An anonymously sent flyer went to some Alaskans two weeks ago blaming Rep. Paul Seaton for leading the charge on an income tax. Now, he has refused to call a meeting of the conference committee on the state’s budget, HB 57, until he gets that income tax passed by the Senate. He is the presiding officer of that committee.
It’s been 16 days since the conference committee for the State operating budget met.
The first and only time the committee met was on May 15, for an organizational meeting called by Rep. Paul Seaton, who is the presiding chair of the committee. He leads the House Democrats’ side of the bargaining table.
What does the presiding chair do? He calls the meetings. He sets the schedule for resolving the differences between the House and Senate versions of HB 57, the operating budget for 2018.
Seaton has said there will be no budget until there is a state income tax, HB 115. And the Senate won’t pass an income tax. The Senate majority, who are mainly Republicans, say SB 26 means there is no need for an income tax.
Has Seaton dug in his heels and will he let state government shut down because he can’t get his $700 million income tax?
Today, Gov. Bill Walker’s administration emailed 20,000 layoff notices to state workers. It the Legislature fails to pass a budget by July 1, the government ceases to operate because it has no authority to pay anyone.
The layoff notice was just the warm-up act for the official pink slips, which will be sent through the mail on Thursday.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke told Alaskans today that the long war on North American energy is over. He signed what he said may be the first secretarial order to be signed in Alaska, and it involves Alaskans’ big oil and gas reserves: The National Petroleum Reserve and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The order:
Starts the process for a new “integrated activity plan” for NPRA to determine what is open and what is leasable. In 2013 the Obama Administration closed nearly half of the surface acreage of the NPRA to leasing.
Calls for a review of the areas available for leasing in the NPRA, to maximize the potential of the areas that are possible for the next lease sale.
Orders an update of the resource assessments for both NPRA and ANWR 1002. It stops short of opening ANWR, which would require an act of Congress. But the assessment hasn’t been updated for decades, so Interior will have a better sense of how much oil is there.
Zinke made the announcement just three weeks before the Trans Alaska Pipeline’s 40th anniversary of operations, which is June 20, and on the 40th anniversary of the last weld to be made on the pipeline when it was under construction.
Zinke said he and President Donald Trump want Alaska to not only be energy independent, but “energy dominant.”
The 1002 area is 1.5 million acres of the coastal plain that is believed to be a massive reserve of oil and gas resources.
Sec. Ryan Zinke signs what is believed to be the first secretarial order ever signed in Alaska, to start the work that will allow oil development in Area 1002 of ANWR and begin a leasing schedule for the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska.
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was created in 1980, and in 1998 the U.S. Geological Survey completed a petroleum resource assessment, which has not been updated since.
The Wilderness Society pre-emptively released a statement saying it will sue over the Administration’s action. It said that Arctic development would put Alaska tribes in danger.
Zinke told the crowd gathered at the Dena’ina Center in Anchorage that there is a social cost to not having jobs.
“If you’re on North Slope in remote villages, not having economic viability, not having self-determination, and not having success and creating opportunities for children and grandchildren…Not having a job, there’s a social cost. America has been blessed with energy reserves. The blessing is also to use it,” he said.
Upon signing the order, Zinke gave three of the signing pens to those behind him: Rep. Don Young, North Slope Borough Mayor Harry Brower Jr. and a North Slope worker. Gov. Bill Walker did not receive a commemorative pen, although he applauded the signing vigorously from directly behind the secretary.
After speaking at the conference, Zinke took off to hike Arctic Valley to the historic Nike missile site.
Rep. Geran Tarr protesting the Legislature, where she serves in a leadership position in the Democrat-led House majority. Decorum has been a challenge for the lawmaker who has served since 2013.
Workplace bullying is not a new affliction, but seldom is it associated with politics.
In Juneau, however, reports of a toxic work environment in the orbit of a certain legislator has everyone talking in hushed tones about whether an intervention is necessary.
That lawmaker is Rep. Geran Tarr, who represents District 19, and is aligned with what can only be described as the far Left, feminist, and environmentalist agenda. Tarr does a lot of scolding, yelling, and lately has been described by aides as “unhinged.”
