INCREDIBLE: AK Gov. Walker Runs for Cover, Denies Broken Promises on PFD; UFL President Responds

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On September 2, 2014 United For Liberty (“UFL”) was honored to have candidate Bill Walker address a group of United For Liberty members. He met with approximately 50 members from different political parties and associations affiliated with UFL.

In his presentation, candidate Walker made specific statements that he was not a career politician and that if he were elected he would have to go to Juneau and make hard decisions to cut the size and scope of government and this would not be popular. He said this was his first priority. He used the 16% reduction figure often as a benchmark. Additionally, he insisted that he would not raid the PFD or incorporate any sales taxes or income taxes. It is important to note that oil prices were already falling and in October of 2014, prior to the election, prices had dipped below $80.00 bbl. Certainly nobody could predict where oil would bottom out , but it was clear that the price of oil was on a serious downward trajectory at the time Bill Walker made these statements.

The first week of September 2014, candidate Walker was solicited by United For Liberty to submit an article for our October 2014 newsletter. The deadline was September 22 for final submission. A member of UFL accepted the editor’s task to put together the final product. This same member was also working with the Walker team to assist in assembling a narrative to be put in the newsletter. He worked diligently and put the entire newsletter together and submitted to me the entire PFD file to publish on United For Liberty’s website. Following is a letter I sent candidate Walker on October 9th thanking him for the submitted article and asking him to consider submitting one more for a possible additional newsletter before the election (he submitted an additional article on October 15, 2014, but I did not publish it as I did not have one from incumbent Governor Parnell and I wanted to give each candidate fair coverage):

HEADER——> UFL NEWSLETTER SUBMISSION

Dear Bill,

Thank you for submitting an article for our newsletter. I am writing you to solicit one more before the election is upon us. Please consider submitting another article by Friday, October 17th. I do believe it is in your campaign’s better interest to submit as we have a large circulation through our member groups. Governor Parnell has received a request as well.

my regards,
Michael

ps.
Thank you for meeting with us recently. I appreciate your participation and
wish you well.

Candidate Walker also met with a group comprised of the Conservatives Patriot Group (CPG) and the Alaska Republican Assembly, a meeting which he requested and I assembled for his benefit. This private meeting took place on October 5, 2014, and again candidate Walker spoke specifically to protecting the PFD and not incorporating income or sales taxes.

Over the past week, the governor’s wife has sent me a series of emails claiming that the article submitted to UFL in the October newsletter was not authorized by the candidate. These communications were apparently prompted because recent excerpts of Bill Walker’s quotes from this article in our newsletter have appeared in various publications online, including Joe Miller’s Restoring Liberty article: Governor Walker Steals $666 Million From Alaska’s Families, Time to Recall the Liar. She calls the article “bogus,” specifically complaining about the “mass distribution of the bogus article that has wrongly been attributed to Bill.”

It is clear in my letter to candidate Walker that I am thanking him for receipt of his article for the newsletter and asking him to submit a second article (which his team did). Not once did he or anyone on his team indicate to me or anyone at UFL that they did not authorize the article that UFL published to hundreds of Alaskans in 2014. While I respect that the governor has had to make difficult decisions since the price of oil dropped dramatically, the email record definitively shows that the Walker team was aware that his first article was submitted for publication.

Throughout candidate Walker’s campaign, he repeated the same narrative, echoing UFL’s October 2014 newsletter. For example, in an article published in the ADN on October 11, 2014, he stated his opposition to using the PFD to fund state government. He ran his campaign on the same promises described in UFL’s newsletter. There is no sunlight between his campaign’s public statements and his article in UFL’s October 2014 newsletter.

Monster Landslide Rocks Southeast Alaska

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A massive landslide, estimated to be around six-and-half miles long, near Glacier Bay has scientists in New York clambering to get to Southeast. The slide happened Tuesday morning, and was discovered by a local pilot.

