governor, and have donated to and voted for him in the past. Our issue with the senator’s contemplation of another gubernatorial run is not the candidate, but the fact that the candidate cannot and will not be elected governor. The problem is math. Sen. French retained his own state senate seat in his newly drawn district by the skin of his teeth. The statewide political terrain is far less friendly to him than West Anchorage. The far right made French the…
Walker & Wielechowski – Alaska First
It’s summer. I don’t watch TV in the summer. I fish. So I first heard about the Domino’s ad, “powered by pizza,” with its slam on halibut, by reading the Mudflats blog. Yes, I know, Domino’s “thought halibut was a funny word.” The ad shows a lonely man in a dark room spitting halibut into a pie plate as the announcer says, “No one ever had a world-changing idea over halibut. NO way…” Having just returned from my hometown, the “Halibut Capital of the World,” Homer, Alaska, I had almost 20 pounds of fresh halibut fillets on ice. (Thanks, Pop!)…
Sarah Palin Top Choice for Senate?!
Stay calm. Just sit for a minute. If you’re an Alaskan, do not start loading up the motorhome for your political asylum road trip to Canada. If you are from the Lower 48, do not stop reading here and put a big red Sharpied ‘X’ over Alaska on your desktop globe. Let me explain. A few weeks ago, the ex-half-governor unhinged her maw, and some words fell out. Seemingly, she is considering a run for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Democrat Mark Begich. Pollsters tilted their heads to the side like a dog who hears a whistle. Then they got…
WE DID IT, ALASKA! Oil Giveaway on the Ballot.
Moments ago, the Alaska Division of Elections announced that they had received enough valid voter signatures to put the question of repealing SB21, the massive giveaway of state money to oil companies, on the primary ballot in August of 2014. After achieving his stated goal of a Republican majority in the State House and Senate (albeit using redistricting lines later found to be unconstitutional), Governor Sean Parnell got the vote he wanted in the 2013 legislative session. The vote in the Senate was made possible by two legislators who are literally employed by ConocoPhillips. Last month, Parnell signed into…
“Second Battle for Statehood” A Mudflats Video Report
Senator Bill Wielechowski called the effort to repeal Gov. Sean Parnell’s massive giveaway to oil companies “the second battle for statehood.” Alaska navigated its first battle over fish, and now must again rise to assert primacy over the rights to its resources. This time, it’s Alaska’s oil and gas wealth at stake. The Mudflats was there on the historic day that more than 50,000 signatures were submitted to put the repeal on the ballot. Here’s our report.
Why Big Oil Fears This Man (EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW)
More than 50,000 signatures were gathered in the effort to put the question of repealing SB21 on the ballot in August of 2014. The massive no-strings-attached giveaway to big oil companies will drain Alaska’s coffers into the bank accounts of the wealthiest multinational corporations in the history of the world. Alaska gets nothing – no commitment to exploration, production increases, or jobs. We do get to sacrifice the future of education, infrastructure projects, parks, public safety, and other critical needs. It’s not much of a deal. And yet, the Parnell administration and most Republicans in the legislature voted for it,…
Alaska Patriots Submit Petitions for SB21 Repeal (VIDEO)
An energetic crowd gathered at an the obscure office of the Alaska Division of Elections on Ship Creek Avenue today. The sunny Saturday did not keep the hardcore advocates, and activists away. They gathered to submit 898 petition booklets filled with the signatures of Alaskans who want to see the Parnell oil tax rollback overturned by the people via ballot initiative. The bill would give billions from Alaska’s coffers to oil companies with no strings attached. A total of 30,000 signatures were required from 40 separate districts across the state to get the repeal measure on the August 2014 primary…