The Alaska House Republicans released their vision and principles in a declaration statement.
“There is reason, we believe, in optimism for the future of Alaska. With our uncharted wilderness, our ever-plentiful resources, and our bountiful seas, Alaska remains a treasure for the bold. We, the undersigned, commit ourselves to restoring the greatness of our state,” the declaration statement reads.
“We believe in governance that fits Alaska. We will fight for a state government that operates transparently, remains accountable to the people, acts with integrity, and operates on a responsible budget that does not inhibit economic growth. This includes preserving our permanent fund for future generations, instituting a spending limit, and opposing a statewide income tax.
“We believe in restoring an Alaska open for business. This includes fighting for our right to engage in responsible resource development, protecting our fishing and tourism industries, and developing the infrastructure and fiscal solutions needed to attract more industry and jobs.
“We believe every Alaskan deserves equal treatment under the law. We will fight for an Alaska where each lawful vote counts, where law enforcement has the resources to keep our communities safe, where all life is protected, and justice is served upon those who unlawfully harm others.”
The declaration of principles was signed by 18 Republicans. Only Reps. Kelly Merrick and Sara Rasmussen, who have left the Republican caucus, did not sign the declaration.
Rep. George Rauscher said the caucus has a joint resolution in response to President Joe Biden’s crushing energy policies that are harming Alaska already. The resolution must be voted on by the entire House, however, and the House is controlled by Democrats.
“All Alaskans believe that resource development is key to Alaska’s survival right now,” Rauscher said.
The resolution will implore President Joe Biden to honor the recent coastal plain oil and gas leasing program. It asks the administration to honor the long, safe, and responsible development on the North Slope. If passed by the Legislature it would be sent to Congress and the Biden Administration.
It always is disappointing when Republicans, who supposedly belong to a party that believes in defending constitutional rights, confirm people for high office who have situational views of those same rights.
The latest jolt came Wednesday with the 70-30 confirmation of Merrick Garland as attorney general, handing the reins of the Justice Department to a longtime federal appellate judge who over the years has voted at least four times to curtail gun rights.
Twenty Republican senators – including Alaska’s Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski – joined Democrats in approving President Joe Biden’s pick for the nation’s top cop post. Sen. Dan Sullivan was a “no” vote.
During his confirmation hearing, Garland pleaded ignorance of important gun control issues. With a straight face, he told senators he is uninformed about gun policy and could not say whether Biden unilaterally could deny gun sales by permanently delaying background checks. Using the same rationale, he said he did not know whether Biden could ban the sale of popular rifles such as AR-15s.
That from a man who will be advising Biden’s administration, the most anti-gun in recent memory.
As we mentioned before, Merrick, appointed by Bill Clinton to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Washington, D.C, Circuit, knew enough to vote at least four times against gun rights.
In 2000, he voted to allow the FBI to retain National Instant Criminal Background Check System background check records in direct contradiction of federal law. Retention of those records would create a de facto gun registration list, also banned by federal law.
In 2012, Garland voted to allow the prosecution – with a 30-year mandatory minimum sentence, no less – of automatic firearms offenses without proof the accused knew the weapon was automatic.
Surely the GOP senators knew all that, but voted for him anyway.
Judge Jennifer Henderson denied Dustin Darden his request to be placed on the Anchorage Municipality ballot for the District 3E seat, which has been vacant since Oct. 23, when Austin Quinn-Davidson became acting mayor.
Darden, an activist and frequent candidate, filed for the seat in January, and his paperwork was all in order and filed by the Municipality’s deadline. But the Anchorage Municipal Clerk said the position is not open, and she denied his request.
On Wednesday, Henderson heard his administrative appeal and his request for a preliminary injunction, but ruled that the municipality would suffer irreparable harm.
Darden, and his colleague Nial Williams, pointed out to the judge that the municipality was a full day late, missing a filing deadline set by the judge for the municipality’s response last Thursday. Unspoken was the insinuation that if Darden had been late with his filing, the Muni would have asked for the case to be tossed. The judge said it was not important that the Muni lawyers had missed their deadline.
