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Joy is back: Kamala Harris certifies Trump and Vance for the win

Suzanne Downing
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27
Joy is back: Kamala Harris certifies Trump and Vance for the win

The joint session of Congress, led by Vice President Kamala Harris, certified the electoral votes from the 50 states, which was the penultimate item in the process of electing the president, which is Donald Trump.

As the names of the states were read and the vote totals were read, Harris performed the function of being the president of the Senate and overseeing the process, with House Speaker Mike Johnson next to her.

Vice President Kamala Harris prepares to convene the joint session of Congress for the purpose of certifying the 2020 presidential election.

Alaska’s electoral votes were the second to be read after Alabama’s. Alaska’s three electoral votes went for Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance, the senator from Ohio, who sat in the joint session with the other lawmakers as his own election to higher office was formalized.

In all, Trump won the presidency with 312 electoral votes to Harris’s 226 electoral votes.

Alaska Congressman Nick Begich III commented that he was “Honored to certify the election of President-elect Donald J. Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance, our America First team!”

In a formal statement, NBIII said, “Under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump, America’s best days are ahead. We will fight for the future of Alaska every step of the way. We will bolster American energy, create boundless economic opportunities, and unlock Alaska’s natural resources. A stronger, safer, more resilient, and more prosperous America is around the corner, and I look forward to championing the America First priorities that will be ushered in as President Trump takes office,” Begich said.

Sen. Dan Sullivan was enthusiastic about the snowy weather and the certification of Trump in a post on X, as he went to the Capitol.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski issued no statement and it is not clear that she was even in the joint chamber. Several Democrats were missing from the session. Murkowski’s office issued a statement about the Social Security Fairness Act.

CBS News headlined the event: Congress certifies Donald Trump’s election win four years after he inspired a riot.

Daily Kos wrote: Congress certified Trump’s win—and Democrats didn’t riot or kill anyone

Monday was the first presidential certification of a Republican president that saw no Democrats mount a formal objection since 1988. In 2017, Democrats objected 11 times during the certification of Trump’s first win. In 2005, Democrats objected 31 times to President George W. Bush’s election certification.

In 2021, 147 Republican lawmakers opposed certifying Joe Biden’s win, and the process was not finished until Jan. 7, 2021, afte citizens converged on the Capitol to protest the certification of what appeared to be a flawed process in several states.

No power for you: Biden plugs all future offshore oil and gas, impacting Alaska, including Cook Inlet

Suzanne Downing
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48
No power for you: Biden plugs all future offshore oil and gas, impacting Alaska, including Cook Inlet

President Joe Biden said on Monday he will lock up the resources of the Outer Continental Shelf, preventing all oil and gas leasing in the future off the shores of Washington, Oregon, and California, and even more the Northern Bering Sea in Alaska.

“In protecting more than 625 million acres of the U.S. ocean from offshore drilling, President Biden has determined that the environmental and economic risks and harms that would result from drilling in these areas outweigh their limited fossil fuel resource potential. With these withdrawals, President Biden is protecting coastal communities, marine ecosystems, and local economies – including fishing, recreation, and tourism – from oil spills and other impacts of offshore drilling,” the White House said.

The statement said the oil and gas from these areas would be negligible compared to the possible harm an oil spill may cause. It also came after Biden’s Department of Energy put strict new rules on gas-powered residential water heaters, which will drive up the costs of the appliances for the majority of Americans.

“Nearly 400 municipalities and over 2,300 elected local, state, Tribal, and federal officials across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts have formally opposed the expansion of offshore drilling in these areas in view of its severe environmental, health, and economic threats. Nearly every Governor along the East and West Coasts – Republicans and Democrats alike – has expressed concerns about expanded oil and gas drilling off their coastlines. In Alaska, the new Northern Bering Sea protections are consistent with a long-standing request from more than 70 coastal Tribes based on the need to help sustain a vital and threatened ocean area, and the natural resources it contains that Indigenous communities have stewarded and relied on for subsistence since time immemorial,” the president said.

