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Alaska RINOs Attempting Coup: Effort Underway to Remove Constitutional Conservative Chair, Others from State Party

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It appears that the Murkowski-RINO wing of the Alaska Republican Party has taken its cue from allies in DC and is attempting (again) to destroy the state party.

Yesterday, the Chair-Elect of the Alaska Republican Party, constitutional conservative Russ Millette, received a copy of a letter charging him with violating the rules of the Alaska Republican Party. It seeks his “removal from office.”

The letter was written by the Rules Chair of the party, closely aligned with outgoing Chair Randy Ruedrich, who overtly opposed – in direct violation of party rules – the Republican-nominee for US Senate in 2010.

These charges followed a similar effort commenced last week by Chairman Randy Ruedrich himself, also designed to remove another newly-elected ARP officer, Vice Chair-Elect Debbie Brown.

With respect to Chair-elect Millette, the most serious charges are that he misrepresented his life-long affiliation with the Republican Party (he was “undeclared” in his party affiliation for a period of time) and failed to raise money for the party over the last several months.

The letter also contends that the ARP convention where the ARP’s new chair and vice-chair were elected was taken over by “an organized group of political activists registered as Republicans … with the express purpose of ‘taking over’ Republican party operations and disrupting the normal candidate selection process.” The ARP official’s letter continues, “These activists had no prior history of positive conservative political activity or support for the Republican Party Platform or Republican candidates.”

Of course, the letter is a not-so-masterful effort to use Hitler’s “Big Lie” technique – telling a lie “so colossal” that no one would believe that the author would “have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously.”

Those who know Russ Millette recognize that he has far more allegiance to the ARP platform than the majority of the ARP’s governing body, many of whom overtly violated party rules in opposing the 2010 Republican nominee even though he was nominated by the largest turnout of GOP primary voters in state history.

Now that there is a sudden focus on compliance with Party rules, perhaps the ARP will also examine last year’s illegal transfer of tens of thousands of dollars of party funds to the Juneau so-called Republican Club, infiltrated by Sealaska’s cronies and other crony capitalists, more concerned about their liberal social issues and corporate welfare than the party platform.

Or how about the ARP’s officers – when they’re required to promote party events – openly advocating for delegates to stay home from the convention last year so that a quorum would not be reached?

Or advocating candidates for office that openly disagree with the party platform?

Or the repeated refusal to vote on the Murkowski censure (a sitting member of the Central Committee who – even when she was running against the nominee – was not removed from the Committee)?

Or the age-old questions regarding financial improprieties with VECO funding of the ARP?

Or the failure to fully disclose how donated funds were used on direct mail campaigns?

Or taking sides in contested primaries?

Or the current Chair’s efforts against the Party’s nominee, including public statements and the filing of a questionable affidavit against him?

And the list goes on and on.

What’s really going on here is that in Alaska, like the rest of the country, the RINOs are being exposed for what they are: big government, corporate welfare hypocrites who don’t support the party platform and who will compromise any moral code to accomplish their aims.

Grassroots activists must demand that these RINOs remove the massive logs out of their own eyes before being permitted to criticize whatever specks they imagine in others’ eyes.

Anchorage Daily News Fears Miller Run in 2014? Columnist Starts the Lies All Over Again

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This weekend, longtime Anchorage Daily News (ADN) columnist and mouth piece of Alaska’s corrupt political establishment, Paul Jenkins, wrote a piece on the potential contenders for Alaska’s 2014 Senate race.

Besides a gratuitous, but hardly unexpected hit on Sarah Palin, much of the column was the typical ADN gushing about candidates likely to perpetuate the big government handouts for Alaska’s ruling class.

One candidate is described as the chairman of a “prestigious” federal commission, another one is praised as “almost too good to be true,” still another is declared a successful city manager.

Jenkins, of course, reserves most of his establishment-vitriol for 2010 Republican Senate nominee Joe Miller.

It would have been bad enough had he resurrected any one of the numerous fabricated stories from 2010 to justify his suggestion that Joe is at the “bottom of the [2014] barrel.” But he didn’t do that. Instead, he made up an entirely new lie stating that a “few days back, [Joe] trashed the National Rifle Association as a threat to gun liberty and called its top executive a charlatan.”

Never mind the well-known fact that Joe has been a life member of the NRA for his entire adult life. Or that he and his wife have given thousands of dollars to the organization and are currently NRA Benefactors, the highest level of NRA membership. We’re quite sure it wouldn’t matter to Jenkins either that Joe also received an “A” rating from the NRA as a legislative candidate.

