Well, I’m surprised. Gov. Sean Parnell announced Friday that he will run for governor again.

“Fantastic! I get to vote for Sean Parnell as governor again!” said no one within earshot of me ever. The anticipation of his announcement, and the speculation around it, was fierce. Would he give Mark Begich a run for his money for the U.S. Senate? Would he figure his work was done, having succeeded in passing a bill to give billions to oil companies for no guarantees, and just start picking out wallpaper for a K Street office?

He’s dug in like a tick.

I realize that hoping he would pull a Palin and quit was just wishful thinking.

There’s not as much drama with Sean as we had with Sarah, but there’s a downside to that. Parnell seems awkward in public, a strained smile and that math teacher laugh — which is probably why we don’t see him as often.

Sean Parnell, constitutionally speaking, is the worst governor Alaska has ever had. Ignoring the principles of the Owner State, he has taken us from surplus to deficit spending and we didn’t even have to invade Iraq to do it.

Parnell said, “I think we’ve got a lot more work to do.” I’m pretty sure he didn’t mean fixing all the backward legislation he shoved through a gerrymandered Legislature. Pebble mine hasn’t been permitted yet, but he’s already bending over backward to sacrifice our renewable salmon resource on the altar of foreign mining interests.

The Chuit River hasn’t been REMOVED yet for coal extraction, so that will be on his to-do list. Putting the state into debt to make energy available for said mining projects is yet to be accomplished — though we’re getting close. While the governor’s idea for the puny little gas line to Cook Inlet passed the Legislature this year — in a clever move akin to shipping sand to the beach — someone might yet see what a waste of money that is and make a fuss, so he needs to baby-sit that.

The for-profit school voucher vultures are still circling for their piece of the pie. And someone needs to guard the borders to keep health care out.

Parnell went further: “I think Alaskans trust this administration.” News flash, buddy, government doesn’t run on trust. It runs on accountability. But good luck with that, citizens. The Parnell administration is so secretive and so dismissive of open government rules, we’re all turning into mushrooms.

“I think they know what they can expect, that we will continue to look out for them, and I want to do that.”

Who wrote that line for the governor? We’re so confident the governor is looking out for us that hundreds of volunteers are collecting thousands of signatures to repeal SB 21, the governor’s grand legacy, the bill to give away the farm without so much as the promise of an egg. If that endeavor succeeds, the governor will be running in a primary on a ballot that includes dumping his signature “achievement.”

The Republican Party is ripping itself apart in a power struggle between the corporate overlords and the don’t-tread-on-me crowd. Sean Parnell may have to actually debate someone who doesn’t agree with his vision of Alaska as an oil colony. Bill Walker isn’t going to bring a library book about knife fighting to a gunfight.

But here’s the truth of it: Reelecting Sean Parnell will be a disaster for regular Alaskans. There’s too much at stake for us to zone out and let this one pass by. Let’s get ready for fishing season now, but in August, let’s send him packing.

There’s a man who hates his job. Oh, there are lots of them but this guy can’t quit and his boss knows it. His son has asthma and has been in and out of the hospital since he was born.

The job he hates includes health insurance for him and his family. He can’t be sure that health insurance at a different job would cover them. If he interviewed for a new job, and asked too many questions about health coverage, he might scare them off — fearful that he would drive their premiums even higher.

The man can’t say no when he’s told to stay late by the boss because the boss knows he’s trapped.

Across town, there’s a woman not sleeping, drinking the last of a bottle of wine. Her husband is out all night — again. It happens all the time. She’s talked to her friends, her pastor, family and even a counselor. The husband doesn’t give excuses, he doesn’t have to. Is she going to leave him? Where would she go? She doesn’t have health insurance without his job, and since she had a mastectomy a few years ago she too is trapped.

Maybe it’s time, when we talk about protecting family values, that we talk about health care. Health care, or the lack of it, goes right to the heart of families and their day-to-day struggles. How do average working men and women protect their spouses and children from the constantly shrinking coverage and continually rising costs? Too often the answer is sacrificing dreams and relationships.

More than 60 percent of U.S. bankruptcies are the result of catastrophic medical bills. In 75 percent of those cases, the people had at least some health insurance.

After last week’s column, I got an email from a reader. Apparently Alaska needs a pipeline for all my solution-less bitching and moaning. The email asked what idea I had to improve the economy in our great state.

