Posted by Shannyn Moore on February 10, 2015 · 11 Comments
It’s politics as usual in Juneau. As Alaska burns, Alaska Republicans bloviate. We’re staring down the barrel of multibillion-dollar state budget deficits as far into the future as we can see. Are the Republicans majorities in the Legislature acknowledging that their misguided spending and tax policies got us into this fix? Are they prepared to set a new course? Not bloody likely. Rather than rolling up their sleeves, trying to come up with constructive solutions, they’re trotting out the usual gimmicks to divert public attention from their failures. So, by the lights of legislative leaders, what’s the big problem in…
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Category Alaska, Alaska Legislature, ANWR, Barack Obama, Economy, Environment, Headlines, Lisa Murkowski, Mark Begich, Nation, Ohio Dan Sullivan, Oil & Gas, Republicans, Resource Development, Sean Parnell, Veterans, Walker-Mallott Unity Ticket · Tags ANWR, Charlie Huggins, federal overreach Alaska, Governor Bill Walker, Lisa Murkowski, Mark Begich, McHugh Pierre
Posted by Zach Roberts on January 30, 2015 · 10 Comments
Republican Senator Click Bishop, whose district covers land from Fairbanks to Valdez took a page from Sarah Palin and read a story by Dr. Seuss to the Alaska State Senate. Well, it wasn’t quite a Dr. Seuss original – more of a revision of Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham seen through the filter of government overreach. Unlike Half-Term Palin’s teleprompter read at CPAC last year (when she held the book as a prop), Click seems to have actually written the words down in a copy of Green Eggs and Ham. I’m hoping that he bought a new copy and didn’t ruin one of from his grandkids….
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Category Alaska, Alaska Legislature, Alaska Senate Race, ANWR, Election 2016, Elections, Environment, Headlines, Humor, Nation, Republicans, Roll your eyes into it, Your Head · Tags Alaska, ANWR, Chuckchi Sea, click bishop, cox, CPAC, doctor seuss, dr. seuss, drilling, EPA, exploration, Fairbanks, government overreach, Juneau, offshore, Oil & Gas, overreach, Palin, Quitter, republican, rigs, Sarah Palin, sb21, separatists, seuss, suess, SWAT, tazer, Ted Cruz, valdex, youtube
Posted by Shannyn Moore on November 24, 2014 · 9 Comments
Alaskans know about airplanes and flying. No other state’s residents fly as much as we do. So we know every plane really ought to have two wings. Same with birds. There are no halibut-style birds, with two wings on one side of their bodies. I find government works best with matching wings, one on the left, one on the right. For the last few years, we’ve been trying to fly the Spirit of Alaska with two right wings. As a result, our captain, co-pilot and the rest of the crew never really got us off the ground. They didn’t kill…
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Category Alaska, Alaska Governors Race, Alaska Politicos, Election 2014, Elections, Headlines, Oil & Gas, Republicans, Resource Development, Sean Parnell, Walker-Mallott Unity Ticket · Tags AGIA, Alaska gasline, Byron Mallott, Governor Bill Walker, Sean Parnell, Shannyn Moore, Walker Mallott
Posted by Jeanne Devon on November 12, 2014 · 13 Comments
The Associated Press last night called the Alaska Senate race for Republican Dan Sullivan. So, is it over? Well, not quite yet. There are still more than 20,000 votes to count, and overseas ballots still have almost a week to arrive. There are votes yet to come in from villages in which Mark Begich expects a high level of support. The campaign released the following statement even as Begich is back in D.C. for his probable but not definite lame duck months. A statement by a campaign structure that has seen their candidate win several elections by the slimmest of margins…
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Category Alaska, Alaska Governors Race, Alaska Politicos, Alaska Senate Race, Election 2014, Elections, Headlines, Mark Begich, Mayor Dan Sullivan, Ohio Dan Sullivan, Republicans, Rural Issues, Sean Parnell, Walker-Mallott Unity Ticket · Tags Alaska election, Alaska Governor, Alaska senate, Anand Dubey, Begich Senate, Gabrielle LeDoux, Laurie Hummel, Matt Claman, Sullivan Senate, Walker Mallott
Posted by Jeanne Devon on November 5, 2014 · 60 Comments
On election night, one state in the nation voted to legalize marijuana, raise the minimum wage, and add an extra level of environmental protection for sensitive ecosystems facing development. It’s largest city also voted to overturn an anti-labor ordinance which was the brain child of a Mayor (running as a Republican for Lt. Governor) who appears to be about to go down in flames to a non-partisan gubernatorial ticket. That’s like a cool, edgy progressive place to live, right? What if I told you that this very same state has elected by a comfortable margin, a majority in the legislature…
