ICYMI – National Review: “Murkowski’s Quid Pro Quo” with Corporate Front Group “Alaskans Standing Together”

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Joe Miller would reform a federal contracting program. Lisa Murkowski thinks Alaska is just getting its fair share.

“Joe Miller has a plan for Alaska,” begins a commercial supporting Sen. Lisa Murkowski, which a new group called Alaskans Standing Together (AST) is spending nearly $600,000 to air in the state. The ad continues, “It erases our fair share of federal dollars.”

What’s not stated explicitly in the ad is that the Alaska Native Corporations (ANC), which are backing AST, are facing prospective legislation that could end the privileges they currently enjoy. Those privileges, which the late senator Ted Stevens (R., Alaska) helped shepherd into law, allow the ANCs to enjoy no-bid federal contracts. That’s proven a boon for ANCs, which have racked up a “fair share” of $29 billion in contracts from the federal government over the past decade.

That haul — and the minimal amount trickling down to the intended Native American beneficiaries — concerns Sen. Claire McCaskill (D., Mo.), who announced in early October that she planned to introduce legislation that would alter the contracting preferences. “We’ve seen that a very small portion of these companies’ profits are reaching native Alaskans, so it’s time to acknowledge the fact that this program is not effective for either native Alaskans or taxpayers,” she said in a statement. Miller supports this kind of reform, which needless to say has something to do with the big — by Alaskan standards — ad buy against him.

Currently, the ANCs are classified as 8(a)s, which means they are considered small, disadvantaged businesses that are eligible for preferential treatment for federal contracts. To become an 8(a), a business is required to prove economic or social disadvantage (usually meaning that is has been harmed by racial or ethnic prejudice). If approved, the business is eligible to receive no-bid federal contracts amounting to up to $3.5 million in services or $5.5 million in goods.

But unlike other businesses, the ANCs are automatically considered disadvantaged — and their contracts are not subject to any caps. It’s a lucrative exemption: Many no-bid contracts that exceeded $3.5 million, collectively worth $6.6 billion, were granted to ANCs from 2000 to 2008.

McCaskill believes the ANCs should be subject to the same caps as other 8(a)s and should be required to prove disadvantage. Joe Miller agrees. “There is not proper oversight of these corporations,” he told NRO, “and much of the taxpayer money being poured into the ANC’s does not accomplish the mission of the 8(a) program. No-bid contracts, coupled with a lack of oversight, have created an environment that lends itself to corruption, and does not serve the interests of the shareholders for whom it was created.”

Murkowski has already come out in opposition to McCaskill’s proposed bill. “I would oppose and fight any legislation that strips Alaska Native Corporations, Indian tribes, and native Hawaiians of the contracting preferences afforded to them,” she said. “We must reform the program to ensure it works the way it was intended. Completely removing these contracting preferences would set back the progress we have made to address the poverty experienced by our nation’s first peoples.”

A request to the Murkowski campaign for clarification on what reforms the senator would support was not answered.

While it’s true that the ANCs were originally granted those preferences in order to help native Alaskans, it’s unclear how helpful the program has been. Out of the $23 billion received from federal contracts from 2000 to 2008, about $720 million (or $615 per person per year) went to native Alaskans, in the form of cash, scholarships, or other benefits.

Speaking about the AST ads, Miller argues that they give an “appearance of impropriety,” and look “a lot like quid pro quo.” “The concern is that Murkowski is protecting the 8(a) program,” he says, “and in turn the regional native corporations are taking money that should be going to help disadvantaged shareholders and using it to advance her personal political agenda and their own business interests.”

It’s not clear if Murkowski can halt the legislation. But if she can, that nearly $600,000 in advertising will be a drop in the bucket compared to the billions the ANCs will continue to rake in from the nation’s taxpayers.

— Katrina Trinko writes for National Review Online’s Battle ’10 blog.