Williams was the subject of the Muni’s counter complaint: The lawyers said that he had no standing in the case, which is an administrative appeal and they claimed he was acting illegally as Darden’s attorney.
Not so, said Williams. He is an aggrieved voter in the district. But Henderson agreed with the Muni, and removed him from the case.
Darden asked that the case move forward, even without the relief he had sought, which was to be placed on the ballot that is being mailed out on Monday to Anchorage voters.
This means he will be back in court on March 31 to argue that the Muni has allowed Quinn-Davidson to hold two seats simultaneously.
Henderson, in her rambling 15-minute ruling, thought it was unfair that Darden would be the only one on the ballot, and that others would not have the chance to file for office if she declared the seat open. She did not give the two appellants much hope for success in their case.
Williams had argued, on behalf of Darden, that anyone could have read the municipal charter and could see for themselves the seat was open, and they also have the additional remedy of running a write-in campaign, as Sen. Lisa Murkowski successfully did.
Williams explained how the two had been denied by the Municipality at every juncture: They filed on time. They were denied. They asked the Anchorage Clerk for a hearing on their filing. They were denied. At the next available date, they filed their case before Anchorage court.
“We are entitled to an Assembly of 11. Since October 23, there have been only 10 members. This is unequal representation,” Williams argued. “The fact remains that Ms. Quinn-Davidson is holding two seats — in a mayoral capacity and a legislative capacity.”
Anchorage Agenda shows Acting Mayor, Acting Chair, and Acting Vice-Chair are the leadership team for the Municipality since Oct. 23.
Henderson was unmoved, although she did allow that there seems to be no sideboards on how long a person could hold onto her Assembly seat, while also serving as mayor. She did not rule that the seat was, in fact, vacant.
Rather, Henderson appeared to have made her decision by the time the proceedings began on Wednesday, agreeing with the Municipal attorneys on every point, including that the Municipality “faces enormous irreparable harm,” if Darden were allowed to run for what the Muni has determined is not an open seat.
Darden also pointed out to the court that records presented by the Municipality’s attorneys were signed and notarized for March, 2020, over one year ago, clearly another error by the Municipality. The judge ignored the clerical error, as she had also ignored the missed filing deadline by the Municipal attorneys.
“Our argument is that Quinn-Davidson is usurping power,” Williams said. “So Ms. Quinn-Davidson can’t have her cake and eat it too.”
Evidently, according to Judge Henderson, Quinn-Davidson can do just that.
Join Sen. Roger Holland hosting Dr. Chris Mattman, as they talk about space and Alaska’s future in the space race.
The event will be on Facebook Live on March 12 at 11 am.
Mattman is chief technology and innovation officer at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, one of the space scientists responsible for the Mars Rover Perseverance and Mars helicopter ingenuity.
Interior secretary nominee Deb Haaland is on track to be confirmed on Monday. Every Democratic senator is expected to vote for her confirmation. Two Republicans have said they’ll back her historic nomination, too. The only question now is how many other GOP senators will vote to confirm the first Native American Cabinet secretary in U.S. history.
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) may be in the most uncomfortable position of them all.
There’s only two other people in Alaska’s entire congressional delegation besides Sullivan. They’re both Republicans. And they’re both publicly supporting Haaland.
“You’ll find she will listen to you,” Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) said as he introduced Haaland in her Senate confirmation hearing last month. He doesn’t get to vote on her confirmation, but it spoke volumes that the conservative GOP lawmaker appeared alongside Haaland and praised her in her hearing.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who does get to vote on Haaland’s nomination, announced last week that she will be a yes. She, too, referred to overwhelming support among Alaska’s tribes.
But Haaland’s support for Biden’s decisions to pause new oil and gas leasing on federal lands and halt construction on the Keystone XL pipeline has drawn opposition from fossil fuel interests in the oil-rich state.
Murkowski and Young both weighed those perspectives, and both concluded that they support Haaland leading the federal agency with oversight of public lands and tribal obligations. Sullivan, meanwhile, has been silent.