That doesn’t mean that Restoring Liberty agrees with everything the NRA does, such as its endorsement of many big-government incumbents, and its failure to get behind constitutional conservatives. But Joe has never described the organization as a “threat to gun liberty” or its top exec as a “charlatan.” On the contrary, Joe has been a strong supporter of the NRA.

What Jenkins is apparently referring to is an article that appeared HERE at Restoring Liberty, authored by Adam Bates. Bates had some harsh comments about the NRA’s response to the Newtown massacre that has generated a healthy debate at Restoring Liberty.

Obviously, the fact a story appears at Restoring Liberty does not mean that Joe Miller endorses its contents. Rather, the intent is to post stories that inform and encourage thought, especially stories we are unlikely to see in the mainstream press. And as our readers are undoubtedly aware, Restoring Liberty doesn’t shy away from articles critical of anyone who may be straying from constitutional principles.

So either Jenkins is ignorant, or he’s just plain lying.

Fortunately, Alaskans are on to the establishment goons in the Alaska press. And that’s why Alaska’s conventional media is being abandoned in favor of sites like Restoring Liberty, the second-most read Alaskan Internet news site.

Sen. Mark Begich: I’m worried about Joe Miller & the entire national right-wing attack machine

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Photo credit: aflcio

Sen. Mark Begich is worried about Joe Miller and “the entire national right-wing attack machine.” Those are words he used in a recent letter soliciting funds for his 2014 reelection bid. Instead of starting with his positions on current issues and a list of his accomplishments, Begich devoted the first dozen sentences of the letter to how his opposition is preparing to take him down. But the underlying message in this uninspiring introduction is how the commercialization of our society is corrupting our democratic process.

As a Democrat in a Republican leaning state, Begich knows he’ll likely be the underdog in the race to retain his U.S. Senate seat. What will make his battle more difficult, he says, is that the GOP will be “spending millions of Washington dollars to distort [his] record and promote Joe Miller.” It’s a scenario he should be partly familiar with because that’s how the Democrats helped him four years ago while the FBI was investigating possible corruption by the late Sen. Ted Stevens. And just as he claims the GOP at the national level doesn’t “care about what’s important to Alaskans,” the D.C. Democrats back then didn’t either.

What will be different in his 2014 race is how campaign money will come into the state from undisclosed sources. That’s because the 2010 Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case equated political contributions with free speech. The transparency problem created by the ruling could have been corrected before the election that year. Indeed, the Supreme Court actually advised Congress to pass new legislation that would have required sufficient disclosure so the voting public could determine which candidates might wind up beholden to special interests. But Senate Republicans defeated such a bill crafted by Democrats in 2010 and more recently shot down a similar proposal.

Begich may be sounding early alarm bells because Alaskans really won’t see much of the effect of Citizens United in this year’s national elections. But around the rest of the country, billionaires, large corporations and every other well financed special interest group are prepared to spend enormous sums of money to influence the outcome of other races. And while political analysts believe Republicans will benefit most from the lack of transparency in campaign spending, blaming them for the deterioration of our democratic process is too easy. There are other entities who for decades have been contributing of demise of our electoral politics.

Let’s start with the advertising industry. They’re drooling at the prospect of revenue from record breaking spending this year. It would be one thing if they were hired to honestly portray a candidate’s record and position on the issues. But the vast majority of their television and radio ads will be totally void of substance. Worse yet, the most effective ones are often those that slyly distort the truth. In other words, the most sought after advertisers are those who can legally deceive most of the people most of the time. New York Times columnist David Brooks put it this way — “the ad-makers now take dishonesty as a mark of their professional toughness.”

Read more from this story HERE.

The ABC’s of being Joe Miller’s Wife

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Many people regularly ask how I handle the media, family dynamics, politics, as well as work, travel and being on the Alaska Judicial Council.  So, I decided I would start to pen a few articles on these different areas starting with perhaps the most difficult, yet inspiring . . . drum roll please . . . being Joe Miller’s wife!  Since we do wake up beside each other on more days than not, I will tackle this with some humor and easy to understand points:

 

The ABC’s of being Joe Miller’s Wife

A  Always remember to admire him

B  Be cheerful more days than not

C  Communicate- this is very important!

D  Do remember that I appreciate his reasons for doing what he does even though it may not seem sane at times

E  Enjoy the simple things in life because when he does the thing he does that may be all we have

F  Focus yes, FOCUS, on his good qualities

G  Give and forgive a lot!