Read article here:  https://www.nationalreview.com/articles/250112/murkowski-s-quid-pro-quo-katrina-trinko

Lisa Murkowski Swears on “Alaskans Standing Together” Disclosures that “AST” is Not Coordinating with Lisa Murkowski

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Anchorage, Alaska. October 19, 2010 — In apparent violation of Federal Election law prohibiting candidates for federal office from coordinating campaign activities with independent expenditure committees, Lisa Murkowski’s name appears at the bottom of the multimillion dollar “Super Pac” Alaskans Standing Together’s schedule E. The Schedule E is the declaration that the independent committee is not coordinating with a campaign, in this case Alaskans Standing Together.

So, Lisa Murkowski swears that Alaskans Standing Together is not helping Lisa Murkowski?

Alaskans Standing Together is the corporate front-group made up of Alaskan Native Corporations who make billions from federal contracts and set-asides. Recent media reports have detailed Senator Murkowski’s official actions in the Senate, including opposing reforms to the program, which benefit the corporations.

“Just like so many politicians from D.C., Lisa says one thing and does another. She has decried the influence of ‘outside groups’ in this election but has remained silent while native corporations spend millions trying to pay her back. Now, the group’s own forms show that not only are they working together, they’re doing so illegally,” Joe Miller said.

The ‘Schedule E’ form requires a signature from a person that agrees with the following: Under penalty of perjury I certify that the independent expenditures reported herein were not made in cooperation, consultation, or concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, any candidate or authorized committee or agent of either, or (if the reporting entity is not a political party committee) any political party committee or its agent.

Obviously, it’s hard to affirm that there is no coordination with the campaign when the candidate herself signs the federal disclosure forms.
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Liberal Blogger “Loses It” at Town Hall Meeting

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Obsession with Republican Nominee leads to physical assault, publicity stunt

Anchorage, Alaska. October 17, 2010 — Joe Miller released the following statement:

“While I’ve gotten used to the blog Alaska Dispatch’s assault on me and my family, I never thought that it would lead to a physical assault. It’s too bad that this blogger would take advantage of a “Town Hall” meeting to create a publicity stunt just two weeks before the election.”

The Miller campaign was required by the facility to provide security at the event. Even though Joe had spent nearly an hour freely answering questions from those in attendance, the blogger chased Miller to the exit after the event concluded in an attempt to create and then record a ‘confrontation’ with the candidate. While Miller attempted to calmly exit the facility, the blogger physically assaulted another individual and made threatening gestures and movements towards the candidate. At that point the security personnel had to take action and intervened and detained the irrational blogger, whose anger overcame him. It is also important to note that the security personnel did not know that the individual they detained was a blogger who was reporting on the campaign. To them, the blogger appeared irrational, angry and potentially violent.

Federal Deficit Skyrockets – Lisa Murkowski Part of the Problem

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Anchorage, Alaska. October 16, 2010 — Joe Miller, the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate, released the following statement in response to recent news reports that the federal deficit will surpass $1 trillion for the second year in a row:

“Burdening our children and grandchildren with a $1.29 trillion deficit is reckless and irresponsible. Wasteful government spending has moved our nation in the wrong direction and Lisa Murkowski is part of the problem. Instead of voting for massive spending proposals that increase our deficit like Senator Murkowski, I will fight for fiscal discipline and work to see that Alaskans are not forced to pay for more out-of-control spending.”

Not only did Lisa Murkowski vote for the $700 billion TARP bill but she also supported the $160 billion bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and President Obama’s second so-called stimulus package. Over the past two years, Murkowski also voted for six out of the seven Obama-Pelosi-Reid appropriations bills that a majority of Republicans voted against, adding billions more to the national debt.

Getting Their Money’s Worth in the Senate?

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Corporate front group pouring millions into Murkowski write-in campaign stands to make millions more from legislation

Anchorage, Alaska. October 15, 2010 — The Senator has sponsored at least two pieces of legislation that would directly benefit the native corporations. One of Murkowski’s bills was even attached in an unrelated oil relief bill after her legislation failed to make it out of a U.S. Senate committee. Murkowski is also on the record in opposition to reforms to the “disadvantaged business program,” which provides billions of dollars in no-bid contracts to native corporations. Those reforms have been proposed by U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri).

