Where does Begich stand on EPA carbon rules? Staff declines comment on hot-button amendment.

On Wednesday night, the Senate Appropriations Committee scuttled a politically problematic vote that would have included an amendment that blocked the EPA from finalizing proposed carbon emission limits for power plants. The amendment was to be offered by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to a funding bill for the Energy Department and water programs. Sen. Mark Begich is a member of the committee. He’s been under fire for his alleged support of carbon taxes and regulations.

Heather Handyside, a Begich spokesperson, declined to say Continue reading →

Murkowski calls for investigation into VA in Alaska

Below is a letter U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski sent to the Department of Veterans Affairs Inspector General calling for an investigation into the VA system in Alaska. Specifically, Murkowski wants the IG’s office to look at allegations of whistleblower retaliation around scheduling issues at the VA clinic in Anchorage and staff shortages at the clinic in the Wasilla. Both the New York Times and the Mat-Su Frontiersman have recently reported about the issues in Anchorage and Wasilla, respectively. Continue reading →

New ad features Sullivan as job creator, Begich as job killer

GOP Senate candidate Dan Sullivan released another ad on Wednesday. This one features Richard Faulkner, president of Anchorage-based Steelfab, and Peter Macksey, head of customer relations at Steelfab, the steel plant that U.S. Sen. Mark Begich featured in one of his own recent ads. In that ad, Begich boasts that he got Steelfab “more business because I got the administration to allow more drilling.” When reached on the phone, however, Faulker called Begich’s claim “totally false” and was “upset,” to put it politely, when he saw it.

The Sullivan ad says that as DNR commissioner, Sullivan got results, “1200 jobs worth of results,” Macksey says.

Macksey is referring to the North Slope’s Point Thomson, an oil and gas field about 60 miles east of Prudhoe Bay. The field was originally discovered in 1977 Continue reading →

Loose Lips: Murkowskis endorse. Naked Mabel. GOP’s salad mess.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about House District 36 in Southeast and the seat that’s being vacated by Rep. Peggy Wilson. I said I had heard that Patti Mackey, who’s the president and CEO of the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau, appeared to have a leg up on other Republican candidates: Borough Assemblywoman Agnes Moran and Chere Klein. Some people took issue with that. One even implied that I was part of some sort of vague conspiracy. Machinations in the Misty Fiords! Alas. Just chatterers who might have been wrong. Moran sure has some supporters out there. Including none other than former Gov. Frank and Nancy Murkowski, who still consider Ketchikan home. Nancy confirmed that the two are endorsing Moran, which is not a small deal in Ketchikan. Continue reading →

AFL-CIO endorses French for lt. gov.

The Alaska AFL-CIO, the state’s largest largest labor organization, has endorsed outgoing Democratic Alaska state senator and lieutenant governor candidate Hollis French. Bob Williams, a teacher in Wasilla, is also running for that seat. AFL-CIO President Vince Beltrami said that although the union likes Williams, French has been supporting labor for 14 years and “we don’t turn our backs on old friends for new friends. ” Among other thing, the endorsement will now allow the AFL-CIO to write PAC checks to French. Other unions will likely follow the AFL-CIO’s lead.

Crossroads GPS runs new Begich attack ad

Bill Vivlamore, the president of the Frontier Supply Company in Fairbanks, is featured in a new Begich attack ad by Crossroads GPS. “Mark Begich doesn’t understand what voting 97 percent of the time with Obama is doing to businesses in Alaska,” says Vivlamore, who focuses in the ad on Begich’s vote for ObamaCare. The ad will run statewide and is backed by $450,000. Unlike American Crossroads, Crossroads GPS isn’t a super-PAC, and runs issue ads instead of ads advocating for a candidate. As such, it’s not required to disclose its donors.

Yes on 1 campaign attacks former Democratic Gov. Tony Knowles

The “Vote Yes – Repeal The Giveaway” campaign, which is advocating repealing the oil tax overhaul that recently passed the Legislature, sent out a fundraising email on Friday accusing former Gov. Tony Knowles, who is against repeal, of corruption, cronyism, and for being a “paid shill” for the oil companies. A young “aggressive” intern sent the email, the campaign said.

“This is the same Tony Knowles who gave his friends at BP a $200 million dollar oil lease for free while receiving several hundred thousand dollars in a secret bank account for his own personal use,” the email written by Andrew Lessig said.

