Alaska, your country needs you now more than ever. Our nation’s cold civil war is raging. The next major battle in the conflict comes November 3, when Americans will choose between a freedom-loving, free market based, capitalist country or one controlled and micromanaged by special interest-oriented, power-hungry Leftists. 

What would a Joe Biden run country look like? Look at how much damage the hard-left mayor of Anchorage has done to Alaska’s most populated city in the past five and a half years. 

Today’s Democrat Party has been highjacked by the hard Left. The days of John F. Kennedy and Tip O’Neill are gone. Today’s Democrats are so crazy and radical, they bring swift destruction anywhere they’re given power. Look at most of the Democrat-run cities in America today. Can you imagine handing over an entire country to this crowd? 

It’s highly unlikely Alaskans would choose Biden over Donald Trump in November considering he’s done more for the state than any president in recent history. Trump’s signed legislation opening ANWR, boosted Alaska’s military presence, and put an end to the anti-development ways of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency. 

But Trump’s victory is one of three major battles we must win in November if our nation is to avoid going the way of Venezuela where most of us are forced to scavenge for food out of garbage dumpsters. Alaskans will play a crucial role in the second and third battles.  

Republicans must retain control of the Senate. The anti-America, anti-cop, anti-capitalist Left in the Lower-48 see Alaska as a cheap Senate seat. They’ve poured millions into the campaign of so-called independent candidate Al Gross in an attempt to take out incumbent Dan Sullivan.  

Gross is not an independent. Not even close. His contributors include one of the wealthiest financiers of the hard-Left movement sweeping the nation, billionaire George Soros. If there’s a move to negate capitalism and usher in anarchy in the country, Soros’ cash is behind it.  

The Anchorage Daily News would never in a million years report Gross’ connection to Soros. It’s no small irony that the ADN is also Soros funded, as ProPublica, a Soros-supported organization, funnels money to the state’s largest newspaper to underwrite reporting.

The media also won’t tell you more than 90% of the money Gross has contributed to other candidates has gone to Leftist Democrats. And did you know Gross has changed his party affiliation six times in the past 20 years? Gross is whatever he needs to be to get elected. This go around, he’s pretending to be an independent. Don’t be fooled by this chameleon. 

Gross claims he’s pro-Second Amendment but has publicly supported universal background checks. And he claims to oppose Medicare for all but has written several opinion columns favoring the idea. He’s also tweeted in favor of Medicare for all. 

Republicans currently hold a three-seat edge in the Senate.  Several Republicans are in tough races across the country, including longtime incumbent Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Incumbent Republicans Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Martha McSally of Arizona are both behind in the polls in their respective races. Democrats will lose a seat as Alabama Sen. Doug Jones is expected to lose his race against Republican Tommy Tuberville.   

Montana, North Carolina, Iowa, and Georgia all have what are considered toss-up races for the Senate. 

The bottom line is Soros and his fellow hard-core Leftists wouldn’t dump millions into Alaska’s Senate race if they didn’t believe Gross could fool enough voters to unseat Sullivan.

Soros and crew must have faith in Alaskan’s proclivity to send Leftists to the Senate. Voters have repeatedly re-elected Leftist Lisa Murkowski and even sent a Democrat, Mark Begich, to the Senate.

Unfortunately, those two played a pivotal role in giving the nation the disaster that is Obamacare. Begich was the deciding vote that gave us Obamacare and Murkowski cast the deciding vote that saved it when Trump attempted to repeal the legislation. 

If Gross can use his millions in out-of-state contributions and trick enough Alaskans to support him, it would be a disaster for the state and the nation. Can you imagine Alaska sending two Leftwing, anti-Trumpers, Murkowski and Gross to the Senate? Talk about economic suicide. 

The third crucial November battle we must win to maintain the survival of our nation comes with the Republican’s ability to win back control of the House. Once again, Alaskans play a key role. They must send the most senior member of the House, Republican Don Young back to the capitol.  

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has endorsed Young’s opponent, Leftist Alyse Galvin. What more do you really need to know in that race? 

Republicans need to pick up 17-seats to win back the House. It would be 18 if Galvin defeats Young. 

Dan Fagan hosts the number one rated morning drive radio show on Newsradio 650, KENI, weekdays between 5:30 and 8 am. 

By MICHAEL TAVOLIERO

I have not been a fan of the Alaska Supreme Court.  

In my non-legal opinion, they have seldom gotten things right for the conservative movement in Alaska.

With that said, the Forrer decision is evidence of case law where the Court has properly defended the Alaska Constitution. 