Republican nominee for U.S. Senate Joe Miller said the following:

“Some may call this business as usual in Alaska and Washington, D.C. I call it corruption as usual. I am the only candidate calling for comprehensive reform of the ‘disadvantaged business program’ and now we know why. The Alaska Native Regional Corporations have ‘their’ Senator in D.C. who is bought and paid for and, in some cases, using the very federal funds that she guaranteed to them through no-bid contracts. As long as Senator Murkowski and the Alaska Native Regional Corporations engage in these insider deals, Native Alaskans — especially in the rural areas — will continue to lack better opportunities and their communities will see fewer jobs. I’m going to be the voice of all of the people of Alaska, including those in rural Alaska who are not being very well served by Lisa, the corporations or the programs.”

Recent news stories have shed light on the forming of the SuperPAC, Alaskans Standing Together, and their use of unlimited funds to prop up the Murkowski write-in campaign.

Corporate Front Group “Alaskans Standing Together” Trying To Buy US Senate Seat

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Member companies get billions in federal contracts, use funds to support write-in candidate Murkowski, Senator opposes changes to the ‘disadvantaged’ program
Anchorage, Alaska. October 14, 2010 — Media reports yesterday revealed that several Alaska Native Corporations have already spent approximately $600,000 in support of Lisa Murkowski’s write-in campaign for U.S. Senate in apparent contradiction to the Senator’s own protests about the influence of ‘outside groups’ in this election.

The Alaskan Native Corporations who make up the “Super PAC” are classified under an “economically disadvantaged” status and are thus eligible for millions of federal taxpayer dollars in the form of no bid contracts. The no bid contracts to the Alaska Native Corporations have been under investigation by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The Government Accountability Office found that “there is clearly the potential for unintended consequences or abuse.”

Joe Miller, the Republican Nominee for the U.S. Senate, released the following statement today in response to recent news stories about Alaskans Standing Together using unlimited funds to make sure Murkowski is re-elected:

Only in Washington DC could companies considered ‘disadvantaged’ and receive billions in no-bid contracts and turn around and commit to spending millions of dollars trying to buy an election. This is business as usual for the corporations and for Senator Murkowski. She has opposed changes to the disadvantaged business program and she is getting ‘rewarded’ for that opposition.

In a recent article by the Associated Press, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (Democrat – Missouri) was quoted as saying “We’ve seen that a very small portion of these companies’ profits are reaching native Alaskans, so it’s time to acknowledge the fact that this program is not effective for either native Alaskans or taxpayers.”

The same article has Senator Murkowski coming out against changes to the program despite the fact that a “Senate subcommittee hearing and investigation found that almost 95 percent of corporation employees are not shareholders” and “shareholders have averaged about $615 in benefits out of the more than $23 billion in federal contracts to ANCs over the past nine years.”

Murkowski Takes Money from Cap and Trade Heavyweights

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Anchorage, Alaska. October 13, 2010 — Joe Miller, the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate, released the following statement today in response to pro cap and trade corporations donating money to Lisa Murkowski:

“Alaskans cannot afford to face higher energy costs; many are struggling to make ends meet as it is. Unfortunately, the misguided cap and trade legislation that Lisa Murkowski has supported will do just that. I find it troubling that cap and trade heavyweights like Duke Energy and General Electric have given money to the Murkowski campaign. The last thing our state needs is reduced employee wages and less jobs. When elected to the Senate I will fight against the national energy tax being pushed by Washington Democrats and Lisa Murkowski.”

According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, a cap and trade system would force employee wages to fall and be a catalyst for job loss. Industries most affected by this tax would be oil and gas production, manufacturing, transportation and mining. Specifically for Alaska, this could affect the construction of the proposed natural gas pipeline. On her Senate website, Murkowski states, “we must look to all possible options for regulating climate change, from carbon tax to cap and trade….”