BADGERING THE WITNESS: Earlier this year, Tarr took the opportunity as the new co-chair of House Natural Resources Committee to exercise her authority.
It was “her committee” now, so she scolded Alaska Oil and Gas Association President Kara Moriarty, who was attempting to testify about how data used by a presenter in a prior presentation was misleading. Scolding Moriarty was a moment of personal triumph for a legislator who until this year had been in the minority.
Kara Moriarty
“Ms. Moriarty, we are not going to make statements like that in this committee,” Tarr warned. “So you’re not going to impugn the motives of that individual. If you want to respond to anything that was said, that’s fine. But we’re not going to do that.”
Moriarty is a grownup and she continued with her testimony (which did, in fact, refute the conclusions of the committee’s star witness but in no way impugned his character).
FINGER-JABBING A COLLEAGUE: Rep. Mike Chenault, the former House Speaker, is also a grownup, after spending the better part of his adult life as a civic and political leader. He was House Speaker from 2009-2017.
After Chenault objected to a procedural aspect of Tarr’s oil tax bill, HB 111, she hurried across the House chamber and brought her stabbing fingers an inch from his face during a break, until he told her the next time she stuck her finger that close to his mouth she should remember that he bites back. A photo part of the exchange was captured by Alaska Dispatch Newsreporter Nat Herz.
Tarr started screaming, “Are you threatening me? I’m calling security!” And she did. She called Capitol Security. Chenault was seen shaking his head at the whole thing.
That night, according to one witness, “She was screaming at people, freaking out. Testimony was dragging on. She wanted to go home. Andy Josephson was exhausted. Harriet Drummond was in pain with her leg. Geran just lost it, completely came off the rails.”
ABUSING AND LOSING STAFF: Tarr also has a reputation in the building for publicly berating her staff. She is known to belittle and humiliate her own staff members in front of other legislative aides and legislators. No aide wanted to speak on the record, of course, but several independently corroborate this characterization.
Two years ago, one of her new staff members gave her a one-hour notice, left a short resignation note on his computer keyboard, and walked out of the building to return to river guiding. He had only worked for her for two months.
By itself, that might have been an anomaly, but this year another Tarr staffer felt so badly treated that she wrote a letter to House Speaker Bryce Edgmon. And then she quit.
In fact, Tarr is well known in the Capitol for her staff burn rate, which is nearly a complete turnover year over year: Other staffers caution potential recruits about signing on with Tarr, Must Read Alaska is told by multiple insiders.
Working for legislators is not for the faint of heart. They are under a lot of pressure both from constituents and from other lawmakers. That pressure can get to them and their ability to handle others with grace is a mark of true statesmanship.
BULLYING A SENATOR’S STAFF: The “Tarr and Feather” treatment went beyond the House and has spilled into the Senate. Tarr became visibly upset at the trajectory one of her bills was taking in the Senate, left the gallery and in the hallway began berating a senior legislative aide who works for a senator who was raising some well-informed questions.
Witnesses to the incident said Tarr demanded the aide go into the room and straighten out the senator.
That bullying instance was said to be so egregious that word got back to House leadership and she was pulled aside and told to apologize. After all, the last thing Speaker Bryce Edgmon wants is to have angry Senate leadership on his back.
Is Geran Tarr a classic case of workplace bully? We reviewed the human resource literature and came up with a few signals:
HOW TO TELL IF SOMEONE IS BULLYING IN THE WORKPLACE
Deliberately ignoring or avoiding a target;
Purposefully excluding someone from group meetings, discussions or decisions;
Intentionally making someone feel isolated from the team.
Discounting or diminishing someone else’s views or concerns;
Making someone else feel useless or underused;
Only delegating the worst of tasks or responsibilities.
Purposefully causing hostile competition between employees;
Intentionally creating conflict;
Fostering a hostile team environment;
Encouraging backstabbing;
Publicly ranking employees.
Constantly giving unreasonable or non-constructive criticisms;
Fostering feelings of shame or guilt in employees;
Making employees feel as though their work is unworthy or inadequate.
Using an employee as a scapegoat for work mistakes;
Blaming others for their own mistakes or faults;
Or assuming credit for work that is not their own.