I do complain bitterly about our lawmakers. I’m not ashamed of bellyaching about the billions of dollars of public wealth we’ve handed to some of the richest corporations in the world — in exchange for exactly nothing.

But fair enough. I’ll take the challenge. What I would do differently?

Think how much more competitive Alaska would be if, instead of throwing money at oil companies, we offered preventive and catastrophic health care to every Alaskan.

The biggest stranglehold on people and businesses is the ever-rising cost of health care. These costs have been growing three times the speed of wages, and that’s if you still have a job. Caring for the sick and saving lives is a for-profit industry (and that includes then “nonprofit” hospitals). But we don’t call that immoral?

Many military folks have health insurance, as do many through the Indian Health Service or federal employment. But what if everyone could get similar coverage? Every worker, every child. Can you imagine how businesses would breathe a sigh of relief? Their workers insured, they could give them a raise! Talk about a stimulus plan!

When corporations shop for places to build businesses, the “Big Wild Life,” with health care for all, would be a draw. Maybe we could get Xtratuff to manufacture in Alaska (we’ve got the testing lab right out our front door, and Lord knows we couldn’t do worse than China is now).

How different would our lives be, as employers or employees, if we Alaskans decided this is what we want from our Owner State earnings. (We’ve already committed to pay for the health insurance of every employee of ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and BP, so it’s not like we’re opposed to the idea on principle.)

Maybe you don’t like my idea. Maybe it needs a big study — I’m all for that. Goodness knows we’ve wasted more money on the boomers’ dream of a KABATA bridge.

Billions for oil companies. Guaranteed health care for Alaskans. Maybe you have a better idea. Awesome. I knew you would.

Let’s hear it.

Media saturation and outrage fatigue. That’s the kind of week it’s been.

There were so many stories — from all over the country and world in such terrible detail. There seemed nothing to do but watch as horror after horror unfolded. When was the last time I heard “Breaking: Good News?”

As summer draws near, we watched the U.S. Senate — including both of our senators — fail the victims of past and future gun massacres. On Patriot’s Day blood spilled on the streets of Boston, limbs lost, lives lost. We saw a deadly explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, the victims literally vaporized under a mushroom cloud.

An Elvis impersonator is accused of sending poison to the president and a congressman — and it didn’t even make the front page.

We learned that pressure cookers aren’t just for canning salmon. The manhunt for heartless terrorists unfolded relentlessly, bit by bit, in our living rooms. It’s no wonder so many of the ads during the 24-hour cable news broadcasts are for anti-depressants, anti-depressant boosters, sleep aids and blood pressure medications. Maybe a news week like this can actually make you sick. I like to believe our brains are wired to feel empathy for our fellow humans in peril and pain and to help if we can. I dare say it’s our better nature.

So let’s remember the volunteer firefighters in Texas, well aware of the danger posed by a burning fertilizer plant, who stayed to help evacuate a home for the elderly.

Is that the opposite of terrorism? Selfless humanity? We see a lot less of that in the news. I wouldn’t mind a few more minutes of real heroes on TV rather than seemingly endless hours of speculation by people who went to high school with fanatical zealots whose grandest ambition was to kill children with bombs.

Growing up in Homer, I felt like there were a lot of horrible things that happened. I remember what houses burned down, whose parents got divorced, car wrecks, boats sinkings and grievous illnesses. Many of these surfaced as prayer requests during church services.

Pop Moore had a saying about most of these situations. “It’s not a problem — it’s just a situation that we have to find a solution for.”

When a house burned down, we went through our toys, books and clothes and packed a few boxes. Mom and Pop did the same.

We made casseroles and delivered them to grieving families. We showed up at funerals.

We went to spaghetti feeds and pie auctions for people who needed money for medical treatments. Once Pop bought a pie for $100 and donated it back — it sold again and he and the other bidder split the pie.

In those days, it seemed that bad news had a process — there were things to be done on a scale that people could handle. There seemed to be a balance.

I’m not sure we humans are built to consume the abundance of grief and pain, tears and fears brought to us from near and far by a vast media machine. But what can we do about it?

Without the ability to respond with individual action we become simple rubber-neckers at the misfortunes of others. It shouldn’t be enough just to be relieved that whatever is happening isn’t happening in our town.

