What's Left?

Well, she's nothing if not thorough.

Taking a look through the governor's capital budget vetoes is fascinating reading... and tragic in many ways. How could the governor possibly have cut the money I wanted for the new ice-skating rink in Nome?

The governor has finally made a decision that people can disagree with and I think people will. I wouldn't be surprised if this dents her popularity a bit (of course, she has plenty to burn) because as much as Alaskans act like we're a bunch of independent people who don't need the government, the capital budget gravy train seems to be more appreciated than people would care to admit.

There are a lot of projects on the veto list that have been vetoed because they're "not a state responsibility." In my neighborhood, money for a new teen center in Savoonga was cut. I'll grant that is not a state responsibility but given the high suicide rate in Savoonga (and numerous other social problems), if the state has the money to help out, shouldn't it? There's numerous other projects like that on this list and I wonder what the backlash will be.

The governor campaigned as a fiscal conservative and is now revealing herself in full glory. I admire her for not taking the easy way out and blindly signing a flawed document (viz. Murkowski, Frank, 2006) but I wonder what people will think of her now?

And will the legislature manage to override any of these?

Check the Hit Counter

I want to take another opportunity to emphasize just how few people read this blog. At max, I get about 40 a day, more likely 20 to 30. (If you don't believe me, click on the hit counter at the very bottom of the right-hand column.)

Now, I am gratified for each and every visit and please, tell your friends. But let's be careful not to overrate my importance. I have none. Just because blogs have started showing up in mainstream media accounts and there are several powerful lower 48 political blogs, does not mean I am the same for Alaska. As much as I wish I were a mighty blogger, dispensing wisdom that all in authority scurry to obey, all blogs are not created equal.

I mention all this because of late I have received a few phone calls and e-mails that would seem to suggest otherwise. To which I can only say, please, don't overrate my significance; I certainly don't.

(None of this, of course, should stop you from visiting here.)

On Tenterhooks

Can't wait to see just what the governor is going to veto from the capital budget... and apparently we'll find out tomorrow.

I particularly like this line from Meghan Stapleton:

“The red pen is out, and it will be millions."

Will the governor reveal the "bias" towards the Valley she (accidentally) pledged during the campaign? Now that she is making some decisions will her popularity begin to fall? Will she uphold all those necessary rural Alaskan infrastructure projects and cut all that unnecessary artificial turf in Anchorage? Will Bert Stedman and Kevin Meyer be righteous in their indignation at the vetoes or will they just roll over and say, "Gee, I guess we spent too much."?

What happens to the money that is not spent on a vetoed project? Does it just get added to the surplus (to be spent by an over-eager Finance Committee next year)?

Are Bong Hits Illegal in Alaska?

I'm a bit late to the party on this "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" ruling. (I was having too much fun saying "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" on air.) But I do have one thought. The core of the ruling appears to be the assertion that schools can limit a student's freedom to promote illegal behaviour at school-sanctioned events.

Leaving aside whether or not the banner actually "promoted" anything (kind of nonsensical to me) and whether the event was "school-sanctioned," were bong hits illegal in Alaska in 2002? I thought possession of marijuana in this state (up to 4 ounces then, since reduced) was de-criminalized. Perhaps our banner-holder was only encouraging people to engage in their constitutionally-guaranteed (in Alaska, at any rate) rights. What's wrong with that?

And one other note: is Beth Bragg (and me too) wrong when she wrote several months ago that giving the case all this publicity only made the Juneau School District look bad? Seems to me it's might lead to a good conversation on free speech and the rights of students, even if the decision is a little loopy.

Which Eskimos?

I was surprised to see this headline in The Globe and Mail this morning: "Edmonton takes pity on homeless Eskimos." What exactly is Edmonton doing, I wondered. Why is the Globe and Mail using the word "Eskimos" when they usually write "Inuit"?

Then I realized the story was about the Canadian Football League team Edmonton Eskimos and it all made sense.

Homelessness (let alone any other social issue) among the native people of the Arctic is, unfortunately, hardly newsworthy. There's nothing "new" about it. It's a fact of life.

Temporary Safety

I've had some guests in town of late and been unable to devote my full attention to my little corner of the Internet. So how about another e-mail from Bill Scannel?

Guys:

We have less than 48 hours to stop our nation from having a National ID card scheme.

