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April 3, 2013
Thoughts on Education Vouchers

Last November’s election was a watershed for Alaska. Not only do we have the opportunity to overturn the stunning mistake made during the Palin years of gouging North Slope oil producers with a dangerously high tax rate, but we have a conservative majority in the legislature that is willing to address other festering issues. One of those issues is education.

Last November’s election was a watershed for Alaska. Not only do we have the opportunity to overturn the stunning mistake made during the Palin years of gouging North Slope oil producers with a dangerously high tax rate, but we have a conservative majority in the legislature that is willing to address other festering issues.

March 4, 2013
The President Who Cried Wolf

I got to thinking about how Washington deals with budgets and how the rest of us do. Listening to the incessant caterwauling, threats and scaremongering from Obama over the sequester last week led me to an attempt to try to put this all in perspective.

I got to thinking about how Washington deals with budgets and how the rest of us do. Listening to the incessant caterwauling, threats and scaremongering from Obama over the sequester last week led me to an attempt to try to put this all in perspective.

February 14, 2013
Let Them Eat Cake

Our Federal Masters a couple weeks ago announced that there would be no road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge to connect King Cove with the Cold Bay Airport. Obama’s Loathsome Cowboy Ken Salazar did the deed. Predictably, the Alaska congressional delegation went apoplectic. But, as usual, the back story is more interesting. 

February 8, 2013
NR Exclusive: Mayor Sullivan Sets Hard Line With Unions

Sullivan has moved to end unions' ability to strike and arbitrate among other changes to muni collective bargaining code.

Dan Sullivan has launched what may very well be the first offensive of a conservative war on public employee unions in Alaska.  

February 7, 2013
Anchorage's 2013 Economic Forecast

Among a littany of other studies, the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation releases an annual economic forecast. Their 2013 report, available now, is a great synopsis of Anchorage-specific data on growth within industries, population totals, and unemployment rates.

February 6, 2013
Alaska Not Impressed with REI's Sally Jewell for Interior

By now the news of Obama's nomination of Sally Jewell, the current President and CEO of every hippie's favorite outdoor gear store, REI, to head the Department of the Interior has reached those of us in the Tundra. We're not impressed.

January 27, 2013
Anchorage GOP Women's Club Lincoln Dinner

Featuring special guest speaker Raymond V. Shepherd, III

To purchase Lincoln Day dinner tickets, please click here.

Featuring special guest speaker Raymond V. Shepherd, III - Chairman of the Venable LLP Congressional Investigation Practic Group in Washington, DC.

Silent Auction, Live Auction, Dessert and Wine Auction, Heads or Tails Event

July 7, 2012
The Dismal Science of Baseline Budgeting

Any time a democrat starts talking about stimulus spending, start watching your wallet.

Today’s article is a short excursion into the dismal science and black art of congressional budgeting and why there was not a single stimulus, but multiple passed since 2007 – which account for most of the yearly $1.4 trillion spending deficit.

July 1, 2012
Anyone Down For a Constitutional Convention?

What is in a constitution?

June 21, 2012
UAA Caught Lying About Shootout Money
June 18, 2012
A Statute and a Pledge

Alaska faces a comparable and equally dire fiscal crisis to that which has developed at the federal level. Due to current excessive state government spending, future Alaskans are facing a lower standard of living than present day Alaskans. As a consequence, Alaska needs its own state level statute restricting excessive spending and may benefit from a pledge to support it.

May 11, 2012
Alaska’s political immaturity: Why we aren’t ready for The Righteous Mind

Jonathan Haidt’s The Righteous Mind brings the author’s Moral Foundations Theory to America’s political discussion, arguing that our political debates are often intractable because our political views are associated with six areas of taste developed over such a long period of time that there is little we can do to change the mind of our political opponents. 

Jonathan Haidt’s The Righteous Mind brings the author’s Moral Foundations Theory to America’s political discussion, arguing that our political debates are often intractable because our political views are associated with six areas of taste developed over such a long period of time that there is little we can do to change the mind of our political opponents.

April 16, 2012
House Leader Responds to End of Session Accusations

Alaska House Rules Chair Craig Johnson reacted with shock and disgust today upon hearing allegations made by Alaska Senate Rules Chair Johnny Ellis that the House made a deal with the Senate on end-of-session bills and that the House broke the mythical deal.