I’m not proposing we unplug the giant media machine. I would never urge people to bury their heads and assume it’s all being taken care of. Often, we have only two meaningful ways to react: We can give money, or we can take our responsibilities as citizens a little more seriously — by voting and holding our leaders accountable — so may we prevent a tragedy. We can’t undo a killing explosion in Texas but we can push the people we elect to make sure we have smart zoning laws and money for safety inspections. That requires a focus and discipline that’s not as easy or as satisfying as baking a pie.

Maybe it’s a simple as trying to balance the bad we know is out there with the good we can do right now. Like picking up the trash that someone else tossed, volunteering at the soup kitchen or sorting extra clothes into boxes for the needy. Maybe many small acts of GOOD, efforts that don’t really take much effort, are better for us than anti-depressants, sleep aids and blood pressure meds.

The night of the Boston bombing, New York City lit a message for Boston. It was a quote from Martin Luther King Jr.: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.”

Dr. King went on to say, “Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

April 6th, 2013

Last week Exxon went to Juneau. Not just to lobby, but to appear for questioning at a hearing. The company has long kept a low profile in Alaska. Why? Maybe because its front men would rather not run into any of those Alaskans who waited 20 years for their 10 cents on the dollar.

And what would legislators want to ask the company that sat on its Point Thompson leases for three decades — until the state finally tried to take them back? Maybe some tough questions about how to incentivize oil production, and what specific projects would come on line if oil taxes are cut?

I wish.

Soldotna, here’s your Republican Rep. Kurt Olson, standing up for Alaska:

“Your company has been tied to the history of Alaska probably for an event that had more to do with the name of a vessel than something that you may have been directly responsible for.”

Read that again. This is probably the first time you’ve heard someone suggest Exxon got a bad rap for spilling millions of gallons of oil into Prince William Spill. (The closest may have been John Shively, of Pebble mine, who expressed his gratitude to tipsy Capt. Joe Hazelwood for saving the Alaska economy.) 

Does Rep. Olson have any idea how many victims of the Exxon Valdez disaster committed suicide? They were left with nothing but wait and frustration. It was too much for some, and way too much for others.

Olson’s backside smooching seemed to take Exxon’s man, Dan Seckers, off guard.

“Wow,” he said. There was some laughter.

The exchange reminded me of what then-Exxon man Don Cornett told the folks at Cordova High School after the spill, “You won’t have a problem. I don’t care if you believe that, that’s the truth. You have had some good luck and you don’t realize it. You have Exxon and we do business straight. We will consider whatever it takes to keep you whole. Now, that’s — you have my word on that. Don Cornett. I told you that.”

Rep. Olson, could you please, please save the pathetic pandering for your next fund-raiser, preferably in some very private place — like a suite at the Baranof? (Tell the desk clerk you want the FBI special.)

Late Night Gavel to Gavel was keeping me up. I watched SB21, the governor’s terrible oil tax giveaway bill, made even worse. Then a turn for the better: Homer Rep. Paul Seaton introduced an amendment to reclaim the lost billions in revenue if, in five years, the oil companies haven’t come through with more than a wink and a nod for Alaskans.

Reps. Mike Hawker and Eric Feige, both married to women who work for oil companies (ConocoPhillips and Linc Energy), argued against the amendment. Why? Are they not confident the governor’s bill will put more oil in the pipeline? I thought that was the whole point of this exercise. The governor and majorities in both houses have been relentlessly touting more oil – so will there be more oil or not?

Despite Sen. Kevin Meyer’s assertion that “we’re honest, honorable people,” and he sleeps “pretty well at night,” this giveaway couldn’t happen without the legislators who regularly cash oil company checks. Too bad we don’t have a nice steep tax on legislative conflicts of interests. We sure wouldn’t have a revenue problem.

Bills to enrich oil and mining interests at the expense of educating Alaskans are being shoved through right and left. The Republican majorities and governor are determined to limit voting rights, get between women and their doctors, turn some public schools into madrassas and starve the rest, and fund big-ticket boondoggles that just happen to enrich their contributors. They’ve already taken away the right of Alaskans to have a say when industrial development threatens their homes and ways of life.

They have the gall to say anyone who opposes them must be an “Outsider.” You know who is from Outside? Pebble, Exxon, ConocoPhillips and BP. Two of those are from well outside America.

When they aren’t selling the cow for a handful of magic beans, they’re fighting.

House Speaker Mike Chenault had a press conference because, after listening to too many “pass the gas” jokes on the House floor, Rep. Scott Kawasaki stuck out his tongue at a TV camera.

Really.

