Photo Credit: Arthur Chapman
A magnitude-5.9 quake was among several that occurred around the same location early Friday in southeast Alaska. The U.S. Geological Survey says people in Juneau, about 100 miles east, felt light shaking.
Read more from this story HERE.
Joe Miller sounded off today on the latest Sullivan scheme to smear his primary opponents. Sullivan has long claimed to be a uniter who would not engage in mudslinging. However, his surrogates have begun the assault.
“The latest coming from Team Sullivan should surprise no one,” said Miller campaign spokesman Randy DeSoto. “Dan Sullivan is proving to be just another dishonest establishment politician who takes credit for other folks’ work, talks a big game, and delivers only empty promises.”
The ad features a young woman from Anchorage saying, “Joe Miller troubles me,” a clear attempt to build on Lisa Murkowski’s smear campaign from 2010. It then proceeds to accuse a second establishment candidate in the race, Mead Treadwell, of “attacking Dan Sullivan.”
The Sullivan SuperPAC, Alaska’s Energy, America’s Values, is largely funded by Sullivan’s own family from Ohio, and run by Art Hackney, a longtime associate of Karl Rove. While the latest FEC report is not yet posted, information currently available reveals that almost half of its funding comes from just two individuals: Tom and Frank Sullivan. Frank, Dan’s brother, sits on the Board of Directors of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (a pro-amnesty, anti-tea party organization). Sullivan money combined with funds from another large donor from Connecticut named Donald Miller comprises more than eighty percent of the funding for this faux “local PAC,” as it is described by local blogger Amanda Coyne.
Joe Miller stated, “This is just business as usual for the Republican establishment. This is what they do. If they can’t stand on issues and arguments, they seek to smear the competition. Alaskans deserve an honest debate about the issues facing our great state, and the country, not more sleazy smear campaigns from the likes of Karl Rove and his friends.”
In Mark Begich’s view, fellow Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is a valuable member of his “team” on issues ranging from fisheries to fighter jets.
But in the heat of Begich’s bruising reelection bid, Murkowski wants off that team…
When asked to characterize their relationship, Murkowski added: “He’s running for office, and I want a Republican partner.”
Begich brushed off Murkowski’s criticism.
“The record speaks for itself,” he said on Wednesday. “The votes that we have been taking are showing clearly that we’re one of the few delegations in this whole chaotic dysfunctional Washington, D.C., that actually vote together more often than anyone. That’s a fact.”
Read more from this story HERE.
Photo Credit: U.S. Army Alaska (USARAK / Flickr)
ACLU of Alaska Executive Director Jeffrey Mittman offered a glowing endorsement of the recent regulation.
“We appreciate the work of the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Lt. Governor’s office in crafting a regulation that recognizes the importance and legitimate needs of transgender Alaskans,” he said.
According to the new rule, any Alaskan – without surgery – may choose whichever gender he or she wishes. Mittman and Treadwell apparently agree that extending this courtesy to the transgender community is worth any potential abuse and confusion that may result.
“All Alaskans must be able to obtain a driver’s license that accurately reflects their gender and avoids disclosure of sensitive personal information unrelated to their ability to safely drive a motor vehicle,” Mittman asserted. “The government should never needlessly intrude into mandating specific medical procedures.”
Read more from this story HERE.
Photo Credit: Jesse / Creative Commons
Today Joe Miller blasted Alaska’s junior senator, Mark Begich, for his leadership failure relating to the illegal immigration crisis.
“Silence is consent,” said Miller. “Mark Begich has not even deemed the crisis on our southern border worthy of a press release. There is no doubt that he is complicit with the President in encouraging and empowering this illegal invasion, both from a policy perspective by voting for amnesty, and by virtue of his refusal to hold Barack Obama accountable for dereliction of duty and usurpation of Congressional authority.”
Joe Miller is the only candidate in the race for US Senate to take an unequivocal stand on amnesty and border security. Mead Treadwell has embraced limited amnesty for illegals, and Dan Sullivan has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign cash from numerous big-monied pro-amnesty donors, including Paul Singer’s Friends for an American Majority, John McCain’s America First PAC, and Lindsey Graham’s Fund for America’s Future. He is also backed with independent expenditures from Karl Rove’s American Crossroads and the US Chamber of Commerce. Both favor amnesty for illegals.
According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform, ten thousand illegal aliens reside in Alaska, costing the state more than $138 million per year in public services.
Joe Miller is the only candidate to fill out the NumbersUSA candidate questionnaire. He has also been named a “True Reformer” for his strong stand for the rule of law and against amnesty for illegals.
