By REP. KEVIN MCCABE
One of the most significant issues with the Freedom Index is its inherent lack of objectivity.
The Freedom Index is based on the specific ideological beliefs of the John Birch Society, which prioritizes an interpretation of the Constitution that align with its conservative viewpoints. The criteria used to evaluate lawmakers are heavily influenced by the organization’s and local politicians political agenda rather than a neutral assessment of legislative actions.
The score doesn’t consider whether a bill ultimately becomes law, only how each legislator voted on specific key votes including amendments that do not pass. The particular local votes are cherry-picked by the John Birch Society, or worse, some local politician or political wonk. This raises questions about the credibility of the ratings and whether they provide a fair representation of other non-aligned politician’s overall performance.
Lawmakers who may take moderate or bipartisan approaches could be unjustly penalized if their actions do not align perfectly with John Birch Society’s rigid standards leading to an incomplete and misleading picture of political effectiveness.
While the Freedom Index gives high marks to votes that limit government and cut spending, representatives in the real world must weigh the needs of their unique districts. Sometimes that means supporting policies that benefit their local economies, even if it involves federal spending or a match which is especially true in Alaska. A one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t account for these often necessary regional priorities.
The selective focus of the Freedom Index gives more weight to certain types of issues, such as votes on sovereignty or regulatory actions, while often undervaluing other important areas like veterans’ support, rural development, or community safety initiatives. It missed the bigger picture of what legislators are actually accomplishing for their communities. Governing is not about the vote alone it should be about the community.
And this index can be manipulated. The Alaska bill to re-establish the citizen watchdog group (CACFA) to push back against federal overreach would seem like the ultimate barrier to federal overreach. Yet it wasn’t one of the bills evaluated by John Birch Society for the Alaska Freedom Index. Possibly it wasn’t included because Rep. David Eastman, the only 100% legislator on the Index, voted against it.
Allegedly it was one of Eastman‘s ardent supporters, Kassie Andrews, who submitted the bills used for the scorecard for Alaska legislators – she has publicly stated that she was the one.
She also included old legislation that some of the legislators weren’t around to vote for or against, as well as amendments that did not even pass.
This is typical of the way the Eastman support groups operate. He offers an amendment that does not pass for whatever reason (often just because he offered it) and then his support groups publicly excoriate those who voted against it. This is the biggest flaw in the Freedom Index.
The Index is an oversimplification of intricate policy matters into binary choices. It labels votes as either “freedom” or “anti-freedom.” This reductionist approach fails to capture the nuanced realities of governance, as well as the longer term strategy often involved in good policy making. Many legislative decisions involve complex trade-offs and require balancing competing interests values and priorities, often of two different communities in the same district.
By categorizing votes in such a simplistic manner, the Freedom Index undermines the importance of dialogue, compromise, and the understanding that good governance often involves difficult choices. .
By labeling lawmakers who do not align with its strict criteria as “unfreedom” supporters, the JBS cultivates an environment of distrust and animosity towards political opponents. This encourages even more radical positions among its supporters, pushing them to reject compromise altogether. The index exacerbates political polarization by labeling those that disagree with JBS’s interpretation of freedom as fundamentally un-American or illegitimate which further contributes to a political culture where cooperation is already difficult.
As a lawmaker strives to improve his Freedom Index ratings, he may feel compelled to adhere strictly to the JBS’s criteria, potentially leading to more rigid and uncompromising positions and an entire legislative body refusing to work with him. It creates an environment for him where compromise is viewed with skepticism, as he becomes more focused on his ratings than on being and effective legislator – in the military this is called “combat ineffective”.
Legislators frequently have to work across the aisle to get things done. This index doesn’t account for the value of compromise, even when they reflect well-thought-out policies or practical solutions. By scoring in a way that penalizes cooperation, the index sometimes discourages practical governance in favor of rigid ideology.
Lack of objectivity, oversimplification of complex issues, potential for promoting extremism, and implications for political polarization all suggest that the Freedom Index may do more harm than good. In a representative republic fostering dialogue understanding and collaboration among differing viewpoints is crucial. A rating system that diminishes these values, no matter which side of the political spectrum, ultimately undermines the very principles it seeks to uphold; especially true when it is manipulated by a local political group or politician.
While the Freedom Index is a useful tool for understanding a legislators viewpoint of limited government, it isn’t a complete measure of effectiveness or of the balanced work they do on behalf of their constituents. Not organic at all, it is a derived view, of a legislators body of work often influenced by local politics, or possibly the combat-ineffective politician.
Rep. Kevin McCabe represents District 30, Big Lake and north, and is a commercial airline pilot and military veteran.
Time for McCabe to do other work instead of legislate or just retire. Lots of excuses here and in past articles.
Hehe. Lots of talk just to justify his bad votes of which there are many.
Rino whinning
This.
How about you get your head right McCabe?