The US Senate is scheduled to vote either today or tomorrow on two amendments that will remove Real ID provisions from the immigration bill.

Real ID is a very, very real national identification card. Sixteen states have passed legislation rejecting REAL ID: now it's time for the Senate to do their part. You can fax Senators Stevens and Murkowski; and take immediate action by visiting:

http://unrealid.com/action.html

Ted and Lisa need to hear from us on this one...let's get them to do the right thing, for once.

All the best,

Bill

··· --- ··· ··· --- ···
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
- Benjamin Franklin

This was sent to Bill's VIP e-mailing list. Boy, doesn't this blogging thing make me important!

Alaska style

I was intrigued by this picture of the governor at the AGIA signing in Carhartts and work boots. I won't pretend to be able to read the governor's mind but no doubt the idea was to send the message about being a regular, Carhartt-wearing, sleeves-rolled-up, Alaskan, ready to start working on a gas pipeline, which, to give her credit, she more or less is.

What made me pause, though, was just how new those Carhartts look. It's like she picked them up on the way to the bill-signing. As anyone who lives in rural Alaska knows, new Carhartts are a dead give-away of "newbie" status. In fact, I've heard of people who drive over their new Carhartts with a truck before wearing them to take some of that shine away and break them in.

So the message I take from the governor's dress in this picture is either a) she's never done any hard work in her life but is ready to start now (unlikely, as she is a mother of four); b) the governor wants to look like a "regular" Alaskan but because she isn't (she's the governor after all), she doesn't have the clothes to do so; or c) the governor has her own unique sense of style. People clearly like Sarah as she is - why bother playing dress up to convince us she's something else?

A job I don't want

After listening to Joel Southern's Tuesday story on efforts to get Ted Stevens to talk about the investigation into his relationship with VECO, you have to feel sorry for Stevens' unnamed press aide.

Reporters are pressing Stevens for comment and the press aide keeps saying, "If you give me your card, I can get you our statement." But no one pays any attention to him because they know what the statement says and they want Stevens to say something. But the press aide is persistent and keeps offering the statement. Finally, Stevens himself gets fed up and says to the press aide, "Let me answer the questions!" To which the press aide can say nothing but "Yes, sir!" and shut up.

Given Stevens' reputed penchant for being unable to remember the names of any of his staff members, the poor press aide is looking pretty sorry indeed. Not only does he get ignored by the press (his apparent constituency), his boss belittles him in public, likely without even knowing who he is.

Is all that abuse really worth the resume line of working in Stevens' office?

If you don't like him...

...why did you vote for him?

A new poll shows Don Young is not too popular in the state. I still think any potential challenger has huge (dare I say insurmountable) hurdles to surmount in knocking off the C-Man for All AK but it is an interesting snapshot nonetheless.

But, really, given that Young got nearly 60-percent of the vote last November, couldn't people at least have the decency to stick by him when he gets in trouble? Because those of us who didn't vote for him, really wish that those of you who held your noses and voted for him had not.

Predictions

I - ahem - accurately predicted, I believe, two items making headlines around the state today.

The first is Vic Kohring's resignation, which I predicted at the beginning of the month.

The second is ChangePoint's decision to turn down the 1-point-5 million for its SportsDome. I didn't predict this one, per se, but I did make clear that I thought the governor was likely to veto it. Given Sarah's presence at the announcement today, I'd like to think she played a fairly significant role in the decision, even if she never actually pulled out her pen.

(Along with my Lance Mackey prediction, these are the only three predictions I've ever gotten right in my entire life.)

The larger point here is about the power of the media. When the ADN or KTUU shines a light on an issue in this state, things happen, particularly when the light is shined on any of the number of egregious examples of stupidity that take place in state government.

Kohring has been complaining these last few weeks that he's being tried in the media. He's right about that and I doubt he'd be making the same decision today if the ADN hadn't pressed him so hard on it. My difference with Vic, though, is that the ADN just pushed him towards the right decision he should have had the honor to reach on his own.

Given all this, how come the ADN and KTUU don't use their spotlight more often? Rather than sending more reporters around the state to ferret all the stories they routinely miss, the ADN continues its trend of reducing staff, filling its pages with stories from organizations, and generally failing us as a newspaper. Maybe the indictments that led to Kohring's resignation wouldn't have been such a surprise if the ADN or KTUU had more than one reporter in Juneau. Perish the thought.