Biden’s term as president expires on Jan. 20. Although his act may be undone by President Donald Trump, the authority to undo an order under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act is unclear.

Trump on Monday told the Hugh Hewitt radio show that he will, indeed, undo this action immediately.

“I will unban it immediately. I have the right to unban it,” he said.

Trump continued, saying Americans has “oil and gas at a level that nobody else has and we’re gonna take advantage of it. It’s really our greatest economic asset.”

When Biden’s actions were leaked to Democrat media last week, Congressman Nick Begich issued a searing statement:

“Joe Biden is a son of a bitch. Hundreds of thousands of Alaskans rely on natural gas from the Cook Inlet to heat and electrify their homes, churches, schools, and workplaces. Actions like this should serve as a permanent reminder that the Democrat machine is more than happy to sacrifice us all in the name of their sanctimonious, socialist-driven, climate science™ religion.”

Biden to ban all offshore oil and gas; Congressman Nick Begich calls him out as a ‘son of a b—-‘

Exclusive video: Congressman Don Young told Alaskans that Jan. 6 was ‘not a riot, not an insurrection’

Suzanne Downing
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106
Exclusive video: Congressman Don Young told Alaskans that Jan. 6 was ‘not a riot, not an insurrection’

This story originally appeared Sept. 17, 2022 in Must Read Alaska and is being republished Jan. 6, 2025:

Congressman Don Young, who died March 18, told Alaskans in Wasilla in February that the Jan. 6, 2021 rally at the nation’s Capitol was not an insurrection.

In never-before-seen video taken by Must Read Alaska at the Menard Memorial Sports Center, Young can be seen discussing the events of Jan. 6, when thousands of Americans flew to Washington, D.C. to hear President Donald Trump speak and to protest the certification of the Electoral College by the U.S. Senate.

Young told Alaskans at a Republican district convention that on Jan. 6, 2021, when a few people at the Capitol became unruly, he took out the Colt 357 Python firearm that he had in his office and kept it in sight.

“I went to the office with my wife, and I locked the door, and I told my staff, ‘Don’t you let anybody in this office period, unless I say it’s all right.’ I got out my Python and put it on top of my desk. And that was my answer to the so-called … it was not a riot. It was a large group of people with about 100 troublemakers.

“Do you go to an insurrection if you don’t have a firearm? It’s not an insurrection,” Young said. “They were there, but there was no violence in the heart of the major part of the group.” He said there have been insurrections throughout history “but it wasn’t that ground that day.”

The Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack on the Capitol in the U.S. House has characterized the events as an insurrection. The mainstream media has repeatedly called the events of Jan. 6, 2021 an insurrection, something that irritated Congressman Young, who said, on the video, that police in the U.S. Capitol knew about the events in advance.

Attorney General Garland now says five officers lost their lives due to Jan. 6, 2021

Suzanne Downing
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36
Attorney General Garland now says five officers lost their lives due to Jan. 6, 2021

Attorney General Merrick Garland has increased the number of officers who died as a result of protests on Jan. 6, 2021 from one to five.

Officer Brian Sicknick died the following day of a stroke, but four others who were present during the disruption of the proceedings of Congress later killed themselves, and Garland is labeling those deaths “line of duty” deaths.

“On this day, four years ago, police officers were brutally assaulted while bravely defending the United States Capitol. They were punched, tackled, tased, and attacked with chemical agents that burned their eyes and skin. Today, I am thinking of the officers who still bear the scars of that day as well as the loved ones of the five officers who lost their lives in the line of duty as a result of what happened to them on January 6, 2021,” Garland said.

“January 6 was a violent attack on the law enforcement officers defending the Capitol, and it was an unprecedented attack on a cornerstone of our system of government — the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next,” Garland said in a statement on Monday, Jan. 6, 2024, on his last Jan. 6 as attorney general.