THE ANECDOTES ARE ADDING UP: In numerous interviews with staffers and legislators who have had dealings with Tarr, several of the above behaviors were described. None was able to go on the record but the inventory of complaints was consistent. What Alaskans working in the Capitol are seeing is a pattern of behavior that may qualify as bullying.
Verbally abusive Tarr, a hard-left legislator in a party claiming to value inclusivity and respect, may be ripe for a workplace intervention.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski showed the power of seniority in bringing Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to Alaska. But that wasn’t all. The two are flanked by Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, and Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, all showing just how full they want the Trans Alaska Pipeline to be. Not pictured, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota.
Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke is spending several days in Alaska on his way back from a trip to Norway, and has toured Prudhoe Bay as he makes his way south.
News outlets were surprised to get official word of Zinke’s trip from Gov. Bill Walker, who broke the security embargo about the secretary’s trip on Friday, ahead of Alaska’s DC delegation. There was a mad scramble by Zinke’s security detail, Must Read Alaska was told.
Zinke and an entourage of senators stopped in Denali National Park to meet with park staff, and Zinke said he thinks the name “Denali” will do just fine, as it has for thousands of years.
Then it was on to Alaska Veterans Memorial on Mile 147 of the Parks Highway for the Rolling Thunder Memorial Day ceremony.
Saluting during the flag ceremony are left to right, Gov. Bill Walker, Sec. of Interior Ryan Zinke, Sen. Lisa Murkowski and members of Alaska Veterans Motorcycle Club’s Rolling Thunder. (Zinke is a retired Navy SEAL.) hearts.
On Wednesday, Zinke will be the lunch speaker at the Alaska Oil and Gas Association’s annual conference in Anchorage.
While speaking to Alaska’s resource leaders, Zinke will have an “exciting announcement” on plans for getting more oil and gas produced in Alaska. There will also be an announcement about key additions to his Alaska staff.
Before he leaves for DC on Thursday, he’ll meet with local office staff members in the many agencies under the umbrella of Interior, such as the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Ocean Enegy Management, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Park Service.
DEMS COME CLEAN ON GOAL TO LOCK UP ANWR: Alaska Democrats are now openly opposed to oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The Alaska Democrats Facebook post encourages its followers to join an “awesome event” — a protest against Secretary Zinke when he speaks to the Alaska Oil and Gas Association on Wednesday.
CAREER PATH TO INTERIOR: Zinke was sworn in as Secretary of the Interior on March 1. He is a fifth-generation Montanan and former U.S. Navy SEAL commander, and while in Congress he championed sportsmen’s access, conservation, regulatory relief, forest management, responsible energy development, and smart management of federal lands.
Zinke coauthored the Resilient Federal Forest Act, which brought reforms to revitalize timber towns and prevent wildfires.
Raised in a logging and rail town near Glacier National Park, Ryan embraces Teddy Roosevelt’s vision of multiple use of public lands, to include economic, recreation, and conservation. He favors repealing bad regulations and using public natural resources to create jobs and wealth for Americans.
The Interior Department has 70,000+ employees who oversee 20 percent of the nation’s lands, including national parks, monuments, wildlife refuges and other lands. It also has trust responsibilities to 567 federally recognized American Indian tribes and Alaska Natives through the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
COCKTAIL TRIVIA: Zinke, who is 55 years old,played college football at the University of Oregon for four years while earning a bachelor of science degree in geology. He served for 23 years as a Navy SEAL and is the first SEAL to be elected to the House of Representatives.
Zinke has an impressive collection of military knives, which you can see him describing in this YouTube video.
“In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row…”
So began a Canadian battlefield doctor by the name of John McCrae in 1918 as he gazed with sadness across a field of red poppies blowing in a Belgian breeze atop an improvised graveyard full of U.S. and Canadian soldiers – soldiers who had just died rescuing Europe from itself for what would be the first of two times in the 20th century.
At the time Dr. McCrae wrote his famous poem, America had been suffering mind-boggling casualties in WWI. From 1916 to 1918, America lost over a 116,000 soldiers – about 16 times more than our Iraq and Afghanistan casualties combined since 911, against a much smaller U.S. population of young men. Canadians had suffered devastating losses, too.
Small wonder, then, that North Americans of that era were moved by poetry and remembrance.