Monday, April 16, 2012, Juneau, Alaska – Alaska House Rules Chair Craig Johnson reacted with shock and disgust today upon hearing allegations made by Alaska Senate Rules Chair Johnny Ellis that the House made a deal with the Senate on end-of-session bills and that the House broke the mythical deal.

April 8, 2012
Honey Badger of the Week -Too Many To Count

The election of 2012 will go down as one of the most famous in the city’s history. The unprecedented mismanagement of the election itself, as well as the strategies employed by some of the candidates, provide us with several important lessons for next time.  Because this week there were too many honey badgers to count, we  offer these key takeaways.

March 29, 2012
A Gay Man's Opposition To The Gay Ballot Proposition

I am a 57 year old man who “came out of the closet” at age 39. I spent the next several years living the gay lifestyle, including being involved with the Imperial Court of All Alaska (ICOAA), the Alaska chapter of an international GLBT support and service organization. 

Please join me in voting “NO” on Proposition 5.

March 27, 2012
Anti-discrimination laws don’t belong in a free society

It is fundamentally unjust to have a law in place that grants legal protections to a group of people on the basis of their religion while simultaneously excluding sexual orientation as a protected category.

March 21, 2012
Do We Need Police In Anchorage's Schools?

Time to say goodbye to the SRO program? I say yes.

Time to say goodbye to the SRO program? I say yes.

March 5, 2012
Three Reasons Why I’m Voting for Romney

After listening to the four Republican candidates who are running in the Alaska Republican Party’s Presidential Preference Poll, each of whom would be a better President than Barack Obama, I’ve boiled down the reasons I’ll vote for Mitt Romney to three important points:

February 27, 2012
The Case For Amending Alaska’s Constitution

Like the rest of the nation, Alaskans have been discussing and debating the merits of school choice for decades. Many parents say they would like having the option of choosing non-government schools for their kids; teachers’ unions say they hate the idea.

Like the rest of the nation, Alaskans have been discussing and debating the merits of school choice for decades. Many parents say they would like having the option of choosing non-government schools for their kids; teachers’ unions say they hate the idea.

February 20, 2012
The Anchorage School District-Obama Stimulus Shell Game

When the ASD first received federal stimulus dollars from Obama's American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009, we were told this wind-fall spending would produce better results for our kids and that budget growth from this one-time injection would not impact future budgets. That's not exactly how it's panned-out for the kids or the taxpayers. 

When the ASD first received federal stimulus dollars from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009, we were told that this wind-fall spending would produce better results for our kids. We were also assured by the district that budget growth from this one-time injection would not impact future budgets. That's not exactly how it's panned-out for the kids or the taxpayers.

February 13, 2012
Free Money - Perhaps an Energy Solution

Time to consider something other than simply dumping excess money into the Permanent Fund  or redistributing it to state retirees.  Use it as a vehicle to help a commercial solution to long term energy needs statewide.

One of the questions falling out of this legislative session is what to do with billions of dollars of excess taxation paid by the North Slope producers. Any normal person would note that perhaps taxes are way too high and it is time to lower them so that we can increase production of oil and other products to fill the Trans Alaskan Pipeline System (TAPS).

February 10, 2012
BREAKING NEWS: Union Fraud Exposed...With a Twist

Remember a year ago when a strange story hit the news about a state labor lawyer and a union organizer getting arrested for stealing $1000 worth of shoes from an Anchorage Fred Meyer store?

 

Well, now the dynamic duo of crime has been charged by the state with felony fraud in aiding public employee unions. 

Remember a year ago when a strange story hit the news about a state labor lawyer and a union organizer getting arrested for stealing $1000 worth of shoes from an Anchorage Fred Meyer store?

Jokes could be heard far and wide. The jokes wrote themselves. We know because we made some of them.

Now here is one more: The other shoe has dropped.

February 8, 2012
Teacher Unions Rally To Take Over Mayor's Education Forums

The Alaska Public Employees Association is lobbing the following bombs: "There is a concerted effort underway in our state to destroy public education while enriching the bottom lines of for-profit interests." What are they talking about? Slashed federal funding? Burning text books? Schools closing their doors?

January 24, 2012
Alaska Film Subsidies - The Real Story

For years Alaskans wondered why films and shows about Alaska were filmed outside Alaska. The reason was a simple one, it was just cheaper to film elsewhere. Until now…

January 23, 2012
Northrim Bank Oil and Gas Speaker Series: Kevin Book

Please join us for the next presentation in the

Oil and Gas Speaker Series

presented by the Alaska World Affairs Council