The “Honor of the Floor” was defiled by face-making? Oh, it’s defiled all right. Defiled by legislation selling us out.

There’s a week left in the session. There are more lobbyists in Juneau than mosquitoes at Wonder Lake in late July — and they’re just as certain to suck the blood out of Alaskans.

***

This week, a group of Alaskans rallied against abortion in Juneau. Some anti-choice folks rolled out huge billboard signs of chopped up babies — gruesome images intended to disturb those coming in and out of the Capitol. The signs could be seen from some legislative offices and the Governor’s Office.

At some point, several large State of Alaska vehicles drove up and parked in front of the signs – blocking them from the view of legislators and Capitol visitors.

One driver was asked what he was doing. Following orders, he said. Whose orders?

Gov. Sean Parnell issued a statement saying they were Department of Administration vehicles, but he didn’t know who ordered them to block the protest.

Well, I want to know who did. We’re talking about government interference with the First Amendment rights of Alaskans.

You can’t be more pro-choice than I am. I’m outraged by the photos, but I’m much more outraged by the attempt to thwart the protest — especially with state resources. It’s un-American and un-Alaskan.

This should be investigated and the results made public. The bedrock right to protest must be protected, for everyone.

Paraphrased, they just aren’t that into us unless we make ourselves more attractive. His testimony makes us sound like we need to get a relationship counselor and gym membership to be able to woo the company that once abused us to just come back.

Shannyn Moore can be heard weekdays from 10pm to 12am est. on KOAN 1020 AM and 95.5 FM radio. You can stream the show at 1020koan.com. Every Sunday her column can be found in Anchorage Daily News, she also writes for The Huffington Post and TheMudflats.net.

Support the Shannyn Moore Show – donate at ShannynMoore.com
Shannyn Moore is a contributor to the book Going Rouge.

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Congressman Young is again under investigation by the House Ethics Committee. The fresh charges are that he failed to report gifts, misused campaign contributions and lied to investigators.

The National Republican Party has recently acknowledged their lack of outreach to the Hispanic population, and have vowed to repair and reach out. Something tells me this wasn’t party of their new program.

The colorful Congressman, in 1994, wavee an Oosik (Penis bone of a walrus) around at a US Fish and Wildlife Service hearing. When speaking to students in Fairbanks, Young was answering questions about cutting federal funding for the arts. “He said had underwritten, “photographs of people doing offensive things,” and “things that are absolutely ridiculous.” Asked for specifics, Young answered, “Buttf**king.”

Congressman Young has represented Alaska since 1973.

Mr. Dean’s latest column on Senator Ted Cruz; The Teaparty’s New Intellectual at work can be found here.

Here is a portion of my interview with him. The rest can be found here at podbean 3-25-13 First Hour.

Follow Mr. Dean on twitter. @JohnWDean He’s a hoot!

Hour One
http://shannynmoore.podbean.com/2013/03/27/shannyn-moore-3-27-13/
Hour Two
http://shannynmoore.podbean.com/2013/03/27/shannyn-moore-3-27-13-hour2/

Wedding Banjo music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWO1lksf_k8
Bill Walker on Moore Up North
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-OQyS2-p6w
First Cousins Get married
http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/human-services/state-laws-regarding-marriages-between-first-cousi.aspx
AIDS Quarantine Bill in Kansas
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/27/activist-kansas-hiv-quarantine-bill-lets-religious-officials-justify-discrimination/
1964 Good Friday Alaska Earthquake
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPSL2cZl-o4
Info on Soil Liquefication
http://quake.abag.ca.gov/liquefaction/
Justice Department is investigating Shell’s Arctic drilling
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/03/27/187123/justice-department-is-investigating.html

Sec of the Interior Salazar: “I don’t believe there is going to be a spill”
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/06/27/506965/obama-administrations-plan-for-arctic-offshore-drilling-safety-i-believe-theres-not-going-to-be-an-oil-spill/

Find District 19 voting links
http://recalllindseyholmes.com/resources/
Recall Lindsey Holmes Campaign
http://recalllindseyholmes.com/
Recall Lindsey Holmes Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/RecallHolmes
Recall Lindsey Holmes Twitter
http://twitter.com/RecallLindsey

“Family values.” It’s something we hear a lot around election season from the Republican Party. It’s code for “queers are bad and ladies are baby ovens.”

It has nothing to do with healthy families.