In 1918, an energetic and resourceful woman named Moina Michael read Dr. McCrae’s poem in the November edition of Ladies Home Journal. She was deeply moved by it and inspired. She decided that the sacrifices made by our servicemen deserved its own national day of reflection and memorial. So she quit her job – no small thing in those days – and set out to make it happen.
Ms. Michael used the red poppies described in McCrae’s poem as a symbol of remembrance. She convinced the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars to adopt the red poppy for that purpose.
Ms. Michael’s poppy-inspired movement caught on. Red poppies became a widely revered symbol of bloodshed and remembrance. They were seen pinned to people’s lapels on days of memorial throughout the land. Similar movements caught on in other Allied nations too, from Canada to New Zealand to Europe.
Flanders Field American Cemetery in Waregem, Belgium
Many years later in the U.S., Ms. Michael’s efforts paid off: a hodge-podge of various state remembrance days (Decoration Day in many states) were consolidated by federal legislation into a single holiday on the last Monday of May. Her vision came true, though she didn’t live to see it.
While the practice of wearing red poppies on Memorial Day is slowly fading, the symbolism remains powerful. Dr. McCrae had just lost his best friend in battle and had personally conducted his graveside service. As he gazed across the cemetery where his friend lay, the red poppies blowing wistfully around the graves crystalized the anguish and melancholy in his heart.
McCrae’s pain is felt by all too many American families, even today. Brave young men and women, fallen in the prime of life, are still being transported home in body bags from distant lands in the Middle East. And the conflicts there show every sign of waxing for years to come, before they ever might wane.
Memorial Day has never been much about debating the wisdom of particular armed conflicts, or the lack thereof. After all, for our soldiers, theirs “is not to wonder why”; theirs “is but to do or die.”
Instead, Memorial Day gatherings often reflect a sense of gritty resolve, combined with profound appreciation for the ultimate sacrifice our fallen soldiers have made. These complex emotions were captured well in McCrae’s final verse:
“Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields”
As we gather for BBQs with family and friends this Memorial Day, let’s reflect on what it means for a soldier to make that profound sacrifice, to throw the torch from failing hands. Let’s express our deep appreciation for those who have, and those who yet will, give their lives in distant lands, that the raging conflicts there may be kept as far as possible from our peaceful shores.
And, if you can find one in Alaska, pin a red poppy over your heart.
Scott Hawkins is a businessman and civic leader who resides in Anchorage, AK.
In the waning hours of the 30th Legislature, House Bill 16 passed, allowing Alaska’s participation in the Federal REAL ID program. This action reversed almost a decade of near-unanimous legislative opposition.
Win Gruening
On its face, the legislation seemed simple. It brings Alaska in compliance with federal requirements for a more secure and reliable identification system for individuals. But the debate around this bill, as in the 10 years preceding it, revolved around privacy concerns and the use of a national database.
For those who haven’t followed this controversy, a little history:
REAL ID was adopted by Congress in 2005 to tighten state identification card requirements after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City. Yet resistance to the law delayed its complete implementation for years as states sought and received multiple extension waivers.
In fact, Alaska passed legislation in 2008 barring state expenditures to implement REAL ID. However, the approaching deadline for final compliance forced the Legislature to act. Otherwise, Alaskans eventually wouldn’t have been able to use their Alaska drivers licenses for identification to access many military and government facilities or TSA checkpoints for boarding commercial aircraft.
In the days leading up to HB 16’s final passage, opponents of REAL ID decried the loss of privacy that would surely result. Rep. Chris Tuck, the Democrat House Majority Leader, publicly implored Governor Walker to “withdraw his legislation and instead sue the federal government to defend our state.”
It’s hard to understand what all the gnashing of teeth is about. In their rush to neutralize this legislation, detractors apparently didn’t bother to listen to testimony by the Department of Administration that under REAL ID very little will change.
An ACLU spokesperson went so far as to accuse the Division of Motor Vehicles of “engaging in troubling and unauthorized activity in advance of REAL ID.” This was partly referencing the routine scanning of the two forms of identification provided by applicants for drivers licenses and the digital archival of photos and application data.