“Senator Sullivan is continuing to evaluate Deb Haaland’s qualifications and review her nomination,” Sullivan spokesperson Nate Adams said in a statement.
“While the Senator understands this is a historic nomination for our nation, he has concerns that Congresswoman Haaland will reverse the progress that the Alaska delegation has made on critical energy projects, further jeopardizing jobs and working families at a time when the state’s economy is struggling to recover from the pandemic,” said Adams.
The Alaska Senate, on a vote of 18-1, passed a motion to begin better enforcing its own rules regarding Covid-19 health protocols.
Only Sen. Mike Shower voted against it. Sen. Lora Reinbold, who is the main concern in the building and who was mentioned extensively, although not by name, during the motion on Wednesday, had been asked to put on a face mask or leave the floor, and she left before the item appeared on the calendar.
Sen. Gary Stevens, the Rules chair, made the motion that didn’t seem to need to be made: It was that rules established by the Legislature be enforced by leadership.
But because Sen. Reinbold has been flouting the building rules, while Senate President Peter Micciche has tried to counsel her to no avail, nearly all legislators but Shower felt it was time for action.
There are 26 people from the building now infected with Covid, and one of them is in the hospital, sources in the Capitol said. This, in spite of the widespread use of the appropriate masks. The work in the Legislature is in danger of coming to a halt because of the rapidly spreading virus.
After the floor session, Reinbold tried to hold a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting, still wearing her unauthorized face shield, when Senate President Peter Micciche canceled the meeting from under her.
The Senate has instructed him, through the motion, to keep her out of the Capitol except that she can attend floor sessions when a vote is happening so that her district is not disenfranchised.
Senate leadership has not yet stripped her of her committee chairmanship of Judiciary. Sources in the building told MRAK that Micciche is dealing with Reinbold issues for up to six hours a day. Reinbold not only has refused to wear a mask or even a shield that has a foam seal around it, she has pushed past the Beacon testing station where everyone gets their forehead temperature monitored upon entering the building, and she has refused the twice-weekly testing that is in the legislative rules.
The complaints from staff in the building about Reinbold were brought up in the floor speech given by Sen. Gary Stevens.
Stevens explained the problem in eloquent and sensitive terms, and set forth the solution that senators agreed on:
The motion in front of you, Mr. President gives Senate leadership the authority to exclude any senator from the Capitol building, until such a time as they follow legislative council policies.
The reason for these policies: to protect legislators and staff. All 59 legislators and all staff have complied, only one is not wearing an approved mask, going through testing through Beacon, are submitting temperature and questions when entering the building. This has concerned all of us. Staff has expressed fear, others have talked of early retirement. We are all employers; we come under federal law, Mr. President. We are responsible for protecting our employees, for keeping them safe. Right now, not wearing an approved mask does not protect them, but rather puts them in jeopardy. This misbehavior has not only taken up the Senate’s time but now also the other body. We have reached the point where it must be dealt with; we can no longer, in good conscience, ignore it.
Frankly, Mr. President, it is embarrassing that the other body, the speaker of the rules chair and building security were forced last night to enforce the rules to one of our members who was blatantly ignoring safety procedures.
Out of respect for our fellow senator, we have all spent inordinate amounts of time, many of us trying to reason, making accommodations, trying to provide appropriate CDC masks and it’s always been rejected in favor for masks that is simply not approved, allowed people not to test through Beacon but provide proof of negative testing — we have never seen it, Mr. President — bypass others waiting in line for entrance in the building, including saying that they have a meeting to attend to, which, we all had meetings to attend to. Mr. President we have patiently done everything that we could, to bring us, bring folks, bring our senators into compliance up to no avail. The choice, Mr. President, is a simple yes or no.
“Yes” indicates you support the safety rules concerned of the staff, concerned for our legislators, concerned for everyone in the building.
A “no” vote may be saying that you are against all safety rules. Opening the building to anyone. Not taking testing, not wearing a mask. That seems unconscionable to me, Mr. President.