Public records indicate that Duke Energy and General Electric gave money to Lisa Murkowski. The most recent donation was only a few months ago.

Murkowski Names Democrats As Those She Most Admires in Senate

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Anchorage, Alaska. October 12, 2010 — Joe Miller, the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate, made the following statement today in response to Lisa Murkowski’s recent comments on admiring Democrats in the Senate:

“Washington Democrats have moved our nation in the wrong direction. Instead of listening to the American people Democrats have passed massive spending proposals, government run health care, and bailouts that burden our children and grandchildren. This is unacceptable. I find it unfathomable that Lisa Murkowski would look to the misguided Democrats of Washington, D.C. for leadership.

“The people of Alaska have a simple choice on November 2nd. They can re-elect their current Senator who represents more of the same or they can elect someone that will fight the Washington establishment to cut spending and bring much needed jobs back to Alaska.”

When asked at the Anchorage Chamber Forum Debate yesterday who she admires most in the Senate, Lisa Murkowski named Democrats Sen. Tom Carper and Sen. Jeff Bingaman, both of whom voted for the TARP bailouts, last year’s $787 billion stimulus bill, and ObamaCare earlier this year.

College and Young Republicans Endorse Joe Miller

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Anchorage, Alaska. October 11, 2010 — Joe Miller, candidate for U.S. Senate, recently picked up the endorsements of the national College and Young Republicans, as well as the Alaska College Republicans and the Young Republican Network. Their official statement reads in part: “Regardless of Lisa Murkowski’s decision to run as a write-in candidate, the Alaska College Republicans and Young Republican Network will stand strong behind the elected Senate Republican candidate Joe Miller.

“‘Joe Miller has continually articulated a vision for a stronger future for our state and country,” said Alaska College Republican Chairman Ryan McKee. ‘As the Federal Government continues to burden our generation with crippling national debt, we are proud to have endorsed a candidate who isn’t interested in ‘putting it on our tab’. ‘With this endorsement we affirm our commitment to assist this campaign with social media help and promote the campaign’s events and fundraisers,’ said YRNetwork Endorsement Committee Chairman Moshe Starkman. ‘We will serve as volunteers, staff, and consultants while assisting with volunteer recruitment and providing essential GOTV manpower and resources throughout the election process.'”

Miller also picked up the endorsements of the national College and Young Republicans. Miller responded, “I am grateful for the College and Young Republicans’ endorsements. This upcoming generation of Americans, now in their early adult years, has already shown itself ready to defend our nation against threats we face from abroad. They also are recognizing that we are on an unsustainable path here at home and must act. They are a crucial part of the election this November.”

Statement from Marvel Hansbraugh, Clerk of the Alaska U.S. District

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Anchorage, Alaska. October 8, 2010 — In response to several inquiries regarding the employment of Joe Miller as a part-time Magistrate Judge in Alaska, Marvel Hansbraugh, Clerk of the Alaska U.S. District Court, issued the following press release (PDF link) today:

Mr. Miller served as the Court’s part-time Magistrate Judge in Fairbanks, Alaska, from June 13, 2002, through June 1, 2004. Mrs. Miller was employed by Magistrate Judge Miller to provide clerical and secretarial assistance in 2002.

United States Magistrate Judges and part-time United States Magistrate Judges are employed to serve in the District Courts of the United States to perform services authorized by 28 U.S.C. • 636. The process for selecting Magistrate Judges is governed by statute, 28 U.S.C. • 631, and regulations adopted by the Judicial Conference of the United States. Sections 420.1 thru 420.50 of the Guide to Judiciary Policy govern the selection of part-time Magistrate Judges. Mr. Miller was selected pursuant to this process. The position in Fairbanks is a level IV position and is paid by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, not by the District Court.

It is the practice of part-time Magistrate Judges to engage an assistant to perform necessary secretarial and clerical tasks. Frequently this is a person that works for the Magistrate Judge in the Judge’s private law office. Upon inquiry by Mr. Miller, he was advised that he could employ his wife in this capacity.