However, as explained by the Department of Administration, this has been the procedure for years – mandated when DMV was directed by statute to go “paperless” – and is just an extension of best practices to improve efficiency. It also allows DMV to quickly issue duplicate cards when necessary as well as offer online renewals. More importantly, it aids in internal auditing and assists law enforcement agencies during criminal investigations.
Several years ago, DMV also began issuing newer, more secure driver licenses to make forgeries more difficult and combat identity theft. After all, apart from REAL ID, what good is an ADL if allowed to become insecure and unreliable and ultimately no longer acceptable as a universal form of identification?
The one change the public may notice under REAL ID is the requirement for DMV to verify the authenticity of source documents used to establish identity. Currently, such documents are accepted at face value. Under Alaska’s new law, applicants will choose either a “non-compliant” or a “REAL ID compliant” ID or driver license.
If non-compliant, their source documents won’t be verified but, either way, will continue to be scanned and entered into the DMV database.
Holders of “non-compliant IDs” should be aware, however, they’ll need to carry alternative approved identification (such as a passport) to access TSA checkpoints and some government facilities in the future.
But most opposition to REAL ID stems from the misperception that scanned personal information (such as birth certificates or passports as well as photos and license information) is being dumped into an insecure database and indiscriminately shared with other states.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Although Alaska currently exchanges limited information with other states to prevent duplicate or fraudulent licenses, REAL ID will not create a “central national database” where all Alaska DMV personal information will reside.
Sharing is facilitated by our participation in AAMVA, a nationwide tax-exempt organization of 50 state DMVs that serves as a national clearinghouse for vehicle administration, law enforcement, and highway safety. The organization was created in 1933 and has been vetted by the Department of Homeland Security to create a secure “electronic bridge” allowing state-to-state sharing of information.
The only information contained in AAMVA’s encrypted database is each person’s name, date of birth, driver’s license number, and the last five digits of their Social Security number.
This is less information than Alaskans provide to the IRS or Social Security Administration. It’s less information than we provide to the Alaska Division of Elections (which is shared with a national database).
Ironically, it is less personal information than many Alaskans voluntarily post on Facebook pages.
It will always be a difficult task to balance the competing goals of our right to privacy and the government’s responsibility to identify and catch bad guys. But the Legislature got it right this time.
Win Gruening retired as the senior vice president in charge of business banking for Key Bank in 2012. He was born and raised in Juneau and graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1970. He is active in community affairs as a 30-plus year member of Juneau Downtown Rotary Club and has been involved in various local and statewide organizations.
Reporter Christiane Amanpour gives a speech in November as she receives an award. She called Donald Trump an “existential threat” to journalists. (Screenshot from Committee to Protect Journalists.)
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW YOU LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN
The unhappiness with those who report the news is making the news — again.
With the win of Greg Gianforte for U.S. House in Montana, the congressman-elect took the occasion to express regret for manhandling a reporter who had pushed into a private interview, shoved a mic in his face, and started asking him questions just a few days before the election.
The reporter got body-slammed by the candidate when he wouldn’t leave. It was unfortunate.
There were two sides to that dustup, but one remedial lesson Gianforte learned was this: Keep your hands off of your media opponents. And yes, if you’re a Republican, the reporter instinctively doesn’t like you. He or she is probably aligned with your opponents. To think otherwise is to participate in a charade.
In Alaska’s Capitol, Rep. David Wilson, a Wasilla Republican, gave what he considered a playful slap on the face to reporter Nat Herz, who wasn’t so sure it was playful. Herz reported the incident to the police.
Wilson later had a sit-down talk apologized for playing slappy face with Herz. He was would be right to apologize. [Edited May 26 to reflect no apology was made.]
In Iowa, Rep. Rod Blum abruptly ended a TV interview after the reporter asked him why he only allowed people from his district to attend his town halls.
Blum said he was trying to keep his town halls from becoming magnets for disrupters from Chicago or elsewhere who wanted to make a spectacle. When asked if he’d take contributions from outside his district, he ripped off his mic and said, “This is ridiculous.” He didn’t slap, he simply walked out. Good move, Rep. Blum.
Town halls, as conservatives know, have become the rallying cry of the Leftist “Indivisible America” movement that emerged to opposed President Donald Trump. They now demand town halls, even though they never demanded them when Obama was in office. Town halls are part of their opposition playbook, a place where lawmakers can get badgered, filmed, and hounded by a well-organized Left. If politicians don’t show up for them, they’ll suffer consequences in the media, regardless.