Hopefully, soon we will get beyond this. Beyond the problem we’re facing with COVID-19. We have people in quarantine, in hospital. In the hospital, Mr. President. Today, we have six people testing positive. Two have quarantined, one of whom is in the hospital – is hospitalized. Things could be worse, Mr. President. They certainly could. But they aren’t, because we have enforced the very rules we are talking about right now.
Fortunately, Alaska is doing much better. Offering vaccines to anyone who wants it and I am looking forward to the day we can remove all of the rules. But we are not there yet.
Even if we get everyone vaccinated in this building who wants a vaccine, we are still a long way off from complete freedom. We still must observe precautions. I suspect we will still need to take great care right up to the last day of this session. There is still danger out there. Half a million Americans have died of COVID. Three-hundred Alaskans have died. We cannot just ignore these threats.
Mr. President, this is a difficult motion for me to make, it falls to the rules chair to make it. In my 21 years in the legislature, I have never seen any rules chair, or any senator, have to make such a motion. Ihave great respect for all senators, even the member who is making my life rather difficult at this moment. I consider her a friend, but we can no longer abide the behavior.
We have tried to dissuade her, offer her easier ways out than we have offered others, all to no avail. The time has come, Mr. President, for decisive action. None of us want to take it but we must for the safety of all of us.
Through this motion, we are allowing Senate leadership to exclude a senator from this building. An extraordinary action, Mr. President, unprecedented, but necessary.
So, how can this be remedied? How can a senator return to the building? It’s amazingly simple: do what everyone else is doing. One: wear an approved mask, as all the rest of us are doing. Two: test twice a week, as all of us in this building are now doing. And three: have your temperature taken to enter the building as all of us are now doing.
These are simple enough requirements, Mr. President, they protect each of us, both the people you are around as well as yourself. I ask for your support in this difficult time.
On Monday of this week, a man identifying himself as Ken called my radio talk show claiming Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski was denied communion by a Catholic priest because of her support for abortion.
The caller said the Anchorage Archdiocese was so upset with the priest over it, they transferred him from Anchorage to the small town of Soldotna, on the Kenai Peninsula.
After the show on Monday, I contacted the Anchorage Archdiocese, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Soldotna, and Lisa Murkowski’s office in Washington D.C. to ask them if what Ken said was true.
Monday came and went, and no one called me back. That raised a red flag.
Why wouldn’t Murkowski easily quash the story by saying it wasn’t true? The only reason I could come up with is – it may be true.
The next day, Tuesday, I reached out to the archdiocese and Murkowski’s office once again. And for a second day Murkowski’s high paid staffers didn’t return my call or email.
Late Tuesday, I finally reached Dominique Johnson, spokesman for the Catholic Church in Alaska by phone. Johnson raised my suspicion even more refusing to answer any of my questions saying only no comment.
Did a Catholic priest refuse to serve Murkowski communion?
No Comment.
Was an Anchorage priest transferred to Soldotna after refusing to serve communion to Murkowski?
No Comment.
I spent enough years as a journalist to know something was up. The church and Murkowski could have made this whole story go away instantly if they simply denied the senator was ever refused communion.
The next day, Wednesday, I posted on my Facebook page a clip of the caller Ken and his claim Murkowski was refused communion during mass in Alaska.
That’s when the flood gates opened. It turns out the incident in question not only happened, but it was common knowledge among many Anchorage Catholics.
Here’s what I know based on information from reliable sources who asked to remain anonymous.
Sometime in December of 2019, Murkowski was attending mass at Our Lady of the Snows in Girdwood.
Fr. Robert Whitney, based out of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Anchorage, was saying mass as a visiting priest.
Murkowski approached Fr. Whitney during mass with her hands out ready to receive communion but was denied the wafer. Fr. Whitney instead said a blessing over the senator. Murkowski did not make a scene and went back to her seat.
Anchorage-Juneau Archbishop Andrew Bellisario, well-known for his Leftist beliefs, was so upset with Whitney, he transferred him out of the much larger St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Anchorage to the much smaller Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Soldotna.
Fr. Whitney, who grew up in Anchorage, must have known his withholding of communion from Murkowski because of her enthusiastic support of abortion would land him in hot water with the left leaning Bellisario.
