Recounting the Vote
Just when you thought it was over, it looks like two close races will be counted again. Ah. Ah. Ah. Senate candidate Bob Bell from Anchorage has requested a recount of his race with Hollis French. Bell lagged by 54 votes, and Senator French wasn’t surprised by the request, saying he’d probably do the same thing if the situation was reversed. [Side Note: I finally figured out why the name Bob Bell rings a … well, you know. Bob Bell was also the name of the actor who played Bozo the Clown from 1960 to 1984. I’m not necessarily saying…
Dismantling Alaska Bipartisanship
Alaska Family Action, the political arm of the Alaska Family Council, recently welcomed Governor Sean Parnell to a fundraiser. The event brought together social conservatives who seek to add their voices to those supporting the governor’s oil tax plan. With the specific goal of destroying the State Senate’s bipartisan coalition next month, the organization is banking on a new fundraising strategy and new access to personal data about voters to fuel its “Reclaiming Juneau Initiative” in November. Jim Minnery addressed the event’s roughly 25 attendees, explaining that his Alaska Family Council became frustrated by the political limitations it encountered via…
Bob Bell Enabled Corrupt Bastards
I sometimes wonder if it wouldn’t be more honest for us to turn our elections into auctions. Put a law or candidate on eBay and let the bidding begin. Of course school lunch subsidies, minimum wage and other “special interests” wouldn’t have a hope, but a governor willing to give $10 billion to the oil industry would be going-going-gone in seconds. Wait a minute … Did I forget? We used to have public policy on the auction block. A company called Veco Corp., which depended on Alaska’s oil majors to survive, purchased favors from elected politicians for decades. That finally…
Bell’s Firm Got $1 Million+ from BP
Well, well, well. Ask not for whom Mr. Bell shills – he shills for BP. We practically needed the jaws of life to pry the truth out of candidate Bob Bell, but it has finally been liberated from the mangled wreck of his financial “disclosure” forms. If you remember from the other day, Mr. Bell decided first that he didn’t want to tell us who gave his engineering firm money. Then APOC told him he had to not only disclose who, but how much. Then he disclosed who, but NOT how much. Apparently it became more uncomfortable for Mr. Bell…
Bob Bell’s Oily Non-Disclosure
Oh, my. Remember Bob Bell? The muskox poachin’, campaign finance violatin’ State Senate candidate running against Hollis French? Well, he decided a while back that he was above the financial disclosure laws that applied to all those other candidates. And then a citizen complaint was filed against him with the Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC). And APOC gave him the bad news that yes, the law actually applied to him, no matter how super-special he thinks he is. So, what’s he doing now? Stonewalling. Yes, Mr. Bell continues to violate Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC) disclosure laws by failing to…
Bob Bell is Oh So Super Special
You know those politicians whom nobody can stand – the ones that think the rules apply to absolutely everyone? No exceptions. Except for them. I got one for you. Remember that scandal that had Director of the Alaska Division of Wildlife Conservation, Corey Rossi, in the headlines for weeks? Rossi and his croneys from the Board of Game got busted flying into rural Alaska and pretending to subsistence hunt muskoxen for food. You see, there’s a really really expensive way of hunting muskoxen, and there’s a much less expensive way. One way, you have to enter a lottery for a permit…
In Parnell’s Administration, Cronyism Rules the Day
By Shannyn Moore The war on science is winning. And I’m not talking about those who confuse weather and climate. Nope. I’m frustrated with the continual election of candidates with a faith-based bias when it comes to policy that should rely on science. In a letter this week, Ed Fogels, deputy commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, informed his colleagues that the mission of the department had changed. The new mission: “To responsibly develop Alaska’s resources by making them available for maximum use and benefit consistent with the public interest.” There are a few issues with DNR’s newfound…