THE CASE OF MELANIE PLENDA: WHY MISTRUST OF THE MEDIA IS GROWING
The Associated Press hired a freelancer-activist who on Facebook had blurted out her opposition to Donald Trump a few months prior.
Melanie Plenda was contracted by AP to cover a private, closed-to-press gathering where senior White House official Kellyanne Conway was the guest speaker.
The freelancer-activist entered the gathering without a ticket or media badge and did not reveal herself as a reporter. She just “blended.”
Later, Breitbart News outed her as an activist, who had posted this screed on Nov. 10, 2016:
AP eventually terminated Plenda for violating its editorial standards and filed some corrections on her report of the event, but denied that she had done anything wrong by entering a private political event while essentially under cover.
CONSERVATIVES FEELING THE HEAT
There is a pattern here. Republican lawmakers feel under attack by reporters, and Republicans are venting their anger at those reporters, some more appropriately than others.
Democrat lawmakers, on the other hand, are not angry, and are not hitting reporters. They are not storming out of interviews. Why should they?
The reason is obvious: The reporting class and Democrats have become one and the same, and everyone on the right side of the political fulcrum knows it.
In any given newsroom in America, you will be extremely hard-pressed to find one single, conservative-leaning reporter: A writer who naturally lists toward smaller government and less regulation, traditional family integrity, and nonviolence against unborn children. A reporter who actually votes for conservative candidates? They are rare as a Republican at an Occupy Wall Street meeting.
As a former newspaper editor, I recall hiring all types of reporters, and most of them leaned left. I looked for those who didn’t have degrees in journalism or political science, but who had history or english degrees. The best reporter I ever hired had a degree in Mandarin Chinese. And there was one who had learned his trade in the Coast Guard who came close to reporting from the middle. I felt it was best to hire for attitude and train for skill.
But today’s reporting class has joined the secret handshake of the left-leaning newsroom. They are in lockstep: Donald Trump must be destroyed.
The Washington Press Corps, for example, is furious that the Trump Administration isn’t going along with their usual modus operandi, that deference is not shown to the proper reporters, that White House press conferences now include media that the press corp doesn’t deem worthy.
The mainstream media (yes, an overused phrase) is seething that alternative news organizations are getting traction. The mainstream reporters skew even further to make a point.
WHO THE HECK IS UNICORN RIOT?
The Committee to Protect Journalists recently wrote to the North Dakota state attorney to complain that journalists had been arrested while covering the Standing Rock demonstration protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline:
“CPJ has documented at least 10 journalists still facing charges in relation to the protests, including nine in Morton County. Two of the journalists–Christopher Schiano and Nicholas Georgiades, from the nonprofit media collective Unicorn Riot–face trial on misdemeanor criminal trespass charges today and tomorrow respectively. Police arrested them September 13 while Schiano and Georgiades were filming protesters who had locked themselves to construction equipment. In a video of the arrest, one of the journalists can be heard saying, “I’m press, sir. I’m press.”
Unicorn Riot is indistinguishable from the “Occupy” movement that they cover. But they ride under the banner of “press” because they are documenting their fellow protestors. The group is an example of the rapidly changing media landscape that includes far left (alternative left) and far right coverage (“alt-right”).
AMANPOUR SAYS TRUMP IS EXISTENTIAL THREAT
Christiane Amanpour, a celebrity-level international journalist for CNN, explained it from their side of the notebook while receiving the Burton Benjamin Memorial Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists “for her extraordinary and sustained achievement in the cause of press freedom” on Nov. 22, 2016. In her acceptance speech she said, in part:
I never in a million years thought I would be up here on stage appealing for the freedom and safety of American journalists at home.
Ladies and gentlemen, I added the bits from candidate Trump as a reminder of the peril we face.
I actually hoped that once president-elect, all that would change, and I still do.
But I was chilled when the first tweet after the election was about “professional protesters incited by the media.”
He walked back the part about the protesters but not the part about the media.
…This is how it goes with authoritarians like Sisi, Erdoğan, Putin, the Ayatollahs, Duterte, et al.