There’s a culture war brewing in the Catholic Church much like the one threatening America. Fr. Whitney is not shy about his conservative views even though it puts him at odds with Bellisario and the left-leaning Pope Francis.
Conservative Catholics have been feeling like exiles in their own church under Pope Francis. It’s rare priests like Whitney have the courage to stand up to church hierarchy.
Whitney has not returned my calls, nor has he spoken with me about any of this. My hope is Archbishop Bellisario doesn’t take further punitive action against Fr. Whitney because of the Murkowski story finally coming out. It was inevitable.
Hopefully, Whitney’s unusual courage will motive other priests who believe strongly in the sanctity of life to stand up to Leftist church leadership and withhold communion from other politicians advancing the genocide that is American abortion.
Whitney denying Murkowski communion makes sense considering the Catholic Church claims to be a defender of the unborn.
It’s not just that Murkowski simply favors abortion. She is one of the most powerful and impactful players in advancing the cause of abortion.
Murkowski justified her swing vote to defeat the repeal of Obamacare by saying she feared the effort would limit funding for Planned parenthood and mean fewer dollars for abortions.
Murkowski’s refusal to approve Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh even further validated the senator’s allegiance to the abortion movement.
It’s understandable why Murkowski doesn’t want the story out of how a courageous priest refused to serve her communion. For Catholics, communion is the focal point and centerpiece of their faith.
For Fr. Whitney, Murkowski’s pivotal role in advancing America’s death culture was apparently too much to overlook and ignore. He took a stand for his belief that life is sacred, precious, and worthy of protection. Fr. Whitney must have known his stand for life would come with a heavy price.
Dan Fagan hosts the number one rated morning drive talk show in Alaska on Newsradio 650 KENI. He splits his time between Anchorage and New Orleans.
“I will meet on March 18 with People’s Republic of China Director Yang Jiechi and State Councilor Wang Yi in Alaska to engage on a range of issues, including those where we have deep disagreements,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Twitter.
Joining Blinken in Alaska will be national security adviser Jake Sullivan. The meeting will take place on Thursday and Friday of next week.
The Wall Street Journal says the Chinese have sought to restart a relationship with the U.S. in the post-Donald Trump era.
“Beijing has lobbied the Biden administration for early face-to-face discussions to try to smooth out relations that have grown sharply more confrontational in recent years,” the newspaper wrote.
Alaska was chosen because Blinken is set to return to Washington, D.C. from a trip to Asia, specifically Japan and South Korea, and Anchorage is a refueling stopover.
Wang Huiyao, president of the Center for China and Globalisation think-tank in Beijing, told the Financial Times that the meeting “would be ‘the first step on a thousand mile journey’ as China tries to convince the US to shelve disputes over human rights in favour of areas of potential co-operation, such as climate change.”
Admiral Philip Davidson, who heads the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that the US is losing its military edge, while China continues to erode decades of American-led deterrence in Asia with a rapid military expansion.
“We are accumulating risk that may embolden China to unilaterally change the status quo before our forces may be able to deliver an effective response,” he said, as reported by Financial Times.
Eagle River Sen. Lora Reinbold was seated as a spectator in the House Health and Social Services Committee, when she was called out by Rep. Zack Fields for not wearing an approved mask.
Shortly after, Speaker Louise Stutes, Rules Chair Bryce Edgmon and a security guard entered the room. Stutes told Reinbold she would have to put on a mask; she had one handy to give her. The alternative, she said, was that Reinbold would have to leave the House hearing. Reinbold left, escorted by the security guard, Edgmon, and Stutes.
Much of the incident was recorded on Gavel Alaska close-circuit television in the Capitol, but Reinbold video recorded the incident on her phone and posted it to her Facebook page.
Reinbold has been wearing a plastic face shield, which is not accepted by the Legislature’s rules for a tight-fitting mask.
This is the second time this week she has been told to either wear an approved mask or leave the room. On Monday, Sen. President Peter Micciche advised her that her face shield was not adequate. She decided to skip the Senate floor session rather than put on a mask.
