Veto protesters target legislators in their homes

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PUBLISHED SCHEDULE OF PROTEST EVENTS THIS WEEK IS EXTENSIVE

Various opposition meetings are being held around the state, with talking points and with the names and phone numbers of legislators to target.

Some have even gone so far as to knock on the front doors of homes where Republican legislators live, and ask them to vote to override the vetoes of Gov. Michael Dunleavy.

Because of safety concerns, Must Read Alaska is not naming the two legislators who have had these coordinated groups with video cameras doing “personal visits” at their homes, filming their encounters with lawmakers.

At least one legislator has received a threat that he reported to Must Read Alaska.

But the legislators who have been targeted say they are not bowing to what is a clearly an intimidation tactic.

[Read: The week ahead, deafening protests]

In a city where many feel unsafe to answer their front doors already, Anchorage legislators who are on the record in support of Gov. Dunleavy are having second thoughts about answering the knocks this weekend, after word started spreading about the unwelcome invasion of their private lives.

A major reason that the presiding officers Senate President Cathy Giessel and Speaker Bryce Edgmon gave for not going to Wasilla for Special Session is because it’s not safe for them. For minority Republicans, it’s not Wasilla that feels dangerous; it’s radical leftists in Anchorage who think it’s ok to intimidate lawmakers in their homes.

At Sand Lake Elementary School on Sunday, a small group of concerned citizens gathered to get the talking points and contact information for the legislators that the Leftists want them to target.

The weeklong schedule of the “Week of Action” to try to turn a few votes into override votes was passed out to participants at the meeting:

At least one of the protests is planned for Wasilla on Monday, where 22 or more members of the Legislature are gathering because that is where the governor called the Special Session.

Another group, including a high school marching band and the mayor of Wasilla, will be there to welcome the legislators, who have no plans to try to replicate an actual session; they are just showing up where they think it is legal to do so. They’re planning a press conference for about 1:15 pm.

There’s also a veto-override rally planned for noon on Monday at the Capitol in Juneau.

The special session starts at 1 pm. Many of the lawmakers who travel to Juneau are expected to vote to override the governor’s vetoes, and they’ll have the support of state workers and state retirees who will rally on their lunch hour.

The protesters are already targeting oil companies in their messaging, saying that the companies are paying too little in taxes, and that they should be forking over the money.

The flyer above says oil companies only pay 15 cents per “gallon” of oil. That’s an amazing statement since no one uses “gallons” as a metric for oil. The Alaska gas tax is 15 cents a gallon. Alaska oil tax, including severance tax, corporate income tax, property tax, and royalties, is much higher but is calculated in barrels on a sliding scale, depending on the price of oil.

51 COMMENTS

  1. Doxing has arrived in Alaska I guess. Videoing their reaction on their door steps too. I’m sure that will be in social media soon. These are hard left tactics taking their crusade to the legislator’s homes & families.

  2. Democrats and Leftists create confusion. And the press reports it. That’s how the game is played. Republicans counter with the truth and the law. And…..MRAK.

    • Just more nationwide liberal attack tactics that the media covers for. Very sad. They will get spanked in 2020 because people see it for what it is.

  3. I say Republicans and conservatives should use the “Bird Dog” tactics also. Corner the protesters while alone in stores and public places also go to their homes and businesses. Take film crews and cell phones along.

  4. This bunch of leftist/socialist BS is not “Alaskan” like the flyer says. It’s more like leftifornia, washingone-left or oregone-to-the-dogs (sorry dogs) . If conservative supporters attempted anything as asinine as the “protesters” are trying to do to conservatives, you can bet the leftist/dims would be screaming like mashed cats. If all is fair in politics, things should come to a head fairly soon. Leftist/dims won’t like that if it does. When real Alaskans decide they’ve had enough, there could very well be political and/or other blowback for these antifa type tactics. They think everything’s great as long as they’re (libs/dims) the ones attempting intimidation and outnumber conservatives 10 to 1 or more when they pull their stunts. Put the shoe on the other foot and watch them scamper and whine. A complete disgrace to civility. These are imported tactics of the left. How convenient that, even the Alaska “supreme disgrace” court is endorsing the leftist fools/tools, let alone other public representatives and employees, using their “job” time and materials to further the outrage. Following typical left tactics, it will be soon that the masks are put on and it really gets interesting. Where the hell are the cops? Oh, that’s right. They are too busy ticketing “un-belters”. They must be condoning this crap or at least looking the other way. Another “public union”, you know. Another lesson for Alaskans about how important it is to take Alaska back from these lib/socialist criminals.