While the illegal immigration crisis has very serious implications for the rule of law in America, other concerns exist as well, including public health–given recent reports of illness and disease among those crossing the border illegally–and national security. Many the Administration describes as “children” are actually teens who are affiliated with gang activity, and are connected to the Mexican drug cartels. The confirmed cases of Middle Eastern terrorists and Chinese nationals coming through our porous southern border are alarming.
Miller concluded: “The truth is, what we are facing with respect to the massive influx of illegals is not only a rule of law issue, it is a public health risk and a threat to our national security. There is no doubt President Obama and enablers like Mark Begich are responsible. Sarah Palin is right; it’s time to impeach this President for dereliction of duty, selectively enforcing the law, and usurping powers that the Constitution does not authorize. He is willfully undermining the rule of law and creating chaos.”
Photo Credit: WFAA
Researchers from the Perot Museum of Nature and Science are unearthing evidence of a dinosaur in Denali National Park and Preserve.
Read more from this story HERE.
Following the Senate cloture vote today on S. 2578, the so-called “Hobby Lobby Fix,” Joe Miller called out Senators Mark Begich and Lisa Murkowski for their vote to override the First Amendment rights of Alaskans.
The Democrats brought a motion to invoke cloture on the controversial bill, which Mark Begich and all the senators in their party (except Harry Reid for procedural reasons) supported, and which all Republican senators opposed, except for Senators Lisa Murkwoski, Susan Collins and Mark Kirk.
“The Supreme Court made the right decision in the Hobby Lobby/Conestoga Wood Specialties case last month,” said Miller. “All Alaskans, all Americans have a First Amendment right guaranteeing them free exercise of religion that not even Barack Obama, Mark Begich or Lisa Murkowski can override.”
The owners of Hobby Lobby, Conestoga Wood Specialties and other companies in bringing their case before the Supreme Court did not object to providing contraception with their healthcare plans, but did object to paying for abortion inducing drugs.
“As I indicated last fall, when the Supreme Court was hearing the case, it should come as no surprise to Barack Obama, Mark Begich–and I can add Lisa Murkowski to the list–that the owners of Hobby Lobby and other companies around this nation, in seeking to honor and worship God, cannot participate in the taking of human life,” said Miller.
Photo Credit: AP / Al Grillo
At issue for the Pebble Mine near Bristol Bay’s watershed is whether the EPA can veto a needed Clean Water Act permit. The proposal comes with a comment period that ends Sept. 19. If finalized, it could invite legal action from the mine’s backers on an issue that has attracted the attention of congressional Republicans.
Republicans and industry say the EPA can’t veto the project because the developer, Pebble LP, has not filed a formal blueprint. The House has held hearings on the project, and the Oversight and Government Reform Committee has subpoenaed the EPA for documents. Some Democrats, commercial fishermen, native tribes and environmental groups say it can because the EPA has an outline of the mine’s parameters based on Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
“This is not a pre-emptive veto,” Dennis McLerran, regional administrator for EPA Region 10, said in a media call in response to criticisms from industry and Republicans that the EPA was planning to reject the Clean Water Act permit even though Pebble LP hadn’t yet submitted an application.
McLerran, speaking of the years-long delay by developers to file an application, said, “the amount of uncertainly that has hung over the Bristol Bay watershed is a consideration” in the step the agency outlined Friday.
Read more from this story HERE.
U.S. Senate candidate and Tea Party favorite Joe Miller made a name for himself as a hopeful in 2010. This year, he is facing fierce Republican competition by making sure voters recognize the differences between the candidates vying to take over Democrat Mark Begich’s seat.
A recent debate gave the Alaskan an opportunity to showcase his beliefs in contrast to those of his rivals.
He started with the hot-button issue of the day: amnesty.
Miller asserted that one of his opponents, Mead Treadwell, has a documented history of supporting a path toward citizenship for illegal aliens. He also noted that his other primary rival, Dan Sullivan, has received significant funding – hundreds of thousands of dollars – from organizations that support amnesty.
He also touched on global warming, explaining he is the only candidate with a proven track record of disputing the left’s assertion that man is to blame for changes in the climate.
“I am the only one standing on this stage that, at least consistently, stated that manmade global warming, the science on it, is inconclusive,” he said. “Both of my opponents have made statements that they support the belief in manmade global warming.”
Read more from this story HERE.
See more from B. Christopher Agee here at WesternJournalism.com
I support the Second Amendment. I have guns and, because we have some lunatics on the loose in this state, I conceal carry. But I didn’t support the so-called “Stand Your Ground” law that allows people to shoot those they fear without trying to retreat first. If you can retreat safely, you should — rather than take someone’s life.
It was a controversial bill that many believed would lead to more violence, so you can imagine my happy surprise when Sarah Palin’s then-attorney general, Dan Sullivan, opposed the bill and helped kill it in 2010. I was impressed that Sarah Palin had actually hired an attorney general willing to stand his ground against insane gun laws.