Case in point: This past week, the Republicans in the Alaska House of Representatives, on some sort of “look-how-fiscally-conservative-we-are” display, slashed and burned the state operating budget. The hypocrisy of their campaign stances comes into pure light when you see how they are spending our money.

Pre-kindergarten education was slashed, as was funding for Best Beginnings early education and the Parents as Teachers program. A two-year state of Alaska study found that our pre-K program cut in half the number of children reading far below grade level. And it’s not just pre-K. The Alaska Learning Network, which allows rural pupils to take classes otherwise not available to them — poof!

The stupid was strong in this decision for multiple reasons. As the Washington Post pointed out, pre-K education is a better investment than stocks or bonds. The rate of return is outstanding: “Thirty-six percent of recipients of early childhood ed going to college, compared to 14 percent of non-participants.” They go to prison less (which is spendy), get better jobs, pay more in taxes and have higher incomes to raise their families without assistance programs.

Why would they do that? The only benefit for these slashes will be to the private prison industry.

More than $8 million was diverted from behavioral health. Think of how devastating this is for Alaska families who struggle. Services for substance abuse treatment and detox services. Drunk parents, or those addicted to drugs, cripple not only themselves but their children. Suicide prevention funds were cut, despite the fact that we have an epidemic of suicide. In tandem, services for youth with severe emotional disturbances were cut.

I realize the depressed and hopeless don’t have lobbyists — but they shouldn’t have to. Our citizen Legislature should be lobbying for the “least among us.” For all the Bible waving these clowns do during campaigns, I’m now sure they haven’t read it.

Not only were services cut related to domestic violence and sexual assault, the House Republicans added insult to injury, literally. The budget had included the hiring of two prosecutors to deal specifically with domestic violence and sexual assault. The cost? $450,000. That was cut. Putting predators in prison? Priceless.

Who are they representing with decisions like this? What are their priorities?

I’m so glad you asked!

The governor’s bill to take over dredge-and-fill permits is sailing through. Currently the Army Corps of Engineers holds the reins, and the governor would like fewer eyes on projects like the Pebble mine. You know, they call it “streamlining.” Currently, the federal government employs 49 people and it costs them about $8 million a year. Here’s the curious part of this bill — they don’t know what it will cost the state. Shrug. It’s just money, right?

There’s a bill that limits tribal water rights, and another that makes it harder for Alaskans to challenge a project, all to grease the wheels for industry. Do you get that? I don’t. Clean water and healthy food are family values.

While the House passes another non-binding “we love our guns” bill, Sen. Kevin Meyer takes testimony from his boss, the vice president of ConocoPhillips. Oh, I’m not being snippy — he really is his boss the other months of the year. Sen. Peter Micciche, with the same boss, still doesn’t understand why voting on a bonus for his employer is a conflict of interest.

So we’re too tight on money to hire two prosecutors to lock up rapists but we don’t really need to know much about how much new oil tax legislation will cost? Heck, we don’t even have to know what we get for a billion-plus back to oil companies. Scott Jepsen, VP for Conoco, testified, “We can’t tell you today what projects might happen or might not.” Oh, and a billion or a billion and a half isn’t enough.

I know what we’d get for $450,000 worth of prosecutors. More rapists locked up. What do we get for spending money on alcohol and substance abuse? Healthier families and fewer incidents of domestic violence.

Sorry, Alaska, that money going back to the oil companies has to come from somewhere. Gov. Parnell and the give-away gang will gift oil companies, every year, more money than we spend on Health and Human Services annually. It will cost almost three times what we spend on transportation every year. It is more than we spend on education each year.

Here’s the dirty truth. The governor and the Republicans in the hallowed halls of Juneau don’t have family values. They have corporate values.

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT NO VICTORY FOR ALASKA’S TRIBES

Statement From Native American Rights Fund, Alaska Office

While tribes across the country are celebrating the passage of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) today, many of Alaska’s tribes are angry that they have been excluded from the benefits of the Act. Section 910, called the “Special Rule for the State of Alaska” specifically states that sections 904 and 905, the domestic violence jurisdiction and civil protection order provisions respectively, shall not apply in Alaska. Since Alaska is home to 229 tribes in the United States, these new tribal provisions now exclude over 40% of all the tribes in the United States.