    • They have no boundaries and are relativists so means are only as important as the success of achieving the end. Zero conviction or dignity. Very sad that such a vast majority of our population has lowered to this.

      • You say they have “zero conviction or dignity” because they don’t agree with you. Could it be that you are the problem? Heheh!

      • In Alaska, residents benefit from state management of resource wealth developed from both state and private lands. Property owners assume property taxes and liability, assume inconvenience and cost often associated with resources development, and cede true ownership and private profit potential (in trust) to the state; all in order to benefit their friends, neighbors and those who envy their wealth or land ownership. Those who don’t own property, benefit from this private generosity, and share in potential and actual dividends resulting from any resource royalties realized from land to which they have no ownership right or claim.
        This generosity should not be confused with, or spun as a government hand-out or so-called “welfare.”
        The illegal taking of the PFD by Gov. Walker, and later the AK Legislature, constitutes a breach of the public trust, an outright taking of rights from land-owners, and a clear violation of the original agreement land-owners made with the state in creating the Permanent Fund.
        It’s interesting how those who feel entitled to other people’s wealth often paint those people to be ignorant, selfish or uninformed. Honest students of history don’t have to promote spin. The truth stands on the foundation of fact. Whereas lies continually must be promoted and propped up, through high-minded, ill informed philosophical babble and hyperbole.

  5. Just answer the door with an AR and talk to them about how great the 2nd Amendment is.

  6. Organized thugs and goons. Let’s bring back the Mafia and the KKK. If we can’t make the “democratic process” work in our favor, then we’ll just use scare tactics and intimidation until we get what we want. Silly me – I actually thought all these public union losers were “underpaid, under-appreciated, and overworked.” But wait, just look at all of their endless charts and graphs, brought to us by the actuarial whores they hire to promote the endless propaganda. Comparing their wages and benefits to those employed by the regulated monopolies (Chugach Electric, MLP, GVEA, etc. etc.), to demonstrate how self-sacrificing they are. All just maintaining a pulse, keeping their body temp somewhere close to the union-mandated, collectively-bargained for 98 degrees. From me – public sympathy + zero. Outrage = 110%. Cut Baby Cut.

  7. I was at Central Lutheran this afternoon, listening for an hour to a recitation of talking points I’ve heard plenty of times already. I saw multiple people who I recognized as having moved to Anchorage specifically to take a social services job that a local could have performed just as well. I suppose that familiarity with and ties to a community are not in vogue in the global economy of the 21st century. Go read Ric Davidge’s forum post and you’ll get a sense of the folks I saw. A realistic view of the situation had no place if it was in conflict with the talking points, which is the same thing I experienced with the Save Our State gang.

  8. Hit back.
    .
    Call the local cops, call the State Troopers, call the news media.
    .
    Hire private security.
    .
    Surrender to the trash who make up the “protest”; use the trash for an excuse to override the governor’s veto so you won’t look too contemptible.
    .
    Choice is yours.

    • Exactly Greg! So why is it all appalling to you? Hmmm…let me guess…. What I am reading here is a response to an article where people are getting harassed at their homes. If someone comes to my home and harasses me, they will be blessed with my ALL of my rights 🙂 which of course includes the rule of law.

  9. It’s the same pattern we’ve seen throughout the 20th century. Most poignant would be the Brown Shirts in Germany (thugs who helped install Hitler to power through Antifa-like tactics), but you also see it with Lady Mao’s Cultural Revolution in China and the Bolsheviks in Russia.

    It’s a spiritual pattern that gets more vile with the passage of time.