H  Hope he remembers to thank everyone for coming, to pay attention to the little things, and HOLD NO GRUDGES!

I    Invite his crazy ideas into the conversation of what I would like to get done around the house and watch that turn into what he would like to get done around the nation

J  Join in his endeavors and enthusiasms

K  Keep my mouth shut about something stupid he did until we are out of earshot of others

L  Love him and try to listen when he’s speaking

M Magnify the good in him because sometimes I may be the only one who did that day

N  Never forget his heart and intentions in everything he does-yes they are not just a benefit to others, but also to myself and our family

O  Oust the negative as often as possible

P  Pray for him

Q  Quickly point out what I think and then let him ponder and bring about a discussion

R  Remember that behind every great man there is an even better woman so I need to encourage him

S  Speak highly of him

T  Treat him as a King because I will be treated as his Queen

U  Unconditionally love him

V  Value his desires, insights and strong demeanor

W  Welcome him with open arms when he’s had a rough day or Welcome his ambition and fight for truth and liberty

X  X-ercise my voice but try my best to keep all of the above because then I can be a happy, productive wife and mother. So,

Y  Y’all now know a few of my secrets and I think they sure help because as you can

Z  Zee for yourself, we make a pretty good team!

 

Until next time – Be Blessed!

Kathleen

 

Photo credit: Joe Miller, All Rights Reserved

Time for Alaska’s Congressional Delegation to Stop Discriminating Against Alaska Natives

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For the last four decades, Alaska’s congressional delegation, in concert with so-called Native leaders, has taken actions that discriminate against Alaskan Natives.

In 1976 corporate leaders successfully exempted Native corporations from federal security laws. When seeking the exemption, corporate officials told Congress they would obtain State legislation that would provide their shareholders protections from corporate mismanagement, misrepresentations and omissions. Of course, this false promise was never fulfilled. To this day, Native shareholders receive no protections from federal security laws and the State of Alaska refuses to enforce the Corporate Code against Native corporations.

Fundraisers and corporate perks to politicians paid off in 1986 when Senator Stevens enacted special legislation for the Native corporations to sell net operating losses (NOLs). Sen. Stevens told Congress the legislation would cost the federal government a loss of about $50 million. His payoff to the corporations ended up costing the US government more than $1.25 billion. It was reported that Native corporations sold properties at losses of approximately $3 billion. Native stockholders were never informed of the properties that were sold, selling prices, appraisals, losses, or even the names of the purchasers of the properties. And the shareholders did not get to vote on the sales of their properties at huge losses. For any non-native corporation, this would have violated a host of federal and state disclosure laws.

Native corporations spent large sums of corporate money to lobby for the ANCSA Amendments of 1987. Many of the amendments were harmful to Native shareholders. The amendments extended stock restrictions, extended the exemption of federal security laws, and shareholders lost rights that were included in ANSCA. This was done without the knowledge or consent of Native shareholders. The amendments to ANCSA have placed corporate management in a position where they control and dominate their shareholders.

In 2010, Native corporations directly donated over $1.2 million (and untold millions in indirect donations) to defeat Joe Miller who had consistently argued in favor of Native shareholder rights throughout his campaign. In 2012 CIRI hosted a fund raiser for Senator Begich and rose over $100,000. Native corporations do not disclose the amounts of corporate funds that are donated to politicians and the donations are not brought before the shareholders for a vote.

ANCSA divided Alaska Natives. Natives born before the Act were directly awarded shares but those born after the Act were not. The number of shareholders is increasing in the Native corporations but at the same time, the number of shares held by Native shareholders is decreasing. For example, CIRI’s original shareholders numbered 6,280 and now numbers over 8,100. Approximately 500 shareholders are non-natives and 1,000 shareholders own 10 shares or less. In another generation, our Native children and grandchildren will own fewer shares. With corporate managers selling lands and resources, there simply won’t be much left for our grandchildren.

The main benefactors of ANCSA have been the managers of the corporations. Many of them have become multi-millionaires and politically powerful by using the wealth of the shareholders. For example, in 2000, CIRI’s five senior managers were paid an astounding $16,875,848.

It’s time to end discrimination and misuse of Native corporation monies, land and resources. Alaska Natives need to stand up and demand equal rights, unrestricted stock, constitutional rights, fair elections, accountability and transparency in regards to their moneys, lands and natural resources.