On Tuesday morning, when Paul Swanstrom saw the dust cloud hovering over the Lamplugh Glacier, he said he knew what it was immediately . . .

This landslide in Glacier Bay National Park, like the ones in 2014 and 2012, sent millions of tons of debris spilling down the mountainside. According to the Alaska Earthquake Center it happened at 8:21 a.m. Swanstrom flew over it about two hours later. (Read more from “Monster Landslide Rocks Southeast Alaska” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Governor Walker Steals $666 Million From Alaska’s Families, Time to Recall the Liar

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Governor Walker campaigned as a Republican, then made a deal with the Dems as Independent. Now he says both parties are evil. In reality, the biggest evil is looking directly back at Bill Walker in the mirror.

Governor Bill Walker just stole (his words, not mine) approximately $1,000 from every man, woman, and child in Alaska. It was the most destructive, regressive tax in the history of the State of Alaska. And why did he do it? He doesn’t have the backbone to confront the State’s public unions. He’d rather take from the average Alaskan family than confront the institutional corruption that plagues our state.

The man is a liar, flat-out. He promised repeatedly in his past elections to never touch Alaska’s Permanent Dividend Fund. Here’s what the liar said in 2014 to get elected:

As Governor I believe in . . . rejecting the notion that Juneau politicians need to look at stealing money from your PFD or instituting a state income or sales tax in order to pay for their growing appetite to spend money we don’t have. A balanced budget does not mean tapping our state savings account to pay what you are unwilling to cut.

He also stated that, “I have no intention to [pay] for state government by reducing Permanent Fund dividend checks. If we properly develop our natural resources and put in place a sustainable budget that should not be necessary.” And that’s not all. He repeatedly attacked the incumbent governor for a plan “tapping the PFD or creating a state tax rather than cut spending.”

This is the worst type of hypocrisy. A politician who lied not only about his opponent, but then later did exactly what he accused his opponent of.

So what exactly did the Governor do? He refused to cut public spending to match declining state revenues and instead took the easy out: he simply stole the People’s money and blamed the legislature for his unethical act. Exactly how much money did he steal from us? Most estimates suggest that Alaskans would have realized $2,000 from this year’s dividend. So by capping the dividend at $1000, he took about $1000 for every qualifying resident, or 666 million dollars.

In other words, Bill Walker cut Alaskan’s PFDs by many times more than state agencies, in some cases over ten times more. What does that tell you about this governor?

And what does that mean to growing families in Alaska, struggling to heat their homes and pay other utilities in a state where expenses are 25% higher than the national average? It may mean less food on their tables and more frigid homes in the winter. This is a major chunk of change for the average Alaskan family. Of course, multi-millionaire, big-government-loving Bill Walker has no understanding or concern for this.

And yes, millionaire Bill Walker, it IS the public’s money. The state Constitution provides that all mineral rights are owned by the People. Article VIII, Section 1 of the State’s Constitution dictates that the use of resources from state lands should maximize the public interest. Such resources are to be used so that the citizens equally benefit, not so that one special interest – like public unions – have their demands met at the cost of the average Joe.

To make matters worse, after stealing Alaskan’s PFDs, this shyster governor blamed the legislature for his spineless act. Huh?! The envy of most governors nationwide, Governor Walker holds a veto pen that can unilaterally cut any agency and any funding he wishes – just as he used that pen to steal thousands of dollars from hard-working Alaskans. The governor HIMSELF has total authority over state expenditures. He alone is responsible for not addressing the State’s fiscal disaster with integrity.

The cold hard facts are this: Walker has no spine, no guts, he’s just a slick, typical politician who will do anything to keep the corrupt system rolling. And his do-nothing Lieutenant Governor Mallot is standing right there with him, cheering him on.

Alaska Statutes provide that elected leaders who are (1) no longer fit for office, (2) incompetent, (3) have neglected their duties, or (4) are corrupt may be turned out of office by the voters. See AS 15.45.510. Walker’s idiocy with the PFD, his lies about what he’d do as governor, and slavish devotion to big government on the People’s dime, fall squarely within the recall parameters.