“Knowles continued his crony ways by attempting to allow BP to monopolize the North Slope by taking control of ARCO.” Continue reading →

New York Times digs into V.A. scandal in Alaska

The national media has done some great investigative reporting about problems plaguing the V.A. health system nationwide. Until now, Alaska, which has the largest population of vets per capita in the U.S., has largely remained out of the headlines, save for the issue being used as political fodder by both sides in the Senate race. As such, it’s largely been assumed that the problems in Alaska, compared to V.A. systems in the rest of the country, have been relatively benign. Continue reading →

Will war in Iraq and high oil prices play a part in Alaska’s election?

Energy and natural gas guru T Boone Pickens told CNBC on Friday that if Iraq’s oil supplies dry up as a result of unrest in the country, crude could hit $150-$200 a barrel, providing ammunition for those who want Alaskans to vote on an initiative in August to repeal the oil tax regime that passed the Legislature in 2013.

Iraq produces about 3.3 million barrels a day, and has the world’s fifth-largest proven oil reserves. It’s OPEC’s second-largest producer, after Saudi Arabia. Continue reading →

Loose Lips: Gay pride meets oilies and Libertarians. Bridges and Crossroads. IBU needs navigation?

A mix of people marched downtown on Saturday in the gay pride parade. State senator and lite gov. candidate, Hollis French, who’s long been an advocate for gay rights, was part of the mélange, as was U.S. Democratic House hopeful Forrest Dunbar. More unlikely: The oilies made a showing. A group of BP employees marched with the best of them, and about 10 people carrying “No on 1” signs joined the rainbow. Libertarian Mark Fish was the only U.S. Senate hopeful to show. Continue reading →

Unrest in Iraq could skyrocket oil prices, providing ammunition for repeal

Begich fires back at VA allegations

Below is the response from U.S. Sen. Mark Begich’s campaign to the American Crossroads ad released earlier this week, accusing Begich of not taking enough action on veterans’ healthcare. It’s a powerful response, as is the radio spot that goes along with it. Although there are problems, the veterans system here has largely avoided being plagued with the problems that the facilities are plagued with in the Lower 48. That’s in large part due to the work of Begich, along with Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who fought to allow some vets in rural Alaska to go to local clinics.

Independent governor candidate Walker is first up with TV ad

Independent gubernatorial candidate Bill Walker is on the air, making him the first candidate in the governor’s race who has bought television time. The ads, four in all, three of which so far are on TV, highlight Walker as a man of action, a family man who isn’t afraid to take risks. The best one, I think, is the one below that’s running in Fairbanks. It isn’t the slickest commercial, but the question Walker asks in it is very good one. Watch here:

The answer for most residents is a resounding “No.” Fairbanks is not better off than it was six years ago. Home heating costs have skyrocketed in Fairbanks. The air is not cleaner. The quality of life is not better. It’s a stretch to say that Parnell is responsible for all that ails the Interior city. But that Fairbanks sits only a few hundred miles from the largest energy fields in North America, and yet some residents are being forced to choose between food and heating oil, is if nothing else, a stark display of lack of leadership, which appears to be exactly Walker’s point.

National poll has Senate candidate Sullivan up in GOP primary

It’s not the very best time to take polls seriously, considering how startlingly wrong pollsters got the Virginia House race. Even the group which released the most recent public poll on the U.S. Senate primary in Alaska, got it wrong in Virginia. That said, the Daily Caller/Vox Populi poll didn’t get it as wrong as some other groups did, one of which had House Majority Leader Eric Cantor up more than 30 points. And it did sound the alarm a few days before the primary, saying that Cantor was “struggling.”

Continue reading →

Treadwell’s new web ad: ‘The True Alaskan Conservative’

On Thursday, GOP Senate candidate Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell released an ad today, entitled “The True Alaskan Conservative.”

The theme of the commercial is that Treadwell is the true conservative who will fight the federal government for Alaska. It feels a little uninspired, say nothing of jumpy, but maybe I’m already inured to political ads. I liked his old ones better, when he hesitated and stuttered some, like a wise professor you want to drink tea with. This one feels a little like he’s been shoved in a suit and told to play a role. The message, however, might resonate with primary voters.

His spokesperson Tom Intorcio, tweeted that it was a TV ad, but it’s not. It’s a web ad.