Almost 100 tribes in Alaska had opposed this exclusion. The Association of Village Council Presidents (AVCP), representing 56 tribes, and the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island (ACSPI) had both issued very clear and direct press releases opposing the Alaska exclusion. The Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC), representing 37 tribes, also opposed the Alaska exclusion. Taken together, this represents one sixth of the tribes in the United States that demanded the Alaska exclusion be removed. Senator Lisa Murkowski, who authored the Alaska exclusion apparently at the urging of the Alaska Attorney General’s office, rebuffed all requests to remove the exclusion.

“We are tired of the separate but equal treatment that Alaska tribes receive from courts and Congress,” said NARF Staff Attorney Natalie Landreth. “They are tribes just like tribes in the Lower 48 and they are entitled to be treated like all other tribes. These exclusions, which have found their way into numerous bills over the years, say to Alaska’s tribes that they are different and lesser than other tribes. In the case of VAWA, it means that Alaska Native women are less deserving of protection, less important. I find that unconscionable.” The statistics from the AVCP region alone are staggering:

• Statistically, at least 51 out of every 100 Native women are the victims of sexual
• It can be cost-prohibitive for a victim of domestic violence to leave the community airfare can cost up to $800 round trip, depending upon the village.
•  It can take law enforcement up to 24 hours to respond to emergency calls, depending upon weather.
•  The closest state court is in Bethel, accessible only by air, boat or snow machine.

“I am also not persuaded by the response that this has something to do with the Venetiecase and land
status,” continued Landreth. “It doesn’t. Jurisdiction depends upon several factors like the people
and interest involved. Land status is not determinative, especially for civil jurisdiction.”

Originally published March 2nd, 2013

I will admit to outrage fatigue. The “Shock and Fraud” campaign in Juneau is working. Legislators, drunk on one-party power, are trying to jam so much crazy through — well, it’s mind-boggling. We’ve just passed the halfway point of the session — think of it as solstice; Alaska’s future only gets darker from here.

We had it too good for too long and didn’t even realize it. The petty, preposterous, personal-issue bills were ignored for years. But now that we’ve solved our energy issues, jobs are plentiful and every education challenge is behind us, the Legislature has entire weeks to “solve” problems we don’t have, with time left over to rain gifts on special interests with deep pockets.

Sean Parnell is what you’d get if Frank Murkowski and Sarah Palin had a baby governor: A pro-oil evangelical busily concealing his own lack of substance by demonizing the federal government.

For example, this week Parnell stated his support for HB69, the nutty “nullification” bill. He also rejected federal dollars that would have insured 32,000 Alaskans. He sided with Alabama rather protect the voting rights of Alaska Natives. He continued to dodge a real debate about his big oil bailout. And he’s preparing to punish state employees with skids on their paychecks.

It’s absurd.

Here’s the oath that “all public officers, before entering upon the duties of their offices, shall take and subscribe to … I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Alaska, and that I will faithfully discharge my duties … to the best of my ability.”

This is the pledge lawmakers take. Did they cross their fingers? Did they not swear on a Bible? Any lightning bolts seen over the Capitol?

Where is: “I do solemnly swear to give billions in tax cuts with no strings attached to the richest oil companies in the history of the world.”

I can’t find the promise to “defend the people of Alaska from affordable access to health insurance.” Did they confuse “faithfully discharge my duties” for “happily discharge a billion gallons of cruise ship sewage into coastal waters?”

In his quest to force victims of rape and incest to have babies, Sen. John Coghill of North Pole apparently couldn’t find an Alaska doctor to help him stack the testimony on his bill. He trotted in Outside hacktivists to justify the elimination of “medically necessary” abortions for poor women, regardless of the diagnoses of their doctors. The Alaska front in the War on Women has never been more fierce, so prepare yourself, ladies, for more “barefoot-in-burkas” legislation.

We can’t afford to fund pre-K programs, and we have to cut post-K programs but the coal industry can get a cool $326 million for a railroad spur line.

Let’s change our Constitution so we can fund religious education but don’t ask what it’s going to cost us. I guess if we’re paying for praying, we should have faith it’ll all work out. No fiscal facts for us.

The Lady Republicans in the House accessorized themselves to vote for the unconstitutional gun bill. Camo scarves — that’s so clever! “We went shopping!” OMG!

Apparently Sen. Mike Dunleavy’s constituents came to him and begged for a bill allowing insurance companies to set all our rates based on our credit scores. Really? So if we’ve never had a loan or a credit card, we get to pay more? Genius. Who writes this stuff? Oh, right: insurance company lawyers.

