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…
Oyster Roundup – Lights, Fights, & That’s-Not-Rights
A half-dozen news bites from the week. Overheard Juicy Bits: A certain Alaska Republican Party Chairman and a certain Republican pollster were overheard at a certain eating establishment by a certain Mudflatter this week. Apparently, the former thinks Charisse Millet is “a twit” and candidate Bob Roses is a “yes man” who will do whatever he’s told. That’s what we need more of in Juneau – twits and sheep. Please feel free to vote for Patti Higgins and Bill Wielechowski. Convicted Militiaman Will Appeal: Coleman Barney, one of the three men found guilty in the summer’s Fairbanks militia trial will…
Parnell Headlines Evangelical Fundraiser to Break Up Bipartisan Coalition
Governor Sean Parnell will headline a fundraiser today at 4:30pm for Alaska Family Action, the political wing of the Alaska Family Council headed by Jim Minnery. The Alaska Family Council is an activist group whose “pro family” agenda includes promoting extreme anti-choice and homophobic policies. They also advocate public funding of private religious schools, and other “matters of religious liberty.” And try to screw up elections by encouraging voter fraud. So, why is a sitting governor headlining this fundraiser? The answer is two-fold. First, it is because he aligns with everything espoused by the organization. His extreme stances on social…
A Tale With Backbone
It’s story time! I know we haven’t had Mudflats story time in a long while now, but things get busy, and life gets complicated, and sometimes we forget. But right now, it’s time to snuggle in, because I’m going to tell you an important story – a story with heroes, and villains, and big dreams, and treasure. Lots and lots of treasure. It’s a story that started a long time ago, and it’s also a story that has no ending yet, because the ending hasn’t been written. It’s going to be up to all of you to decide how it…
Alaska’s Relationship of Convenience with EPA
Ever had a boss so hard to read you didn’t know if you were going to be fired or promoted? Mixed messages on a daily basis? It’s horrible. How are you supposed know what to do? A relationship in which you don’t know if you’ll be hit or hugged is much worse. “Can’t you just be a jerk all the time? It would make things so much easier.” It’s the back and forth, the uncertainty that make these situations unbearable. That’s why I feel bad for the folks at the Environmental Protection Agency. Oh, before you start calling me a…
Flaks, Facts & Intelligent Debate: Health Care in Alaska
Back on July 21, 2012, Shannyn Moore wrote a heartfelt essay on the State of Alaska’s reported consideration of the idea of sending some state-insured retirees outside for medical treatment. Moore is her mother’s primary support. That support would be missing, Moore pointed out, if her mother had to go Outside for treatment. In an attempted response, Commissioner Becky Hultberg of the Alaska Department of Administration wrote a Compass piece for the Daily News. Well, she is supposed to have written it. We’ll have to hope it was her press aide, who has since been disciplined. Because as a response…
Palin Hurls Self Into Spotlight. Again.
First I wrote about her to inform people. Then I wrote about her because she was a hilarious political train wreck. Then I wrote about her because she annoyed me. Then I started writing about her because she really made me mad. Then I ignored her. All of these actions shared the same unfortunate result. She did not go away. Well, she went away from Alaska, this is true. She said she did it for us. She’d be better able to work for Alaska from Outside, she said. Maybe while she’s out there, she can also find the “real killers.”…
Alaska for Sale
~State Senator Lesil McGuire You know how some things that are technically legal still smell funny? Well, there’s something in the air right now. This week, Sen. Lesil McGuire glowed as she introduced the newly formed “magical challenger slush fund” for Gov. Sean Parnell at the Petroleum Club. Her word-salad about being a backbone herself for the Republican Party, and the Senate bipartisan working group needing more GOP in it, was, well, Palinesque. As someone who supports the “grown-ups” in Juneau, it was disappointing to see Sen. McGuire show up with her hand out to a governor whose oil tax…
The Wrath of Captain Zero
Well, somebody’s still mad. After he didn’t get his way during the legislative session, he broke his crayons and went home. After Governor Sean Parnell’s embarrassingly botched special session that cost Alaskans upwards of $30,000 a day, in which his woefully underprepared administration tried in vain to get the Alaska Senate to green light his second $2 billion dollar a year, no-strings-attached, prezzie to the oil companies, he’s now got another plan. Revenge. It didn’t register with the governor that Alaskans actually didn’t like his oil tax plan. They didn’t like the idea of moving $10 billion over the next…
Parnell Tries to Silence Alaskans
If Alaskans’ drinking water, children or fishing streams are at risk, Alaskans should have a say. That’s the radical supposition of Rep. Les Gara (D-Anchorage). The governor, on the other hand, proposes to eliminate public input on pesticide use that could contaminate waters where Alaskans fish and get drinking water. Did you expect anything less? “If someone’s plans risk poisoning our drinking water or fishing streams, Alaskans should have a say,” said Rep. Gara. “Alaskans have a right to fish our streams, drink our water, and hunt without fear that our resources will be contaminated by toxic pesticides. If the…