Maybe bringing in a guy from Ohio or D.C. or Maryland, or wherever Dan is from, to be our chief law enforcement officer — one who had seen first-hand too much gun violence Outside — was going to benefit Alaska.
But now I’m watching as Ohio Dan tries to rewrite the history of his opposition to Stand Your Ground. In a recent radio ad, Sullivan claims, “As Alaska’s attorney general, (I) successfully fought to protect our Second Amendment rights and passed ‘Stand your Ground.’ ”
This claim is just plain false, according to the nonpartisan, Pulitzer Prize-winning website Politifact.com. Come on, Dan, don’t weasel on this. Embrace your decision to do the right thing and kill what really was a bad bill.
As a Marine, Dan Sullivan is a chain-of-command guy. As attorney general, he made sure the troops under him — directors, assistants and others — toed his line. In fact, just last March, in front of a tea party audience, Dan bragged that he was responsible for “everything” done by the Department of Law while he was AG. That’s what makes Sullivan’s lie about Stand Your Ground so blatant.
How do we know he’s running from the truth? For starters, there’s a March 15, 2010, letter to the House Judiciary Committee expressing “serious concern” about House Bill 381, the Stand Your Ground bill. The letter went on to say the law would be “a bad idea for our state.” The letter is signed, “Sincerely, Daniel S. Sullivan Attorney General” and “By John Skidmore Assistant Attorney General.”
As reported by the Daily News, Sullivan now claims “it’s not my letter,” that it was written by a “staffer,” he had no idea about it and disagrees with it. President Harry Truman, also a military man, famously had a sign on his desk that said, “The buck stops here.” Apparently, Dan left his sign back in Ohio.
So let’s assume Sullivan managed his department in such a way that he had no idea what his assistant attorneys general were writing to the Legislature under his signature. Surely he knew what testimony they were giving to the Legislature on high-profile legislation, right?
So wouldn’t he have known that Anne Carpeneti, an assistant attorney general, Legal Section, Criminal Division, Department of Law, was requested to appear before the House Judiciary Committee on March 15, 2010, “to offer us the point of view of the Department of Law”?
Carpeneti started her testimony by saying, “I represent the Criminal Division of the Department of Law.” She apologized for the late delivery of the March 15 Sullivan/Skidmore letter, explaining, “We were working on it all morning.”
She went on to testify: “We are confused and concerned about this bill … The way the department reads this bill, it would really contribute to violence in this state.” She testified again on March 29, 2010, before the House Judiciary Committee. She noted that the Department of Law “still has concerns” about the bill.
The bill passed out of the committee and advanced to the House Finance Committee. Before Finance, on April 8, 2010, Carpeneti again testified that the law department was concerned that HB 381 would increase violence in Alaska. Nonetheless, HB 381 passed the House, 32-8, that same day.
As the discussion moved to the Senate, the Department of Law sent Susan McLean, the director of the Criminal Division of the Department of Law, to testify before the Judiciary Committee. On April 16, 2010, she pulled no punches, forcefully declaring, “I want to make our position very clear here, which is, we are opposed to the law.” The bill died a few days later. The bill didn’t become law until three years later — long after Dan Sullivan had left the Department of Law.
Does Dan really expect us to believe he had no idea Assistant Attorney General Skidmore was writing under his name that HB 381 was a “bad idea”? That Assistant Attorney General Carpeneti was testifying before multiple committees about the Department of Law’s “concerns” about promoting violence? That his Criminal Division director testified that the department flat out opposed the law?
What does this tell us about Dan Sullivan’s ability to run a department of state government? Did the Department of Law simply go rogue while supposedly under his control? I don’t think so. I think the real question is:
Does U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan have the integrity to tell Alaskans the truth and suffer the consequences?
The answer seems to be no. Sullivan is trying to deceive Alaskans, and he appears willing to turn anyone who gets in the way into a speed bump.
Oh, there’s one more document Dan hasn’t explained. It’s a “fiscal note,” dated March 30, 2010, detailing the expected costs of the Stand Your Ground bill: $400,000 a year for two new attorneys because “this bill will make prosecution of homicide cases more difficult … and it will probably result in more jury trials.” The note was “Approved by: Daniel S. Sullivan, Attorney General.”
To quote Dan’s former boss, Sarah Palin, “How ’bout ya quit makin’ stuff up.”
Shannyn Moore is a radio broadcaster. You can hear her show, “The Last Word,” Monday through Friday 4-6 p.m. on KOAN 95.5 FM and 1080 AM and 1480 We Act Radio in Washington, D.C., and on Netroots Radio.
This article was published in-full on Restoring Liberty with permission from the author.