Obamacare VS. Trumpcare
Maybe you didn’t follow the day-in and day-out of the Affordable Care Act legislation. It was presented in July 2009 when the silvers were just showing up. It took months of amendments and rewrites and hearings for it to be signed into law. Actually, it wasn’t passed until March 23, 2010. That was what stood for “cramming it down our throats” back then. I didn’t like “Obamacare.” That’s what the Republicans started calling it before they voted to repeal it more than 50 times. I got quite a few lectures from Democrats in high office about compromise. What’s the point…
Sen. Murkowski, Stand True To Your Word
Many of us are counting the days down for America to be great again. I still haven’t heard an answer to the question of when it stopped being great, but being great sounds, well, great! So let’s do it. First things first. We have got to get rid of that health care disaster that has enslaved millions of Americans by creating access to a doctor. Enough! Because of Obamacare, college-age kids have been rafted up to their parents’ policies like parasites. Those pre-existing conditions — the warning flags to companies that don’t want your sick behind dragging down their profits…
Republicans-know-best Strategy Failing Alaska
A few months ago, I explained why the Republican majorities running the Alaska House and Senate would be wise to accept a Democratic offer to put aside party politics and work together as one big caucus of the whole to address our fiscal crisis. The last time we had a bipartisan Senate, it managed to come up with a fair oil tax structure, and put $16 billion in the bank. And thank God they did, because we’re living off that savings right now. But no, Republicans rejected bipartisanship and decided to go it alone. After their successful partisan gerrymandering of…
The Bible, False Prophets and Pete Kelly
Happy Easter to all those who celebrate this day. Polls show Alaska is one of the least religious states in the nation. That’s probably true for organized religion but I suspect most Alaskans are pretty spiritual people. It’s hard not to stand at the top of a mountain, in the middle of the wilderness or at the base of a glacier in Alaska and not believe in some higher force. When Sunday morning rolls around and my partner says, “You wanna go to church?” I will be on the boat halibut fishing pretty soon. If I were to generalize, I’d…
The Weekend Off – News You Missed
Alaska The Daily Beast – The Keystone Bill’s Most Hilarious Amendment: Protecting Chicken, Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan’s (R-Alaska) first amendment as a lawmaker sent a clear message to the federal government: Nobody messes with Chicken, Alaska. Nobody. Sullivan’s amendment to the Keystone XL Pipeline bill—expected to be voted as soon as Monday— bars officials from Environmental Protection Agency from carrying guns, a direct result of a “raid” conducted in a tiny gold mining town in 2013. A town called Chicken. ADN – Alaska health department investigates possible measles case The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services is investigating a possible…
The Weekend Off – News You Missed
Alaska ADN.COM – With more Alaska women incarcerated than ever, some moved to men’s jail The number of women incarcerated in Alaska is at an all-time high, with the sole women’s prison in the state overcrowded enough that the Department of Corrections is now housing female inmates at Anchorage’s jail for men. DailyMiner.com – Seven bills and resolutions so far head to Juneau from Interior Interior lawmakers had their names on seven of the 63 bills or resolutions pre-filed in the run up to the start of the 29th Alaska Legislature. Many of the Interior delegation bills included retreads of legislation or…
UPDATE – Repub ‘Dr.No’ Stops Veteran Suicide Prevention Act
Updated at 9:30pm est Dr. No has done it. Outgoing Senator Tom Coburn has single handedly managed to prevent the passage of the Clay Hunt SAV Act this Congressional session. IAVA’s Paul Rieckhoff posted this to facebook earlier this evening. Post by Paul Rieckhoff. In a rare bi-partisan show of support, both Senators Murkowski and Begich co-signed a bill that looks to provide 22 million dollars in funding for suicide prevention among veterans. The bill is called the Clay Hunt SAV Act, and if you watched Rachael Maddow the other night [see above] you’d know that a lone Senator is…
Treadwell Signs Up for A Racially Targeted Voter Hit list
Ask any Alaskan what the Lt. Governor does and the best answer that one might say is ‘protecting the Seal of Alaska.’ That’s Sec. 44.09.015. for those keeping track at home. The other somewhat important item that the Lt. Governor does – is oversee elections. For some reason that’s not talked about too much. When Mead Treadwell ran unsuccessfully for Senate earlier this year it was briefly discussed that he should step down at Lt. Gov. as he would, if we won the nomination be overseeing his own election. But in the end he said he wouldn’t. Because, you know we can trust…
Palast Biggest Expose Ever – 3.6 million voters Threatened With Purge.
Three million threatened in purge of voter rolls The removals, which target minority voters, were begun in secret in the battleground state of Georgia Atlanta, Georgia A six-month-long nationwide investigation by Al Jazeera America has discovered that voting officials in 27 states, almost all of them Republicans, have launched what is threatening to become a massive purge of black, Hispanic and Asian-American voters. Already, tens of thousands have been removed from voter rolls in battleground states, and the numbers are set to climb. The full story will be released Wednesday morning on America.AlJazeera.com. And watch the two-part exposé on “America…
NY’s Howie Hawkins – Candidate for Governor
A while back I had a chance to interview two candidates for Governor in New York State. We posted our interview with Democratic candidate Zephyr Teachout back in September – unfortunately she lost the primary to current Governor Andrew Cuomo. Still on the ballot though, is Howie Hawkins. He’s on the Green Party ticket, having run previously for US Senate and House. After speaking to a crowd of anti-fracking protestors outside the New York State Fair, Hawkins let loose the Democrats and the Republicans – explaining why there’s a need for a third party. He also emphasized that if Governor Cuomo wins…