  10. Harassing people at their homes is never a good idea. What a “coordinated group” effort means I don’t really know (video probably exists that has been posted somewhere) but assigning this to leftist radicals seems like a stretch. I’m a fiscal conservative and I oppose the cuts and the 1.9 billion dollar entitlement and the 2.4 billion needed to pay back entitlements. Are we nuts!!!??? I’ve actually wanted to visit the homes of some of my legislators that I’ve voted for and supported but who have been silent to my emails explaining why the cuts are a BAD idea in the long and short run. I would never do this but didn’t respected politicians in the past maintain an open door policy, like Abraham Lincoln. Today many representatives want to live in a concrete bunker and not really associate or debate/discuss with people they disagree with – it’s the “unfriend” and ignore mode of thinking that is sadly becoming all too common today.

  11. OK so I’ll try this again, after my last comment was removed. I’m hoping it was a mistake.

    Harassing people at their homes is never a good idea. I don’t really know what a “coordinated group” effort means – if they had cameras the video has probably been posted somewhere and it will be easy to see exactly what happened. If a crime was committed someone should be arrested.

    I’m a fiscal conservative and strongly oppose the cuts and the $1.9 billion entitlement and the $2.4 billion to pay back entitlements. Are we nuts!!!??? Massive entitlements for simply breathing Alaskan air is conservatism?

    I’ve actually wanted to visit some of my representatives given they’ve ignored my thoughtful and respectful emails explaining why the cuts are a BAD idea in the long and short-run. I would never do this but didn’t respected politicians of old maintain an open door policy, like Abraham Lincoln? A local Alaska rep probably wouldn’t be bothered any more than Honest Abe, who refused a security detail at his vacation house a few miles from the White House where he also welcomed constituents for discussion and debate. Today local politicians want to live in a concrete bunker while making decisions that affect the lives of thousands of people. It’s unfortunately becoming all to common to “unfriend” and ignore, destroying civil discourse in the process.

    • EL – I scan comments for civility and spam but sometimes it takes me a while to get to them. I really do try to stay on top of it. When you comment and hit the submit button, your comment seems to disappear. I agree it is very disconcerting but that’s the way the software works. Sorry that you felt like it was deleted. – sd

    • el,
      If you were truly a “fiscal conservative”, you would support Governor Dunleavy and his attempts to balance the Alaskan budget. “Entitlements” is not the appropriate term for the PFD. It’s a shareholder (Alaskan citizen of two years or more) dividend from the oil riches uncovered long ago in Alaska, which were seen as the property of Alaskan citizens who qualify, by real representatives of the people of Alaska. What you call “payback entitlements”, (actually returning the $$ stolen from the citizens PFD), is actually an overdue and correct reimbursement of the funds stolen from them by the walker admin. and cronies. Those “politicians” wanting to live in a concrete bunker are leftist/dim socialist pseudo representatives of the people who do everything they can to dodge irate constituents. You must not be eligible for those so called “entitlements”. Either go back where you come from or “curb your tongue knave”.

      • Ben, unfortunately I voted for Governor Dunleavy. I didn’t vote for Donna Arduin, who is the force behind the “agnostic,” thoughtless budget slashing. She’ll be gone in a few months, probably benefit from some type of a private prison or education contract, and won’t care about the wake of devastation.

        No, you don’t have a direct right to a PFD. What did voters approved in 1976? A constitutional amendment to establish a permanent fund from which “all income … shall be invested into the general fund.” What was the main argument for the fund? Look at the 1976 voter information guide. Also consider the 1980 Supreme Court decision that gave an equal PFD to every Alaskan – they note “Future legislatures, … are not bound to continue the dividend program, are likely to find that it will be impossible to pay dividends because all the interest from the permanent fund will be required to pay the costs of general government.” The Permanent Fund is meant to fund core government services not to serve as an entitlement in perpetuity.

        It’s not uncommon now to see the PFD being used to advocate for Minimum Basic Income in the rest US. See the PFD for what it has become. An entitlement that breeds more free-riding and selfishness. I can’t help but think of the line from Robert Service’s “Law of the Yukon” – “Dreaming alone of a people, dreaming alone of a day,
        When men shall not rape my riches, and curse me and go away;
        Making a bawd of my bounty, fouling the hand that gave –
        Till I rise in my wrath and I sweep on their path and I stamp them into a grave.”