Time to turn him out. Recall Governor Walker. Click HERE to find out more.

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Please follow “Save the PFD” on Facebook HERE and on Twitter HERE.

Grizzly That Has Charged at People at Denali National Park Attacks Again, Officials Say

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Park officials say a grizzly bear that has previously charged at people has bitten and scratched a hiker, and they will kill the animal when they find it.

Officials say the juvenile grizzly bear attacked a 28-year-old woman about 7 p.m. Friday while she was hiking on the Savage Alpine Trail in Denali National Park.

They say the woman was hiking with two other friends when the bear scratched and bit her and then walked away. When the bear came back, one of the three hikers threw rocks at it, causing the bear to run away. (Read more from “Grizzly That Has Charged at People at Denali National Park Attacks Again, Officials Say” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Study Predicts Chance of 9+ Magnitude Mega-Earthquake in Alaska

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There’s a nine percent chance a magnitude 9 or larger earthquake will strike the Aleutian Islands in the next 50 years. That is the prediction offered by scientists from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa — made with the help of a newly designed computer model.

Researchers say an earthquake of that size could send a mega-tsunami in the direction of the Hawaiian Islands.

The Aleutian Islands, which stretch toward Russia from the coast of Alaska, sit along a subduction zone at the convergence of the Pacific and North American tectonic plates. Scientists say the chance of a dramatic slip along the fault lines that make up the subduction zone is significant.

They detailed the threat of a mega-earthquake in a new paper, published this week in the Journal of Geophysical Research – Solid Earth.

“Necessity is the mother of invention,” lead study author Rhett Butler, a geophysicist at the UHM School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, explained in a news release. “Having no recorded history of mega tsunamis in Hawai’i, and given the tsunami threat to Hawai’i, we devised a model for Magnitude 9 earthquake rates following upon the insightful work of David Burbidge and others.” (Read more from “Study Predicts Chance of 9+ Magnitude Mega-Earthquake in the Aleutians” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Alaska’s Legalization of Pot Was Really About Commercialization

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There was quite a myth going around in 2014 that Ballot Proposition #2 was only to legalize marijuana. In fact, as many people are finding out with over 50 zoning permits issued, it did little for legalization, it mostly was for commercialization. This has led to many establishments being proposed and approved in residential neighborhoods. A lot of those starting those business don’t seem to care about neighborhoods, or even borough and state rules.

Here’s some examples.

1) There is a cultivation operation being put in an adjacent lot to Camp Li-Wa, a Christian youth camp that has been here since statehood. That’s up for protest next Thursday night (23rd) at 7pm.

2) There is a retail establishment that got a borough zoning permit, but it is within the borough zoning buffers for schools next to the Sprucetree Montessori School. It is also within the state buffer distance from churches, being close to Immaculate Conception Church off Illinois.

3) There is a cultivation facility that got a conditional use permit from the planning commission, but it is in violation of state buffer distances from both a nearby church and a daycare that it’s only 50’ away from (and is right next to a residential neighborhood).

There have also been a few establishments that the Borough Assembly has voted down protests for that were in residential neighborhoods.

While there is a small window for people to protest and testify against these at the State and Borough level, it’s complicated to keep track of it all and to be able to testify on regulatory details, and comes with tight timeframes.

One common theme that has come out from talking to people is that while they wanted legalization or decriminalization, they had no idea that all these establishments would be so pervasive and in their neighborhoods.

Drug-Free Fairbanks has started a petition to create a ballot initiative to ban all marijuana establishments outside of the city boundaries. The logic is clear on this, in the cities there are local police forces that can maintain order and enforce the laws, outside of the city we only have the State Troopers who are spread pretty thin, and may not have the resources to do full-on drug investigations.