**********************************

Bob Rude is a lifelong Alaskan native who has seen the transformation of Alaska through statehood, ANCSA, and the Ted Stevens legacy.  He was one of the founders of the Cook Inlet Regional Corporation and a Director for close to 30 years, in addition to being founder and past president of Cook Inlet Tribal Council. He’s been a Director of Anchorage Native Assembly, Crime Stoppers, and Alaska Federation of Natives Human Resources Board. He is the co-author of “ANCSA: Sovereignty and a Just Settlement of Land Claims or An Act of Deception” (1999). In 1957, he was chosen Alaska’s Most Valuable High School Basketball Player while attending Anchorage High School.

Joe Miller agrees to pay legal fees

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Joe Miller, who lost a 2010 senate bid against Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, announced he won’t be appealing a court order requiring that he pay state legal fees incurred in his fight to overturn the election results.

“Given the amount at issue, it simply does not make good financial sense to move forward with the appeal,” Miller said in a statement Thursday. “Pyrrhic victories are not my goal. Accordingly, this court fight ends today.”

After losing to tea party-backed Miller in the Republican primary, Murkowski ran as a write-in candidate in the general election in November.

When Murkowski won by 4.5 percentage points, Miller called on the Division of Elections to review the ballots in accordance to state election law, which says write-in votes must match the name of the candidate. Miller claimed all ballots with misspellings should be thrown out in a recount.

But the state had ruled as long as a voter’s intent was clear on the write-in, then a misspelled ballot could be counted. The Superior Court judge rejected Miller’s lawsuit, and the state’s Supreme Court upheld the decision.

 Read More at CNN by Ashley Killough, CNN

Here is the press release: https://www.joemiller.us/2011/07/miller-chooses-not-to-appeal-legal-fees-ruling/

Joe Miller: Happy Birthday America

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On the Fourth of July, many of us are used to the typical written fare, celebrations of the undeniably extraordinary birth of our great Republic.  We read motivating patriotic themes of sacrifice, democracy, and love of country.

But what we hear less frequently is the hard truth of our contemporary crisis, and how the sacrifices of yesterday are on the verge of being forever lost to the excesses of today.

Although I’m tempted to diverge into a litany of federal excesses that are killing the country, I’m not going to take my own bait.  Rather, let’s take a little stroll down memory lane and consider where we’ve come from and try to stoke the embers left from the greatest Revolution on earth.

Our Founders hailed from countries with tyrannical central governments that had little regard for fundamental freedoms.  Driven by a desire to worship free of persecution, many of our ancestors were willing to suffer incredibly high mortality rates rather than the heavy hand of government.  Jamestown lost about 80% of its original inhabitants.  Their descendants formed the backbone of the Revolution.

The Founders were not ignorant of this history.  They were intimately familiar with the extreme sacrifices of their ancestors and why they sought out this special land.  So when the heavy hand of Britain began to squeeze ever so tightly, these exceptional families made the only moral choice:  confront the evil no matter the cost.

When you hear the stories of bare-footed patriots barely surviving through the vicious winter in Valley Forge and wonder what motivated them, think back through the history, and thousands that sacrificed before them.  They knew the motto, “Live free or die.”  Their ancestors lived the motto.  As did ours.

Why, then, do we seem so complacent?  Perhaps we’re the frog in the pot that’s been slowly heated to a catastrophic boiling point, not recognizing the tyranny until it’s almost too late.

But there’s hope.  The same freedom-loving spirit that drove persecuted thousands to our shores, and motivated the sacrifices of life, liberty, and property in our Founders’ pursuit of Independence has not disappeared.  Join a local tea party and catch the Spirit.  We will save this nation.

Happy Birthday, America!

Joe’s Blog: Ruling Class Tyranny

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If you’re like me, you’re terribly concerned about the direction of our nation.  Whether it’s impending national bankruptcy, eroding personal liberties, or the incessant attacks against the traditional family, the bedrock of civilization, it seems everything is falling apart.

So what do we do?  We throw everything aside and immerse our efforts and finances into democratic change.  We identify elected leaders that are co-conspirators in our national destruction and target them for defeat.  We work day and night, shoulder-to-shoulder with other grassroots activists to upend the establishment with constitutional conservatives.

Sometimes, these Tea Party insurgencies elect patriots to office.Other times, the reform movement loses a race but manages, in the process, to drive the dark, bipartisan forces controlling much of our political processes into the light.  When that happens, we have the exceptional opportunity to discover answers to why the U.S. political system, no matter the party controlling the White House or Congress, continues to move us in the same direction.