An advertisement starring former lawmaker Glenn Hackney, paid for by mysterious oil industry donors, has been airing. It compares Gov. Jay Hammond’s leadership in creating the Alaska Permanent Fund to Parnell’s effort to save big oil companies billions in exchange for … exactly nothing.

They think we’re idiots. And if we let this continue, maybe we are.

Published February 25th, 2013

The federal Voting Rights Act goes on trial this week.

It was enacted in 1965, because some people were working really hard so some other people couldn’t vote (that’s a nice way to say they were “racists”).

The federal government finally agreed to make sure that everyone with a constitutional right to vote would be allowed to vote, despite the bigots running state and local governments.

In 1975, Alaska’s congressional delegation ensured that we were added to the list of states protected — because Alaska Native voters who didn’t speak or read English were being disenfranchised. Again, in 2006 under Republican rule, the Voting Rights Act was re-authorized by Congress to cover Alaska. Twenty languages spoken by First Alaskans were excluded from the ballot or voting information.

Now Shelby County, Ala., is suing to get out from under federal oversight of voting rights. It beat Alaska to the punch. There’s also an Alaska vs. Holder suit pending, filed in August.

Our state’s case, which has been stayed, will rise or fall with the decision of the Supreme Court in Shelby vs. Holder.

In a “friend of the court” brief filed by the state of Alaska, our department of law bitched and moaned, “Alaska has repeatedly suffered “extraordinary federalism costs. These provisions nearly derailed Alaska’s 2012 elections, when the State was sued to stop election preparations under an interim redistricting plan ordered by the Alaska Supreme Court and submitted to the DOJ for preclearance. Although DOJ’s eventual preclearance mooted the lawsuit, the damage to the state’s sovereignty was done.”

See, the Republicans who filed this brief are angry because their gerrymandered redistricting map was challenged in court. The map used in the 2012 election has been thrown out as unconstitutional under STATE law, but the Parnell administration doesn’t want the Department of Justice to be able to ensure Native Alaskans are represented.

The state says there are no problems with Alaska Natives being allowed to vote, then they go one to say the standards are “hopelessly difficult for states to meet.”

Which is it? That you’ve met them or they’re impossible to meet? Pick one.

Was the burden financial? We have lawyers on salary. We have $15 billion in savings and $45 billion in the permanent fund. Do you really think we can’t afford to protect VOTING RIGHTS?

Another amicus brief has been filed with the high court. This one from the Alaska Federation of Natives. The AFN represents 178 villages, 13 Native corporations, and 12 non-profit regional consortia. They say they “represent registered voters in Alaska who are impacted by the State’s failure to comply with the VRA (Voting Rights Act).”

The AFN lays out, in its 101-page brief, the many years of difficulties Native Alaskans have faced to have their voices heard.

Well, I’m not sure how the court will read it, but their brief screamed “SMACKDOWN” to me.

Why did the AFN file its brief? “To respond to Alaska’s amicus brief that falsely claims it has no history of voting discrimination …”

In correcting the record presented by the state — trying to save their Republican gerrymandered voting map — the AFN states, “The unvarnished truth is that Alaska is a textbook case for why the coverage formula remains valid and section 5 remains a necessary response to widespread educational and voting discrimination against Alaska Native citizens.”

Gov. Sarah Palin was ordered by a panel of three federal judges to provide trained workers at the polls who could assist voters in English and Yup’ik. That was in 2008, and the judges cited “years of State neglect.” The state was ordered to consult “with local Tribes to ensure the accuracy of Yup’ik translations; a Yup’ik language coordinator; and pre-election and post-election reports to the court to track the State’s efforts.”

So now Gov. Sean Parnell, Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell and our state attorney general, Michael Geraghty, have thrown the voting rights of First Alaskans under the bus to protect their precious redistricting map.

I asked Sen. Mark Begich about the Shelby vs. Holder case. “I’m watching this very closely, and am hopeful the courts will see reason to continue to protect the voting rights of First Alaskans.”

Where is Sen. Lisa Murkowski? Mute. Her election was hugely helped by Native corporations. She was the only candidate to speak at the AFN conference in 2010. Is she more loyal to the state party’s map than to the First Alaskans whose help was key to her re-election?

As AFN pleads to the high court, “Alaska’s rhetoric to the contrary is refuted by the reality of its sad legacy of excluding Native voters.”