“Over the past four years, our prosecutors, FBI agents, investigators, and analysts have conducted one of the most complex, and most resource-intensive investigations in the Justice Department’s history,” he said.

“They have analyzed massive amounts of physical and digital data, identified and arrested hundreds of people who took part in unlawful conduct that day, and initiated prosecutions and secured convictions across a wide range of criminal conduct. We have now charged more than 1,500 individuals for crimes that occurred on January 6, as well as in the days and weeks leading up to the attack,” Garland said.

Garland placed no blame on Speaker Nancy Pelosi or others in for refusing to secure the Capitol that day, as was her responsibility.

Some of those who were charged by the Department of Justice were allowed into the Capitol that day by Capitol Police, and others followed them, as Capitol Police opened up the doors to allow protesters to enter. Extensive video evidence supports this statement.

Watch as Pelosi and her staff prepare her official statement.

Watch tapes that Pelosi kept secret until subpoenaed by the second House committee.

The official narrative has been disputed for years by critics and again by the recently released report by the House Subcommittee on Oversight, which pointed out the many contradictions and failures of the Speaker Nancy Pelosi-appointed investigation, which was deeply politicized and focused on President Donald Trump. Rep. Liz Cheney and Rep. Bennie Thompson led that earlier committee and published their own Jan. 6 Committee report.

Loudermilk’s committee contradicts much of that report, saying, “there was not just one single cause for what happened at the U.S. Capitol on January 6; but it was a series of intelligence, security, and leadership failures at several levels and numerous entities. Even amid multiple failures, there were two common elements that significantly contributed to the security issues: an excessive amount of political influence on critical decisions, and a greater concern over the optics than for protecting life and property.”

In Washington, optics are everything.

“The American people deserve a government they can trust and be proud of. Unfortunately, the failures, coverups and false accusations in the aftermath of January 6 have only increased the people’s distrust of Washington D.C.,” the Loudermilk report said.

In Washington, coverups are daily occurrences.

“Americans expect and deserve a government that is small in size, limited in scope, and fully accountable to the people, as our Founders intended. The actions of some elected officials and certain government bureaucrats in the aftermath of January 6, 2021, are evidence of how we have ventured far away from those basic principles of our constitutional republic. Transparency, accountability, and equal application of the law are the only solutions to return our nation to one
that is free, safe and full of opportunity. I sincerely pray that this report is just the beginning of an era of restoring our federal government to the basic principles of transparency and accountability,” he wrote in the cover letter to the report.

Among the Loudermilk subcommittee report findings:

FINDING 1: President Trump did not attack his Secret Service detail at any time on January 6.
FINDING 2: There was no pre-planned off-the-record move to the Capitol in the days leading up to January 6.
FINDING 3: There is no evidence that President Trump agreed with rioters chanting “hang Mike Pence.”
FINDING 4: Cassidy Hutchinson, the Cheney committee’s star witness, falsely claimed to have drafted a handwritten note for President Trump on January 6.
FINDING 5: President Trump did not have intelligence indicating violence on the morning of January 6.
FINDING 6: Cassidy Hutchinson lied about the classification status of documents to disparage Mark Meadows.
FINDING 7: Representative Cheney and Cassidy Hutchinson attempted to disbar Stefan Passantino.
FINDING 8: Cassidy Hutchinson misrepresented President Trump’s actions at Lafayette Square Park in the summer of 2020.

“The events of January 6, 2021, were preventable. The politicization of Capitol security directly contributed to the many structural and procedural failures witnessed that day,” the report said.

Trudeau expected to resign this week: Report

Suzanne Downing
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20
Trudeau expected to resign this week: Report

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is likely to announce as early as Monday that he’ll resign as the leader of the Liberal Party, which controls the government; so reports the Globe and Mail, Canada’s most widely read newspaper, on Sunday.

Trudeau faces a revolt from his caucus and is falling out of favor with the public, and the party is worried it will be taken out by the Conservatives if they don’t change out Trudeau immediately.