Also, a large amount of the residential neighborhoods outside of the cities have general use zoning, so they have virtually no protection from these facilities coming in and affecting their neighborhoods.

The sponsors of the petition have to gather 2000 signatures in about two weeks. No one who is a city resident can carry a petition or sign one, you have to live in the borough but outside of the cities. So they need all the help they can get from non-city residents to get petitions and get them signed. You can pick up the petitions at the Borough offices, 809 Pioneer Rd. After you gather signatures, and get your petition copy notarized you can call Drug-Free Fairbanks at 378-8229. You can also sign the petition at the Midnight Sun Festival, or call the above number to find somewhere you can sign. This is the one real chance you have to stop these establishments, and remember it doesn’t change the legalization status of marijuana, it just stops the pot shops from being next door.

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Exclusive: Here’s What Alaskan Mother Blames for Daughter’s Loss to Transgender Boy at Champion Track Meet

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As widely reported by national outlets over the past several days, a “transgender” boy was allowed to compete in Alaska’s Girls State Championship track meet last week. He placed third at the meet, bumping Mat-Su resident Jennifer VanPelt’s daughter, Allison, from the medal platform.

In a subsequent exclusive interview with Restoring Liberty, Ms. VanPelt revealed that neither she nor her daughter knew that a boy had competed in the girls’ race until sometime later, after media reports came out about it. When they read the boy’s name – “Wangyot” – in one article, Ms. VanPelt exclaimed to her daughter, “Wait! He raced against you! He placed ahead of you, he knocked you out of medal contention!” Her daughter, once the implication of this sunk in, was “really upset.”

Ms. VanPelt told me that Allison “busts her butt seven days a week to train to be able to beat most of the females in this state,” but that she doesn’t “bust her butt to beat a guy [because] men are physically different than women. She can’t grow a bigger heart, or bigger lungs, or more muscle mass like a boy.”

Upset over the fact that her hard-working daughter had been cheated out of a medal, Ms. VanPelt engaged. Even though she does not consider herself politically active – and has been described as “an introvert who raises chickens in [her] backyard” – Ms. VanPelt made her opinion widely known on social media. Several national media groups picked up her comments and now she finds herself at the epicenter of this important issue.

As part of her effort to expose what happened here in Alaska, Ms. VanPelt looked into why the ASAA (Alaska State Athletic Association) is allowing boys to compete in female events. She learned that individual school districts are now given the choice as to whether boys may compete against girls. If a district allows it, the State’s athletic program will not challenge that decision.

Ms. VanPelt thinks this is crazy and so do “close to 9-out-of-10 people” she talks to about allowing boy athletes to compete against girls. She counts as her supporters not just conservatives but liberals, feminists, and members of the LGBT community.

Essentially, Ms. VanPelt says this all boils down to a new cultural norm: the “right as a transgender supersedes your right as a female.” And she’s none too pleased that Alaska political leaders are refusing to speak out against the ASAA’s misogynistic policy.

Ms. VanPelt thinks that “out-of-control political correctness” in the culprit: “we’ve been groomed as a society that we don’t want to hurt other peoples’ feelings, so we shouldn’t speak out about it. We should just keep quiet and turn our heads.”

In looking toward the future, Ms. VanPelt warns “today were dealing with one transgender, what happens when half the field [are transgender]?

To stop this from happening, Ms. VanPelt believes there need to be more people of courage willing to “step it up and say, yeah, this isn’t right, were starting to get out-of-control here.”

I agree. Alaskan leaders – political and religious – should be ashamed for staying silent. They should be embarrassed into action. But we should celebrate those like Jennifer VanPelt who are almost singlehandedly taking on the elites and trying to reverse their perverse agenda.