Meanwhile, Republican Reps. Wes Keller and Bob Lynn have introduced cookie-cutter Voter ID legislation from the American Legislative Exchange Council. Eleven percent of Americans don’t have photo ID. The percentage is far higher among Alaska Natives. There have been exactly zero people prosecuted for “voter fraud” in Alaska. More people have the wrong limb amputated in the hospital than have tried to use someone else’s identification to vote. Why don’t they make it a felony to run out of ballots during an election? That’s actually a problem.

News flash to the clowns running this state: Alaska Natives are Americans — their vote should be protected. You’re supposed to represent all Alaskans. Stop lying to the Supreme Court.

I want to be a Republican and I want a time machine. Oh, I’m not going all Lindsey Holmes on you; I need a time machine to find the Grand Old Party.

I have to thank Mayor Dan Sullivan for starting me on this quest.

A few weeks ago, at five minutes until closing time, the mayor announced a plan to roll back more than four decades of labor policy in Anchorage. It wasn’t the first shot in his war on working men and women in our town — but this was the nuclear option.

I take it as a good sign that I can still be surprised at the calculation and manipulation of our elected officials. Sullivan’s “We Hate Unions” proposal was dropped at the last minute that someone could file to run for the Assembly. That protected a certain Assemblyman and co-sponsor of his anti-union jihad from having an opponent.

Surely just a happy coincidence.

Ouch, I just rolled my eyes too hard. Could someone please run a write-in campaign against Mr. Ernie Hall?

What does it say about the character of Mr. Hall and his co-sponsor, Jennifer Johnston, that they would collaborate in a secret backroom deal to stick it to city employees? When 1,500 people showed up at the Assembly meeting four days later, the two seemed unconcerned.

We are forever reminded that democracy is no spectator sport — it demands participation. The purpose of unions is to add just a touch of democracy to the workplace. Elected leadership, negotiations, give and take, collective bargaining — all in trade for hours of your life providing a service. What the mayor, Mr. Hall and Ms. Johnston are doing is a slap at that democracy.

Here’s the bottom line for Anchorage: Quality matters. Public safety is more than being able to call 911 and talk to someone local. Safety includes road conditions, heat in our homes, sanitation workers, clean water, sewage treatment, the list goes on. Public employees are responsible for those things 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

The mayor’s proposal calls for no raises for those workers. Depending on health costs, employee paychecks can go down over time but not up. Who in their right mind would want a job that, no matter how well you do it, you never get a raise? Show me a company that advertises employment opportunities with the slogan “Your starting wage will last forever.” What quality of worker will that attract? Anchorage is a great place to live — if you’re happy working harder for less. We can all look forward to chronic turnover and grudging service, while saving pocket change in taxes each year.

The mayor and his pet Assembly members have a history of cheap-shotting public employees while dealing fat, sole-source contracts and party planning jobs to their cronies. In 2010, Mayor Sullivan awarded 3 percent raises to 162 city executives at the same time he asked unions to take less in their paychecks.

Anyway, all that prompted my search. I wanted to see how far back I had to go to find a Republican Party with respect for public employees — you know, the men and women who plow the streets or run into our burning homes (even if they don’t know us personally). I knew there must have been a time when most Republicans didn’t share the mayor’s “born on third base and thinks he hit a triple” selfishness.

Abraham Lincoln, for example, said, “I am glad to know there is a system of labor, where the laborer can strike if he wants to. I would to God that such a system prevailed all over the world.”

President Dwight Eisenhower said, “Labor is the United States. The men and women, who with their minds, their hearts and hands, create the wealth that is shared in this country — they are America.”

And he wasn’t the last Republican president who acknowledged the value of unions. “Where free unions and collective bargaining are forbidden, freedom is lost,” said Ronald Reagan.

Socialists! Marxists! Or, as we used to know them, Republicans! Back before the Republican Party turned into a new John Birch Society.

Reading the 1956 Republican Party platform, I found myself nodding and saying, “Yes!” over and over.

It’s an American tragedy that workers — including unionized public employees — are so routinely demonized for the financial gain of fat cats and the political benefit of the ambitious demagogues who serve them.

The mayor’s maneuvering is just another small step in the long march toward elimination of a middle class in this country.

Oh, for a time machine.

Shannyn Moore can be heard weekdays from 6 to 9 p.m. on KOAN 1020 AM and 95.5 FM radio. Her weekly TV show can be seen Saturdays and Sundays at 3 p.m. statewide on ABC affiliate KYUR Channel 13 Anchorage, KATN Fairbanks and KJUD Juneau.