“The sources stressed that they don’t know definitely when Mr. Trudeau will announce his plans to leave but said they expect it will happen before a key national caucus meeting on Wednesday. The Globe and Mail is not identifying the sources because they were not authorized to discuss internal party matters,” the newspaper reported.

One source said Trudeau knows he needs to make the announcement before the caucus meeting so it doesn’t appear he was forced out by his own party members.

But during the last week of December, a letter was publicly published by Calgary, Alberta lawmaker George Chahal. It demanded Trudeau’s resignation on behalf of the caucus.

“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau no longer has the support of caucus, and to maintain some dignity, he should immediately tender his resignation,” Chahal wrote to the Liberal Party caucus.

At the time the letter dropped on Dec. 27, Trudeau was on a skiing vacation in British Columbia.

“The three sources said they are unsure about what the Liberal Party national executive plans to do to replace Mr. Trudeau as leader. They said it remains unclear whether he will leave immediately or stay on as Prime Minister until a new leader is selected. The Liberal Party national executive, which decides on leadership issues, plans to meet this week, likely after the caucus session,” the newspaper said.

Trudeau faces revolt from his caucus, demanding resignation as prime minister of Canada

Quid pro quo: Mayor LaFrance to give former campaign rival a $52,500 sole-source contract

Suzanne Downing
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32
Quid pro quo: Mayor LaFrance to give former campaign rival a $52,500 sole-source contract

Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance is asking the Anchorage Assembly to approve a non-competitive, sole-source contract to one of her former campaign rivals, Bill Popp, who withdrew during the campaign in 2024 and endorsed her.

The $52,500 contract would be to develop an economic development plan for the LaFrance Administration.

Popp is the former executive director of the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation. His reputation around Anchorage is that he did little to grow the economy of Anchorage, but held a large luncheon every year to present a report to decision makers on the state of the city’s economy, which has been abysmal during his 16-year tenure.

In her request to the Assembly, LaFrance says Popp is the one to do the job and says it is not a quid pro quo arrangement.

“First, there is a pressing need to support Mayor LaFrance’s policy team in developing and implementing an economic agenda for Anchorage out of the Municipality. This work requires a person with extensive knowledge of economic development, local government, and the Municipality of Anchorage,” LaFrance said in her request.

“Second, the mayor has identified an urgent need for someone to work in conjunction with the mayor’s policy director, key executives, local businesses, and economic development partners, including the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation. This work requires someone with relationships with organizations and individuals involved in economic
development in the Municipality and state,” she said.

“Third, this work requires an individual with an understanding of the mayor’s economic development priorities, which includes work on business development, workforce development, housing, and identification of opportunities to grow and develop unique business sectors in Anchorage. The qualifications that a contractor must have to successfully complete this work therefore include: (1) extensive knowledge of economic and community development as well as local government; (2) strong relationships with economic developers and other key stakeholders within the Municipality and the state; and (3) the ability to contribute to and help implement an economic agenda for the LaFrance Administration …” LaFrance wrote.

“Bill Popp, through Popp Consulting, is uniquely qualified to do this work because of his strong local relationships, his unique background in Anchorage economic development, and his local government experience. Popp served as the president of the Anchorage Economic and Development Corporation for 16 years. Popp has deep economic and community development experience in Anchorage and with cities across Alaska and the United States. He has worked closely with businesses across the Municipality for over a decade and is familiar with the economic challenges and opportunities of the Municipality. Popp also served for six-years as a member of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly, including as chair, and also worked on oil and gas, workforce development, and economic development projects for both mayors. Popp’s combination of economic development and local government experience makes him uniquely qualified to support the mayor in driving forward an economic agenda for Anchorage,” LaFrance wrote. She said the sole-source contract with Popp “is necessary due to his unique qualifications and the pressing need for support in fully operationalizing Mayor LaFrance’s
economic agenda for the Municipality of Anchorage. With limited staff capacity available to conduct these time-sensitive tasks, contractual support is necessary. No one else is qualified do this work.”