“Sometimes that means supporting policies that benefit their local economies, even if it involves federal spending or a match which is especially true in Alaska”- 36 trillion cobblestones on the road to hell.
Good boogeyman story for Halloween.
I trust Kevin McCabe about as far as I could throw a 10ft 15-in round iron sewer pipe.
Perhaps you should put McCabe in that sewer pipe first
before throwing it in the city dump.
I am unfamiliar with how JBS insiders and members do business. As a mere individual citizen who is fed up, I am compelled to call out two points. “Legislators frequently have to work across the aisle to get things done.” This is exactly how we find ourselves with more unconstitutional laws than can be counted. This is how the government usurps power. This is compromise. Stop compromising my freedom! If nothing gets done, then fine, what remains of our freedom is preserved. “The particular local votes are cherry-picked by… some local politician or political wonk.” Only legislators – to the extent they are present – are privy to all votes. Most everyone consumes legislation piecemeal. Is the legislature beyond reproach by anyone other than legislators themselves? My oh my! It’s much worse than I first thought. If illuminating legislator’s votes on bills and amendments is intolerable from a legislator’s perspective, what else remains for constituents and the public to judge a legislator’s performance and effectiveness? Campaign promises? JBS sounds like a breath of fresh air.
Representative McCabe, it’s gratifying to know that an ordinary citizen without special interests such as myself is currently living rent free in your head. The accusations you made involving me are riddled in half truths. For those MRAK readers interested in what was really said and how we got to this point, complete backup can be found in my published Substack available here:
‘https://substack.com/home/post/p-150462612
‘https://www.masterresource.org/alaska-policy/freedom-alaska-report-card/
Sounds like a last ditch attempt at a failing attempt at reelection. Mud being slung with his snow shovels and donning his Teflon suit so the sh!t won’t stick to him. His screams mimic those of a predator call with the wolves circling…
As someone who lived through the antics of Rep Eastman for four years this hits the nail on the head. Eastman annually drafts many, many bills and hundreds of legislative amendments with no intent to pass any of them, it is a political tool to appease the Freedom Index criteria. It’s comical actually.
This is what I take away when I read this whiny plea: “I’m trying to make you simple minded peasants understand why I and all my fellow RINOs keep reaching across the aisle to help Democrats increase spending, grow government, and slowly but surely take away more and more of your freedoms.
You low IQ children don’t seem to know that we’re doing it for your own good! Now shut up and vote for me so I can continue helping Democrats steal more of your PFDs, because WE know how to better spend that money!”
“The score doesn’t consider whether a bill ultimately becomes law, only how each legislator voted on specific key votes including amendments that do not pass.”
Mr. McCabe, isn’t it the how one votes that reveal his position; its the “proof in the pudding” beyond the blabber and rhetoric. Because a bill one voted for doesn’t pass, doesn’t mean one didn’t support its liberty reducing effects. Hmmm🤔
It is nice to see that the JBS, long demonized by the Rockefeller-controlled media, is feared. This might be because all of their so-called “conspiracy theories” have become “conspiracy FACTS”, starting with the claim that, “Yes, Virginia, there IS a worldwide cabal of trillionaires trying to establish a New World Order.” Anyone denying that are now the ones who would get laughed out of a room, and given the Beanie-and-Propeller Award for living in a fantasy world.
Glad I get the opportunity to vote McCabe out this year.
I don’t know if we’ll be successful in getting him out, but I joined with you in voting against him.
This was also the first time in my life that I voted early.
I did not want to, I like voting on election day only, but this election is so important, that I set aside my wants and voted early because I did not want to take any chance, any chance at all, that something unexpected would happen on Nov 5 that prevented me from voting then.
AK907 Leadership Scores as follows:
Sully … Score: 55
Daddy’s Little Princess … Score: 45
AWOL Mary … Score: 04
Source … ‘https://thefreedomindex.org/
when the time comes -vote Doyle Holmes .
man of his word
veteran
long time business owner
dedication to his community .
generous . goes out of his way to help people .
Honest .
Hard worker .
Wise honorable man
And an indicted criminal who got off on a technicality.
being sued for stealing from dead people
says he will caucus with who ever gives him the best deal even Democrats
not particularly pro-life and hates Eastman
Steals yard signes – dozens of Kowalke signs in his yard during that campaign
lies about his borough assembly time
extremely hard of hearing
older than Biden
Wife actually owns the business
and last but not least – makes more money before he gets out of bed than everyone in the room
guy is a tool. removed all references to republican or conservative from his signs and website
yeaaaaah. Its a hard no for me. McCabe ain’t great but he is 1000% better than a Willowbilly who will caucus with the LGBTQ loving democrats if they give him something
I do not understand why Representative Eastman voted against these bills.
HB104, the salvage/sale of beetle killed spruce. He sided with 2 Senate Democrats (Tobin & Kiehl) and 5 House Democrats (Groh, Hannan, Mina, Story, and Josephson).