A great example is my 2010 US Senate race where the NRSC, under Senator John Cornyn’s leadership, raised literally hundreds of thousands of dollars under my banner but then promptly spent the money attacking Democratic candidate Scott McAdams, knowing full well that every vote peeled from ultra-liberal McAdams would go to almost-as-liberal Murkowksi.  The end result? McAdams’ candidacycollapsed to the direct benefit of Murkowski.

All along Senator Cornyn falsely promised to do everything possible to ensure my victory. But he recently “insisted” in an interview with Politico that “the NRSC ‘did not go after [Murkowski]’ last cycle, since it stayed away from direct attacks on her campaign.”  He concluded that the 2010 race “turned out well. It had a happy ending.”

Senator Cornyn is part of the Ruling Class that intended to perpetuate the membership of his colleague, Lisa Murkowski.  Both Cornyn and Murkowski embrace the model of government that we’ve grown accustomed to in DC: ever-expanding bureaucracies, a federal government that knows no constitutional limits.  I explicitly threatened this model, having the gall to suggest that the Constitution be followed as it was intended.

What’s the solution?  Understand that compromise is killing the country and that your 2012 vote can only be cast for constitutional conservatives who embrace the Founders’ vision of limited government.

 

Joe Says: Get Engaged; the Time is Short

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For most of us, reviewing the news out of Washington or our local capitol inevitably leads to higher blood pressure or maybe even a recurrent nervous twitch.  It seems that no matter whom we elect, government is inexorably moving into every nook and cranny of our lives.  From dictating what light bulbs we can read by at night to requiring us to buy health care coverage, the scope of government seems unlimited.  And when we look up and down the political spectrum,our legislators appear to be walking in lock step, simply arguing around the fringes rather than challenging the proper role of government.

So what is a Constitution-loving patriot to do in the face of this increasing tyranny?  Get engaged!!!  What do I mean by that?  Instead of sitting idly by in your easy chair, forwarding an occasional Tea Party e-mail here and there, take a step outside of your comfort zone and put some skin in the game.

So how exactly is that done?  How can you make a difference?  Frankly,the sky is the limit in this political climate.  Using my 2010 U.S.Senate race in Alaska as a model, first recognize that someone apart from the political establishment, born into average circumstances, can stand up and effectively challenge the status quo.  That means you.

Yes, there are risks involved.  If you speak Truth about what your current elected officials are doing, expect lots of grassroots support but significant ruling class backlash.  The establishment will use every tool in their arsenal against you if they view you as a real threat.  Using my Alaska Senate race as an example, don’t be surprised if every newspaper, television station, and political leader attacks you, telling lie after lie to undercut your support amongst the undecided.  The more vicious the attack, the closer your message is resonating with middle-America.  Keep the faith.

And that means keep fighting even when we lose some of our battles.The Tea Party movement is exceptionally young – two or three years inmost states – but we have had exceptional impact; the House’s refusalto rubber-stamp a debt ceiling increase is one of several examples of our strength.

Yes, we have lost some high-profile races in 2010 but, given our ever-increasing numbers, refusal to be co-opted, and common-sense solutions, there is little question that we are well-positioned to rescue our country from approaching calamity.  Please answer the call of our Founders; you owe it to their sacrifice and the freedom of future generations.

 

Joe’s Blog- Montana’s Firearms Freedom Act

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As a constitutional conservative, I’ve fought in both the political and legal arenas in defense of our Founders’ interpretation of the U.S. Constitution.  This past week, I joined forces with the Gun Owners of America to defend the Second Amendment and Montana’s Firearms Freedom Act (MFFA) from the most recent assault by President Obama’s BATF and DOJ.

The MFFA is an extraordinary piece of state legislation.  It provides that any firearm manufactured entirely in Montana and retained within that state is not subject to federal regulation.  Penned by a patriot, this legislation arises directly from what our Founders intended through the 10th Amendment:  “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

At least seven other states have adopted similar legislation, but the patriots in Montana were the first.  And they were the first to step up and challenge the BATF in federal court when it sent a letter to all gun dealers in Montana telling them that they must ignore the new state law.

The federal district court judge that heard the case ruled against the MFFA.  Last week, we filed our amicus brief with the Ninth Circuit in hopes that it will follow the law and reverse the trial court.  If it doesn’t, we’re prepared to help Montana’s patriots in their fight before the U.S. Supreme Court.  We the People must never give up in our fight for states’ rights.