        • Riches got raped when government took private, subsurface mineral rights.
          .
          No SMR’s, but PFD’s in lieu…
          .
          Now no PFD, nor any right thereto…
          .
          So we rise in our wrath and sweep from our path and stomp them into political graves.

          • Buyers remorse, not really. There were two terrible choices. But, I could never vote for the opportunist who gloated in the false accusations and personal destruction of Alaska’s greatest Senator.

          • Thanks for that EL and Ted was great but did get caught up as so many do.
            It is early yet and we don’t know yet how deplorable this Dunleavy has become. He attempted some pretty severe stuff but thankfully never accomplished a thing as a Senator but he is attempting some pretty severe stuff right now and may succeed.

  12. Let me guess who most of the protestors are. The same people who opposed opening ANWR. The same people who opposed North Slope expansion. The same people who opposed off-shore drilling. The same people who oppose the Pebble Mine. The same people who opposed building the gas pipeline. Pretty much the same people who oppose any development in Alaska that would actually produce more revenue for the state. Their solution is always the same…an income tax and tax the rich. Well, there aren’t enough rich to tax and any income tax that would be enough to fund our insatiable state spending would be so draconian as to start pushing not only the well to do to another state, but the middle class. Because taxing the “rich” has worked so well for states like California and New York.

  13. So they want to increase dependence upon the oil companies they have such disdain for? We are already around 65% dependent upon oil revenue to fund our state. It used to be higher and might be higher now. Don’t know. The oil industry accounts for 1/3 of employment in our state. So let’s force more money from the oil companies so we can become more dependent and likely lose oil jobs in the process putting less money into our economy overall. Not to mention what happens when oil does indeed run out and we are so dependent upon it? Does it occur to any of them that tightening our budget now, spending less, prepares us for the future and benefits future generations? Ignorant hypocrisy.

  14. The PFD is the largest welfare check in the world? First, its a dividend that all eligible people get just like stockholders receive.

    But regardless if you want to call it welfare…ok. Using the amount of $3,000 that is $250 a month. A smaller PFD would be even less per month. The largest welfare check in the world? I don’t think that’s accurate.

  15. Funny politicians come to my house EVERY election and ring on the doorbell (ignoring the ‘no solicitation’ sign)—they ask me for their vote just like we are asking got theirs. They never bring me flowers, either (See Alaskans Take A Stand FB page for the video proof of home visit) So next time I should feel intimidated? Answer the door with “all my rights”? Or just be an Alaskan and listen with an open mind? We are just Alaskans trying to take care of our families as I assume others are doing. The violence, intimidation and vitriol need to end. Time for Alaskans to have a real conversation.

    • Bippy, what district are you in? Do your legislators harass you when they come to your door or do they just knock? Or, do they just leave a flyer? I’m curious! I am blessed with Ms. Drummond and Ms. Gray-Jackson. I have NOT ONCE seen them at my door. I wish I would! I would welcome them in for a cup of coffee and conversation! I would like to ask them a bunch of questions. But, I think the American Flag I fly 24/7/365 scares them away.

  16. I like the part where the terrified “unnamed” legislator called MRA to report the incident. Too funny.

  17. Castle law is the right to stand your ground. You post no trespassing, someone violates that comes to your door beating on the door uninvited you don’t know who they are or what their intentions are in the end just one story is told the survivors!!! These lunatics raised up by the scum sucking UAA and ASD liberal spend thrifts and DEMONRAT and RINO politicians are not to be trusted !!! You cannot have a fact based conversation with any of them. Forbes rated Alaska 51 for education. Alaska UAA and ASD some of the highest administration costs in the nation with wages and Benefits producing idiots!!! And the open waste that they send to the landfill by the truck loads in opened supplies. Fallowed the trucks many times seen it for myself!!! Go Dunleavy about time Alaska had a Governor who wasn’t in to squander!! Now local government should fallow in his tracks.

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