When Popp withdrew from the race in April after getting only 8% of the vote before the runoff, Must Read Alaska predicted he would be rewarded by LaFrance:

“He left his job as CEO of the taxpayer-funded Anchorage Economic Development Corporation last summer to run for mayor, but in endorsements such as this, a quid-pro-quo promise is almost certainly in the works for Popp to return to another high-level, taxpayer-funded job at City Hall,” MRAK wrote in April of 2024.

The request to the Assembly for funding is found in the meeting packet for the first Assembly meeting of the year, Jan. 7, at 5 p.m. in the meeting room on the first floor of the Loussac Library on 36th Ave. in Anchorage.

Liberal-in-waiting Bill Popp endorses LaFrance
Bill Popp lets it slip: He’s running for mayor

Biden signs Social Security Fairness Act; it helps some Alaska retirees now, but will hasten insolvency for the national retirement program

Suzanne Downing
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43
Biden signs Social Security Fairness Act; it helps some Alaska retirees now, but will hasten insolvency for the national retirement program

The Social Security Fairness Act, repealing the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset portions of Social Security law, got President Joe Biden’s signature on Sunday. The National Fraternal Order of Police, which favors the bill along with other public employees, and groups like the National Education Association supported the bill, as did President Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated on Jan. 20.

The new legislation repeals the two provisions that reduced Social Security benefits to employees who did not consistently pay into Social Security on some or all their earnings, and who are receiving a pension from that work history in lieu of Social Security.

Due to the high number of government workers who receive pensions, Alaska has more retirees whose bank accounts will benefit from the bill than any other state, by percentage.

Some retired workers, such as those who work for the municipality of Juneau, never got a cut in their Social Security payments because the city of Juneau continued to pay Social Security on workers’ behalf. Thus, they get their defined benefit pension and their full Social Security payment.

Many Alaska retirees receive a pension through the old defined benefits plan that the State of Alaska had for state workers, municipal workers, and teachers, until it was discontinued in 2006. Social Security makes a big deduction on their federal benefits, depending on a variety of factors.

The Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset were tacked onto the Social Security Act in 1983.

These provisions reduced or eliminated altogether retirement benefits for more than 2.4 million Americans. According one report, the WEP has denied benefits to more than 1.7 million Americans, and the GPO impacted 20,000 Social Security beneficiaries. More than 320,000 American retirees are impacted by both the WEP and the GPO.

Biden had until Jan. 8 to sign the bill. Per the U.S. Constitution, after 10 days, excluding Sundays, a bill that has passed both House and Senate “automatically becomes law (if Congress is in session) or does not become law if Congress adjourns before the 10-day deadline. The members of the 119th Congress were sworn in on Friday.

Passed by Senate, Social Security Fairness Act sets up speed trap for Alaska Democrats’ defined benefits drivers

The Congressional Budget Office said eliminating the Windfall Elimination Provision will increase payments to these impacted retirees by an average of $360 per month. Ending the Government Pension Offset will increase payments by $700 a month for 380,000 recipients who get benefits, and qualifying widows will get an average of $1,190 more per months.

It’s unclear how much this will cost the Social Security system, but some estimates say it will drive it into insolvency about six months before the expected date of 2035.

Social Security Administration issued an emergency message in mid-2024, instructing workers on how to answer the public’s questions about the changes that would be coming if the bill was signed into law. That explanation is at this link.



Will winter storm interfere with election certification in nation’s capital?

Suzanne Downing
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12
Will winter storm interfere with election certification in nation’s capital?

A winter storm sweeping across the continent has a bullseye on the nation’s capital this weekend, and it may bring with it snowy complications for the Monday certification of the 2024 electoral vote.

The National Weather Service is predicting snow through Tuesday and already some air travel has been derailed by the storm that is impacting several states with blizzard conditions. Amtrak announced cancelations of several trains into the area Sunday through Tuesday.