The Sept. 4 Forrer decision told the Alaska Legislature and the governor the Alaska Tax Credit Certificate Bond enabling legislation was unconstitutional. House Bill 331 had allowed the Department of Revenue to issue subject-to-appropriation bonds to pay outstanding cashable oil and gas tax credits that were issued during a tax credit program that ended in 2017

In other words, HB 331 allowed the state to go into debt without the approval of the Alaska voter.  This violated the principle of Article IX of the Alaska Constitution.  The Alaska Legislature once again failed the Alaskan people.

As Justice Craig Stowers stated, the Alaskan Constitutional “delegates desired fiscal responsibility and public accountability; these principles reverberate throughout article IX of the Alaska Constitution. The clearest expression of this collective intent is contained in section 8: ‘No state debt shall be contracted unless authorized by law for capital improvements or . . . housing loans for veterans, and ratified by a majority of the qualified voters of the State who vote on the question.’”

Alaska Supreme Court delivered a true win for the Alaska people and a transparent judgment of our Alaska Legislature’s flagrant violation of our Constitution.

But let’s consider the Legislature’s propensity for this behavior.

Why do we continually spend the time and money having to deal with such obvious stupidity when the Legislature and the governor employ an army of attorneys who should have the good sense to stand and protect our constitutions, the elected officials who have sworn an oath to support and defend these and the State of Alaska?

HB331 was an example of when both progressives and conservatives attempt to play the same game.  In other words, how can the Legislature cheat the Alaskan people?

The Democrats are much better at this cheating game than the Republicans, who are new to this game.

The Democrats have demonstrated this through their conscientious posturing and positioning for control and domination of the Alaska Legislature together with their allies, the government unions, the education industry and the health care industry, over the past couple of decades in spite of an obvious Republican majority in both houses during these times.

The conservative side of the Republican party is even newer to the game and, unfortunately, have demonstrated in many cases that they are rank amateurs willing to be used in this game.

We, the public, have watched from afar the continued usurpation of the Legislature’s Uniform Rules of procedure, Alaska Statutes and the Alaska Constitution. These are abandoned to serve the self-interest of the Alaska Legislature’s leadership and its allies.

In other words, in the case of HB 331 as well as the Permanent Fund dividend, education, health care, and a list of others, a majority of the 60 men and women who are the elected representative body of the people and who have sworn an oath to support and defend the United States Constitution and Alaska Constitution have abandoned that oath and betrayed our Constitutions and the people they serve.

Our state’s legislative Uniform Rules and laws all are born through the painful delivery of debate and consensus out of our state Constitution. Their intent is clearly to provide law and order to the greatest state in the nation.

We, the public, over a longer time than most can remember, have watched the Alaska Legislature literally ignore this legal foundation and those edifices which have been built upon it in favor of a game so dangerous many of today’s legislators actually believe that their actions are right and just.

The malignant narcissism of professional politicians corrupts the past, present, and future of Alaska. The absence of constitutional conscience and selfish need for power and control are more obvious to the public than ever before in our history.

When legislators violate the Constitution, they break their oath of office and must be held accountable.  In many cases, through this recent primary, the voters held legislators accountable.

The Legislature’s position today is that they can violate whatever they want as long as the courts let them get away with it.  It is a planned event and we have witnessed this in plain sight.

The flip-side is part of the same arrangement. They allow the courts to “veto” even constitutional action the legislature takes, and Legislature agrees to obey the courts on those cases.

The irony is we have perhaps the strongest governor and Legislature constitutionally of any state in the nation.  We also have the least strong judiciary with the Legislature and governor in the ultimate driver’s seat on the judiciary’s budget.

Yet, the Alaska Supreme Court ends up running the state. 

Legislators are just deck chairs on the ship christened Alaska reminding many of us of the Titanic.

They get to play captain when the courts choose to let them submit and decry it is out of their control look what the judiciary just did.  They get to violate that which they swore to uphold. They dishonor the Uniform Rules , statutes, and the Constitution at times, with the blessings of the court.

If we don’t draw the line at following the law, we are guaranteed to lose in the long term. 

For the evidence of this, look at the PFD, Alaska education and Alaska health care.

It’s just like going to Las Vegas, except the city lights and excitement are way beyond our view and hidden from sight in Juneau. The House has the edge and will always win in the end when we continue to play the game of dishonoring our constitutional foundation. 

We may hope to win the first dice roll.  We may get lucky and the House ignores it, but if we keep playing, the House wins always. 

The Democrats know this. They play to win always.  

The progressive Republicans have learned this.  They also play the “play to win game.”

Sadly, some conservatives are going along with this because they have been seduced and told it is the right thing to do.

When someone refuses to play the game according to the arrangement in which Democrats are always guaranteed to win, they become an existential threat to the game continuing under the current arrangement.

Michael Tavoliero is a realtor at Core Real Estate Group in Eagle River, is active in the Alaska Republican Party and chairs Eaglexit.