The Silent Oil Coup
A silent coup has occurred in Alaska. “More foxes in the henhouse than chickens,” as someone said. The oil tax giveaway proposed by former Conoco Phillips lobbyist and Exxon attorney Sean Parnell has been referred to the TAPS Throughput Committee chaired by Conoco Phillips employee Sen. Peter Micciche, in front of Senate Resources co-chair Cathy Giessel, whose husband’s job relies on the oil industry, and later to the uber-powerful Senate Finance Committee co-chaired by Conoco Phillips employee Kevin Meyer. The grease already on the wheels of this faulty legislation could fill a pipeline. I know, you’re thinking surely the employee…
It’s Splitsville for Palin and Fox
No more fireside chats from big echo-ey rooms. No more standing by Lake Lu-sill shrieking over the wind while trying to keep the hair piece on. No more fake mountain backdrops hung in the studio/garage. It’s confirmed. Sarah Palin is no longer working for Fox News, sources close to the network’s now former spokeswig confirm. Palin, of course, says that she turned down their new contract offer. Fox merely “wished her the best with her future endeavors.” Now that she is being defined in the national conversation mostly in terms of her own irrelevance, we can assume the offer was considerably…
VITAMIN DEMOCRACY! Alaska’s Salmon Need You!
You may think Governor Sean Parnell plays lap dog to oil industry – and you’d be right. He does answer to more than one master. The Miami Mob, the cruise ship industry whistles and he comes running. SB29 and HB80 are the governor’s sweetheart deal to cruise ship industry. You may remember we Alaskans, through a ballot initiative, raised standards on cruise ship water dumping and implemented a head tax several years ago. The governor rolled that back saying visitors to our great state were going to cross a cruise to Alaska off their bucket list because of a $50…
Guess Who Came to the Office?
Sorry. Didn’t mean to alarm you. No, this is not a clever photoshop job. “You never know who will stop by the office,” was the status update accompanying this photo on Senator Mark Begich’s Facebook page. It seems that former Republican nominee for US Senate Joe Miller (right), and his wife Kathleen happened to be in DC, and stopped by the Senator’s office. It wasn’t to discuss a potential contest between the two for Senate in 2014, but something of a more personal nature. The Millers’ son Jacob was nominated to the US Military Academy at West Point. Mr. Miller…
Fox, Vice Chair of Henhouse, “No worries!”
State Senator Peter Micciche (R), an employee of ConocoPhillips*, says that while there will be billion dollar decisions made about oil and gas issues in the legislature this session, there is no conflict of interest with his seat on the Resources Committee, nor as vice chairman of the the special committee taking the first look at the governor’s oil-tax bill. You know, the one where the governor wants to give almost $2 billion a year to the oil companies, screwing smaller independent oil producers and favoring the “Big Three” – BP, Exxon and ConocoPhillips?* *Hmmm. In his own persuasive argument, the…
They’re Coming for Your Uterus
Make no mistake, Constitutionalists, they’re coming for your uterus. Alaska Republicans, who seem to believe that their beloved Constitution stops with the Second Amendment, are doing all they can to chip away at the ninth, the fourteenth, and the fourth – you know, the ones that tell you that you have a right to be left alone, to your privacy, to enjoy personal liberty without the interference of the state, and to be secure in your person. I guess by “person,” they mean “man.” New Senate Majority Leader John Coghill addressed a crowd of about 100 people on the Capitol…
Accidents Happen
We’ve all done stupid things without thinking about it. I drove off once with two fresh pizzas from the Moose’s Tooth Restaurant on the roof of my car. I figure they blew off somewhere on the Seward Highway just south of Tudor Road. So, if you had a flying, steaming 16-inch disc of cajun halibut goodness slap down in the middle of your windshield a couple years ago, it’s my fault. Then there was the guy who absentmindedly left his Stradivarius violin, worth $4 million, in the back of a Newark cab. Even when there’s a lot at stake, we humans…
Right Wing Political Theater
Last week, before being sworn into office, my representative to the state House, Lindsey Holmes, decided she’s really a Republican — this after running and winning multiple times as a Democrat. Why more Democratic women aren’t defecting to the party of trans-vaginal probes is beyond me. I suppose I’d be more upset if I thought the Democrats were losing a hard worker who did more than run up her Alaska Airlines mileage on legislative junkets. Lindsey “found herself” for a committee assignment – making Vic Kohring look like a bargaining savant. Her dishonesty with voters and misrepresentation to donors was…
Let’s Play Decode that BS!
Oh, look! Governor Parnell has just tweeted, boys and girls! You know what that means, right? That’s right. Everyone playing along, get out your super duper Captain Zero decoder rings! Ready? OK. Now, remember Captain Zero is talking about how much money the oil companies should be able to get from our piggy bank in exchange for our oil. Let’s see what we get when we decode the tweet… Democratic legislators think Alaskans deserve wine and flowers. (spins ring) The Alaska Oil and Gas Association thinks you should get water boarded. (spins ring again) That lends credibility to the…
The NRA Board – It’s WAR!
Wayne LaPierre, the Executive Vice President and CEO of the National Rifle Association has been front and center in the public discussion about gun rights, and gun control. His extremist rhetoric has drawn criticism, and he’s become an iconic symbol of what progressives believe to be a tone-deaf and radical agenda in which “the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” LaPierre may be the one most often in front of the cameras, but the board of the National Rifle Association actually has 76 directors who call the shots,…