In the D.C. metro area, as well as central Maryland and Northern Virginia, up to 8 inches of snow may fall and officials are warning people to stay off the roads. The region’s infrastructure is not prepared for that kind of weather and has little snow-removal equipment.

“In DC you’re generally up to your knees in something other than snow, but I’ll be there to certify this election even if I have to ski to Capitol Hill,” said Congressman Nick Begich. “Joe Biden has done so much damage to our nation, we can’t afford to wait a single day. This Congress and Donald Trump must begin the work of unwinding Biden’s disastrous legacy from the first possible moment.“

“Washington has a winter storm warning for Jan 5-7th expecting possibly a foot of snow. Many members of Congress left town this weekend even though they were told to stay. I’m here and will walk to the Capitol if I have to,” wrote Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. “I’ll be here no matter how much it snows and so should every single Republican!!”

It’s unclear how some of the elderly and disabled members of Congress, such as Rep. Nancy Pelosi, age 84 and with recent hip replacement, or Sen. Maxine Waters, age 85, will even be able to get into the building, if they remained in town. Five senators are over 80 years old.

Complicating matters is that the Capitol Police are barricading many roads around the Capitol due to their concerns about security. The following roads will close at approximately 7 a.m. on Monday, January 6 around the Capital, said Capitol Police:

  • First Street between Constitution Avenue, NE, and Independence Avenue, SE
  • East Capitol Street between First Street and 2nd Street
  • Constitution Avenue between Louisiana Avenue, NW, and 2nd Street, NE
  • Independence Avenue between Washington Avenue, SW, and 2nd Street, SE
  • D Street between Louisiana Avenue, NW, and 2nd Street, NE
  • Delaware Avenue between Columbus Circle, NE, and D Street, NE
  • First Street between Columbus Circle, NE, and D Street, NE
  • Maryland Avenue between First Street, NE, and Constitution Avenue, NE
  • First Street between Louisiana Avenue, NW, and Constitution Avenue, NW

After every presidential election, the House and Senate meet in a joint session to certify the election at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. The process is that the sitting vice president reads aloud the electoral votes, and Congress counts each state’s results to affirm the victory in what is usually a formality, with the exception of the 2020 certification, which was temporarily derailed by protesters inside the building.

Biden to ban all offshore oil and gas; Congressman Nick Begich calls him out as a ‘son of a b—-‘

Biden to ban all offshore oil and gas; Congressman Nick Begich calls him out as a ‘son of a b—-‘

Suzanne Downing
-
64
Biden to ban all offshore oil and gas; Congressman Nick Begich calls him out as a ‘son of a b—-‘

Bloomberg and the New York Times report that in the next few days President Joe Biden will ban all new offshore oil and gas development, including 625 million acres of U.S. coastal territory. Alaska has more Outer Continental Shelf area than the rest of the nation and territories combined.

It would be another of the 11th hour moves by the anti-Alaska president and radical Democrats.

Congressman Nick Begich III immediately responded. On X, he wrote:

“Joe Biden is a son of a bitch. Hundreds of thousands of Alaskans rely on natural gas from the Cook Inlet to heat and electrify their homes, churches, schools, and workplaces. Actions like this should serve as a permanent reminder that the Democrat machine is more than happy to sacrifice us all in the name of their sanctimonious, socialist-driven, climate science™ religion.”

The Biden move against U.S. energy security is reportedly coming on Monday, and would ban the federal leasing of any new drilling rights in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, as well as the easter Gulf of Mexico. Biden will justify his actions due to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which allows a president to withdraw federal waters from future oil and gas leasing.

Although the Act does not include language allowing any future presidents to reverse the ban, President Donald Trump may do so and then fight it in court.

President Barack Obama banned offshore drilling in parts of the Arctic Ocean. During his presidency, Trump tried to revoke the ban, but Alaska U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason in 2019 ruled that Obama’s ban could not be unwound without Congress passing an act allowing it. In other words, the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act allows land to be locked up by a president, and future presidents have no power to unlock it.

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