There, she said it: President Trump is in the same class as Tayyip Ergodan, Vladimir Putin and the Ayatollahs. Amanpour delegitimized Trump’s win in November and described him as an “existential threat to journalists” and to the world as we know it.
Trump, as has been reported widely, calls the mainstream media an “enemy of the people.”
This is a standoff of inflammatory words. But it cannot end in violence. In America, if we are to survive as a republic, we must allow ideas to compete.
Yes, the conservatives in America are being beaten down by the media, but they are winning the contest of ideas with the voters. Since Trump was elected, conservatives are still winning special elections, such as the congressional seat won handily by Gianforte in Montana. This, in spite of news coverage increasingly biased against them.
What Amanpour misses, as she reports from her overpaid celebrity bubble, is that it’s not some brownshirt that is unhappy with mainstream journalists — it’s the regular working American.
THE ERA OF ALTERNATIVES
The rise of the alternative media is a result of the infliction that the morning newspaper and the evening newscast has become to many Americans. The public’s anger is real, and technology has given them some hope and some relief.
Whether it’s Unicorn Riot or Breitbart, the alternative media is a growing force. In years ahead, it will be increasingly hard to sort the media from the movement it represents as they will continue to blend. Everyone with a blog will self-identify as members of the “press,” as Unicorn Riot does. The First Amendment protects that, and yeah, good for the First Amendment. But let’s not be confused about what is really going on as the mainstream media tacks ever-harder to the left.
Conservative leaders would be well-advised to invest in refresher training for themselves and their staff members, so they can cope and communicate in the new media environment. Sharper messages and grace under fire will help conservatives continue to win elections, which will frustrate reporters even more.
Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott, far left, convened a working group to work on election issues. The odds favored Democrats, if attendance is any measure. (Claire Richardson photo)
The Lieutenant Governor’s Office held an “ad-hoc” meeting to give a group of invited guests an overview of Alaska’s election system on Monday and Tuesday of this week.
But the information on the meeting was cryptic, and the invited guests were not revealed.
Several groups and consultants were represented, as shown in the photo posted on Facebook by the lieutenant governor: Joelle Hall, former executive director of the Alaska Democratic Party and current operations director of the AFL-CIO; David Becker, president of the Center for Election Innovation and Research; a representative from Tanana Chief’s Conference; and staff members of the Division of Elections.
Also present were progressive John Lindback, a Portland, Ore.-based election consultant and former chief of staff to Lt. Gov. Fran Ulmer, and Bruce Botelho, a well-known Alaska Democratic Party operative who led his party to victory by reorganizing the race for governor in 2014, bringing in the governorship of Gov. Bill Walker and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott.
The room was rounded out by Barbara Jones, Anchorage Municipal Clerk, and Joyce Anderson of the League of Women Voters. An attorney from the Attorney General’s office flanked Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott as he opened the meeting. Mallott did not return for the second day, however.
Not on the guest list: Anyone close to the Alaska Republican Party, other than Sen. Gary Stevens of Kodiak, who is a registered Republican and may have been the only Republican in official attendance.
In fairness, no representative from any other political party was present, although a case might be made that there were plenty of Democrat surrogates in the room, including Claire Richardson, the lieutenant governor’s chief of staff, and Josie Behnke, director of the Division of Elections.
Two meetings, covering 9.5 hours over two days, is a long stretch for merely an update of the election system, so Must Read Alaska sent a note to Richardson to ask for the list of invitees, the attendees, the agenda, and the notes from the meeting. We have not heard back.
Just one person attended who was not invited, but surprised the lieutenant governor with his presence: Randy Ruedrich, former chairman of the Alaska Republican Party who is also an alumni of the Alaska redistricting process.
Ruedrich is, among other things, an expert on elections in Alaska. He was allowed to observed from the chairs along the wall. He would not say how he learned of the meeting, which had been tucked into the “public notices” section of the State’s website.
According to what MRAK has learned, the meeting focused on topics like moving to mail-in ballots, as Anchorage is doing, and ways to save money during future elections. Ruedrich, himself notoriously cryptic, said he’d get back to us on that.