HB148, extending education tax credits thus increasing school choice for parents. He was the ONLY vote in the House against the bill; the Senate voted 20-0.
HB66, the omnibus crime bill that increased the penalties for death by fentanyl. He sided with senator Loki Tobin the only senator who voted against the bill. He sided with 5 House Democrats (Mina, Hannan, Gray, Carrick and Armstrong).
He voted against SB34, Reestablishing the Citizen’s Advisory Commission on Federal Management Areas in Alaska. The vote in the Senate was 20-0. He sided with 5 House Democrats.
It appears from these votes that Representative Eastman has joined the Democrat caucus.
I’m checking this article’s comments just to see I’m not the only one backing Rep. Eastman. It’s insane how they make “following the law” out to be an extremist position.
It’s truly regrettable that my party (the AIP) ever gave McCabe an endorsement. We rescinded it this year, but McCabe kept it on his website.
McCabe is a deep-state operative who used to be involved with union management for Atlas Air during their illicit activities of transferring people to and from torture sites. His wife, along with Mike Coon’s wife, spread false accusations about me all over town after a failed and baseless petition for a restraining order in 2023 was outright rejected by a judge. Their family has been exploiting the domestic violence courts as a political weapon long before me, while McCabe’s current wife is an expert at being a Christian and doesn’t hold back when she gets a chance to preach about moral superiority. Coon’s wife passed away shortly after these attacks, but even during hospital visits with his wife, Coons was being ordered around by Hughes and Shower to attack me for criticizing their weak positions on protecting children from the trans agenda.
Alaska, vote these globalists out of power!
Says the mentally unstable, wildly antisemite guy who brandishes his firearm in public like he’s a tough guy. Peterson’s word is about as solid as lyin’ bidens. Just knowing you support Eastman is reason enough to vote for his challenger.
is this not a weird article to write about and mention Kassie Andrews who outed him last week on the west susitna access coal plant?
BS, Kevin.
.
If only you spend as much time and energy worrying about John Q as you do worrying about John Birch
.
… but that’s not happening, is it?
.
Why not, Kevin?
Oh, for gosh sake. There you go again carrying on like a bloviating, butt-hurt buffoon trying to tear down the most conservative member of the State House with baseless accusations and boogeyman fear-mongering about the JBS, Kevin.
Not everyone is willing to toss aside conservative principles so cavaliery and then make lame excuses for having done so.
Hope sensible folks in District 30 take you out like garbage next week, Kevin. You’re the swamp.
Pretty funny when Kevin can’t pass the purity test and Doyle gets a free pass. I can’t even fathom why anyone would choose Holmes to represent them.
Simple, Holmes said he’ll back Rep. Eastman during the next session. He also seems like a good honest man who had a bunch of lies made up about him. I see that a lot in Alaska. For example, see my above comment.
You’re a liar and a charlatan. If you had on iota of brain power or even just a little bit of time in Willow you’d know it is WELL known Holmes is as crooked as they come. He’d fit right in in the swamp on that you’re correct.
Good grief. You people. McCabe is right. Get past all the BS and he’s right.i don’t want to hear you all crying about a bi partisan majority with Eastman as speaker of the house- with Doyle’s help. Wake the F up.
After trashing JBS and the Freedom Index (after getting a low score) in an article that sounds like it was written by AI, he ends the article by saying it’s a “useful tool”. This is what we’ve gotten from McCaved for fours years running now ; elitist, RINO DOUBLE SPEAK.
Whew. I am totally, totally praying for Rep. Eastman to win this election. It would be another great thing to add to the celebration of a President Trump win. The harder the uniparty pushes against Eastman, the more I see of the “Orange Man Bad” syndrome. It never stops. Rep. Eastman, you live rent-free in so many uniparty heads!
Kevin McCabe, you ran as a conservative, yet you’ve become a member of the Juneau swamp. You are getting called out for your hypocrisy and you whine about that? After looking at the Freedom Index on the New American’s website, MOST of the Alaska republican legislators records are pretty dismal. No wonder so many people are fed up with you AND the party. Do the job you were elected to do and quit attacking those who are actually following through on their campaign promises. You’ve become an absolute disgrace.
Remind me, Mr. McCabe… what was it your lovely wife posted on FB after you both attended the birthday party of Alaska’s foremost financial criminals? Something like ‘had a great time. Lovely family. Met your son. Much love to you.’
…and then you never responded to assist, confirm or deny for any of the financial victims of father Chris and son Garrett Elder’s financial treachery despite attempts to wrangle a perspective from you.
The father is now dead and Garrett’s in federal prison for having bilked roughly $30mm, mostly from those in the Valley. Way to go, McCabe. That’s what we all want from Representatives; a smattering of duplicity and then an attempt at escape by hiding from questions.
If you think your odd redirect is going to rectify the detritus in your wake you’re grossly confused.
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