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Category Alaska, Alaska Governors Race, Alaska House Race, Alaska Legislature, Alaska Politicos, Alaska Senate Race, Don Young, Election 2014, Elections, Environment, Headlines, Joe Miller, Labor, Lisa Murkowski, Mark Begich, Mayor Dan Sullivan, Nation, Ohio Dan Sullivan, Pebble Mine, Rallies and Events, Republicans, Scratch it, Sean Parnell, Ted Stevens, Vitamin Democracy · Tags Alaska election results, Begich Senate, Don Young congress, Forrest Dunbar Congress, Sullivan Senate, walker, Walker Governor Alaska, Walker Mallott
Posted by Jeanne Devon on November 4, 2014 · 21 Comments
Here we go again! 8:30 – No numbers yet. Sitting in a sweet spot with lots of plug-ins and within earshot of the table belonging to Ethan Berkowitz and the Party Planner who are interviewing talk bloviator Dave Stieren who is loudly and intently talking about Mark BAGitch (learn the name!) “Every election is about the next election,” he drops the pearls of wisdom on the floor for us to scramble after. Now something about Joe Miller, and the Democrats sending out flyers for Mark Fish the Libertarian candidate, hoping to split the Republican vote. The Party Planner nods in…
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Category Alaska, Alaska Governors Race, Alaska House Race, Alaska Lt Governors Race, Alaska Politicos, Alaska Senate Race, Don Young, Election 2014, Elections, Headlines, Mark Begich, Mayor Dan Sullivan, Nation, Ohio Dan Sullivan, Party Planner, Rallies and Events, Republicans, Sean Parnell · Tags Alaska election, Alaska Governors Race, Alaska Senate Race
Posted by Jeanne Devon on November 3, 2014 · 9 Comments
Fueled by Jitters coffee and a sugar cookie the size of a frisbee, I was as ready as I was ever going to be. I and two companions were on a political road trip north to the Valley. As we arrived in Wasilla, a small plane flew laps over the AT&T sports center, towing a sign that read “Sullivan for Senate.” In a media market filled to capacity with political ads, this apparently was the only air time left. Inside, Toby Keith, Neil Diamond, Eminem, Corey Hart, and an unlikely play list of songs presumably chosen for themes of freedom, America,…
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Category Alaska, Alaska Legislature, Alaska Politicos, Alaska Senate Race, Bang it, Barack Obama, Election 2014, Elections, Headlines, Health, Mark Begich, Mat Su, Nation, Ohio Dan Sullivan, Rallies and Events, Republicans · Tags Begich for Senate, Dan Sullivan Alaska, Sullivan for Senate, Ted Cruz Alaska, Ted Cruz Dan Sullivan
Posted by Jeanne Devon on November 2, 2014 · 7 Comments
Outside Republican Sullivan operatives haven’t quite figured out how the internets work. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan is having a hard time convincing people he’s from Alaska. Most of his contributions are from Ohio, because… well, he’s from Ohio. And while he may be sticking around Alaska long enough to try to get a Senate job in DC, some of his campaigners can’t wait to get out of this godforsaken hellhole populated by dumb rubes. (Psst! Hey, “RepublicanPolitico,” we can hear you!) Yes, Sullivan’s guns for hire pulled field programs in October because of the weather. Nahhh… nobody does any field work in…
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Category Alaska, Alaska Politicos, Alaska Senate Race, Election 2014, Elections, Headlines, Mark Begich, Nation, Native issues, Ohio Dan Sullivan, Republicans, Roll your eyes into it, Rural Issues, Strategery · Tags Begich for Senate, Dan Sullivan Alaska, Mark Begich Alaska, Sullivan for Senate
Posted by Jeanne Devon on November 1, 2014 · 21 Comments
Alaska’s premier morality cop Jim Minnery of Alaska Family Action doesn’t like us very much. Nor does he like the Alaska Constitution, apparently. When he’s not busy obsessing about what women do with their constitutional rights and their personal medical decisions, he’s busy obsessing about who is fornicating with and marrying whom. The continual ruminations about what other people are doing with their private parts must be exhausting. Republican Gov. Sean Parnell is lagging in the polls. You remember him, right? He’s the one who rejected additional funds for Denali Kid Care (SCHIP), to provide medical care to low-income pregnant women and children because… it might…
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Category Alaska, Alaska Governors Race, Alaska Politicos, Election 2014, Elections, Headlines, Health Care Reform, Repro Rights, Republicans, Sean Parnell, Women's Issues · Tags Alaska Family Action, Alaska Governors Race, Alaska pro-choice, Alaska pro-life, Bill Walker Alaska, Bill Walker for Governor, Jim Minnery, Parnell Minnery, Sean Parnell for governor, Walker Mallott
Posted by The Mudflats on November 1, 2014 · 3 Comments
…in a squeaker. The 538 electoral modeling math nerd king was the undisputed champion of the 2012 cycle, correctly predicting 49 of 50 states (and only missing Indiana by 0.1%) While much national punditry is focused on the battle for the US Senate, last night Silver released his model for the 2014 gubernatorial cycle. Projecting Walker-Mallott ahead by a narrow 0.8 percent, Silver gives the Unity Ticket a 56% chance of winning the race. For Mudflatters around the Lower 48, Silver’s model is a mixed bag. Democrats are projected to flip the governorships of Maine, Florida, Kansas and Pennsylvania into…
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