Until the lieutenant governor responds to our public records request, that is all that is known about what took place between more than 20 people over the course of 9.5 hours on the topic of our next general election: There was a meeting. A lot of Democrats were there. No one knew about it. There was one invited Republican in the room among the 20 or so. And also the uninvited but formidable force known as Randy Ruedrich.
Rep. Andy Josephson and Rep. Geran Tarr co-chair the House Resources Committee and are holding a hearing on their bill to establish a climate change commission in the Office of the Governor.
NEED A SLUSH FUND? CREATE A COMMISSION
There may be a fiscal crisis in the State of Alaska, but that’s not stopping House Democrats from doing what Democrats like to do: add new agencies and even more taxes to fund them.
Next Wednesday, the day before pink slips are sent to thousands of State of Alaska employees, the House Natural Resources Committee, led by Reps. Geran Tarr and Andy Josephson, will hold a hearing on one of their favorite projects: Creating a commission on climate change within the Office of the Governor.
The cost for such a commission would be paid for with a tax of 1 cent on every barrel of oil through the Trans Alaska Pipeline System.
That equates to $5,000 a day, or $1.825 million per year, at current production levels.
The Tarr-Josephson bill, HB 173, establishing the Alaska Climate Change Response Commission, will be heard at 1 pm, May 31 in Room 124 of the Capitol. It will be teleconferenced.
By then, the Legislature will have blown through 14 days of a special session called by the governor to pass a budget and create a funding plan for that budget.
Neither of those tasks have been completed, and the Legislature has basically disassembled for the long Memorial Day weekend.
Both Tarr and Josephson have been assigned to the House Democrats’ side of the conference committee on HB 111, which seeks to change taxes and tax credits on barrels of oil. It’s a critical piece of legislation that has had versions pass both the House and Senate. Neither Tarr nor Josephson has agreed to meet in conference committee on that legislation until after Memorial Day.
Tarr and Josephson’s plan to use special session time on their commission bill drew swift rebuke from Sen. Cathy Giessel, who chairs the Senate Resources Committee.
“Alaska is in a recession. Our economy is hampered by our government’s unstable public finances. While multi-billion dollar questions await answers, the State House decided today was a good time to advance an environmentalist agenda.”
Her vice-chair, Sen. John Coghill of North Pole, echoed the sentiment.
MAJOR COMMISSION, MINOR EXPECTATIONS
The Climate Change Commission would be made up of 15 members, including five state commissioners and nine elected municipal officials from around the state. An executive director would be hired to advance the commission’s agenda, and the primary work product of the commission would be to seek grants, aid, and other financing to assist rural communities.
The commission would become part of the Governor’s Office. It would apply for grants for agencies and tribes.
“The federal government has spent about $38 billion on climate change, directly and through aid, since 2003. Globally, public and private entities spend about $392 billion per year on climate change financing. Alaska is missing out on these opportunities due to a lack of a dedicated office, an assistance program, or governmental spending on the upfront costs of securing climate change aid,” Tarr and Josephson said in their sponsor statement.
Beyond grant writing, the commission would monitor climate change, consult with experts, publish reports, coordinate with the University of Alaska, advance green technology, reach out to non-profits and rural communities, and seek out ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the public and private sectors, the sponsors say.
It will develop a program to distribute money from a climate change response fund that it will amass, according to Tarr and Josephson.
But the kicker is how the commission would be funded. A new tax on oil would be created. Called a surcharge, this one-cent tax would be added onto the tax already dedicated to the Spill Prevention and Response Fund, which has received $2 million per year over the past four years.
The Climate Change Response Fund will have a limit of $50 million after which the surcharge will not be collected, the sponsors say.
How that $50 million would be spent is not specified, but it appears to be a type of slush fund that the Governor’s Office would use to send people to conferences and travel around the state, with no deliverables required. The 15 commissioners would earn per diem and travel, but would not otherwise receive compensation.
The bill is supported by dozens of established environmental groups and new protest groups that have formed in response to the electoral losses of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Those groups include Indivisible Alaska, Alaskans Stronger Together, March on Fairbanks, Our Revolution Alaska, and Take Action Skagway.
The support documents for the bill include no information on what the carbon footprint of the commission itself would be, for its offices and well-funded airline travel budget, should it pass both House and Senate.