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Mother of Girl Who Lost Race to Transgender Athlete Speaks out — and She’s Furious

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In May, an Alaska high school student became the first transgender athlete to compete individually for a high school state championship. As TheBlaze previously reported, Nattaphon “Ice” Wangyot, who was born male but identifies as female, qualified and competed in the Class 3A girls’ sprints at the Alaska state meet, taking home third place in the 200-meter dash (27.3 seconds) and fifth in the 100 (13.36 seconds).

Since the race, Wangyot’s story has made national headlines, earning the 18-year-old Haines High School athlete widespread praise for contributions to the LGBT movement.

But not everyone was celebrating the high schooler’s success. After the story was reported by KTVA-TV, Jennifer VanPelt, a mother of one of the girls who competed and lost, took to the comments section of the news station’s article.

After one commenter named Stephanie Leigh Golman Williams noted with frustration that a runner named Aurora Waclowski, who “has been top three since freshman” year, was knocked off the awards podium by a male-born runner, VanPelt clarified that it was actually her daughter, not Aurora, who was cut.

“Actually Aurora was still given an award for 4th and was able to still stand up on the awards podium. It was my daughter who finished 5th that missed out,” she wrote.

(Read more from “Mother of Girl Who Lost Race to Transgender Athlete Speaks out — and She’s Furious” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Joe Miller Blasts Senator Sullivan for Betrayal of Conservative Values

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Fairbanks, Alaska – The news of Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan’s endorsement of Lisa Murkowski’s re-election campaign versus former Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan was met with strong condemnation from 2014 rival Joe Miller on Tuesday evening.

“From supporting Planned Parenthood’s federally funded abortions, to continuing Barack Obama’s illegal amnesty and funding Obamacare, Lisa Murkowski’s loyalty lies with DC cronies and political insiders rather than the people of Alaska.

“Senator Dan Sullivan’s endorsement of Lisa Murkowski is a betrayal of everything Alaska conservatives hold dear,” continued Miller. “Dan told us he was a conservative. He told us he shared our Tea Party values. He told us he was a fighter who would confront the Obama administration. Now he has endorsed one of Barack Obama and Harry Reid’s chief enablers.

“I think I owe Alaskans an apology for taking Dan at his word and supporting him in the 2014 general election.”

Just last month Senator Sullivan endorsed Alaska nemesis and ANWR development opponent John McCain’s re-election bid against strong free-market conservative Kelli Ward.

Joe Miller concluded: “This is a sad day for Alaska. Dan Sullivan needs to be reminded that we have enough talkers in the Senate. All talk, no action won’t cut it. Talk is cheap. Sadly, it appears Dan has abandoned Alaska conservatives for the DC Cartel.”

HS Track Athlete Was Born Male but Identifies as Female — and and Turns in Quite the Run at Alaska State Championships

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Nattaphon “Ice” Wangyot, who was born male but identifies as female, recently became the first transgender athlete to compete individually for a high school state championship, the Alaska Dispatch News reported.

Wangyot, an 18-year-old senior at Haines High School, qualified and competed in the Class 3A girls’ sprints at the Alaska state meet, taking home third place in the 200-meter dash (27.3 seconds) and fifth in the 100 (13.36 seconds). Wangyot also played for the girls volleyball and basketball teams this past year, USA Today High School Sports said.

Wangyot’s participation didn’t come without controversy, as Alaska Family Action president Jim Minnery and supporters protested outside the event last Friday:

“We are here today as a voice from the community to ensure that female athletes are not denied the playing opportunities and scholarships otherwise available to them and to make the playing field even again,” Minnery said, according to the Dispatch News. “… Allowing students to play on teams of the opposite sex disproportionately impacts female students who will lose spots on track, soccer and volleyball teams to male students who identify as female.”

Fairbanks Hutchinson junior Saskia Harrison turned in a time of 14.11 seconds in the 100-meter dash, which wasn’t fast enough to make the cut — and she wasn’t particularly thrilled that Wangyot advanced. (Read more from “HS Track Athlete Was Born Male but Identifies as Female — and and Turns in Quite the Run at Alaska State Championships” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.