Biden gives oil 10 years

A one-sided bipartisan speech if there ever was one

President Joe Biden speed-slurred through his State of the Union speech on Tuesday. His 2024 campaign launch was punctuated by shouts from the spiciest members of the House, who yelled “Liar!” and “It’s your fault!”

It was a raucous event, but at least Speaker Kevin McCarthy didn’t rip up the copy of the address, as his predecessor did when Donald Trump was at the lectern two years ago.

Biden barely mentioned China, and referred to the spy balloon in the vaguest of terms: “But make no mistake: As we made clear last week, if China’s threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country. And we did.”

Biden touched on his support for transgender youth, and asked for passage of the Equality Act, which would federally legalize gender-bending surgery for youth, force insurers to pay for it, and add gender reassignment surgery to items covered by Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act.

Spotted in the audience was Sen. Lisa Murkowski, sitting next to Sen. Joe Manchin of W. Virginia, who reached over and patted her briefly during one poignant moment.

Murkowski stood with House Democrats to give a rousing ovation to Biden when he mentioned putting abortion rights into federal law. Murkowski was wearing her jade green jacket that she frequently dons for State of the Union addresses; we’ve seen her wear this jacket for the occasion as far back as 2011.

Sen. Dan Sullivan took a hard pass on the SOTU, and was in Alaska for his address to the Legislature; he returned to D.C. Tuesday evening.

There was no sign that Rep. Mary Peltola actually attended the president’s speech, but she did send tweets of agreement throughout it, which could not have been done while in the House Chamber.

Biden’s death watch for oil: He gives it 10 years

The president pushed the new electric economy, and said oil companies need to be taxed a lot more and they’ll only be needed for another decade. Biden’s war on Alaska’s economy.

Sullivan speaks of purpose and promise

In themes familiar to Alaskans, U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan on Tuesday spoke at Alaska's Capitol to a joint session of the Alaska House and Senate, calling on Alaskans to help him fight the good fight to keep the promise of Alaska alive, and to lean into the purpose of our state for the greater good of all of America.

ADN beclowns itself

After reading the latest hit piece on the Bronson Administration, which was a rehash of the other hit jobs already done by the Anchorage Daily News, one must ask: Is the ADN better now under the ownership of the Binkley Company, or would Alaska have been better off if the newspaper had just collapsed in bankruptcy in 2017?

The latest Binkley daggers were driven deeper into former Assemblyman and Rep. Larry Baker. And it was pretty dirty, as journalism goes. Reporters piled falsehoods on top of irrelevant facts, and then laced the entire ProPublica-funded hit job with a smear of innuendo, all tied up in a bow of conspiracy theories.

Is it to the point where the “public enemy” is the shoe that fits the ADN, or is the newspaper now just the alternative press that the Anchorage Press used to be, heading for irrelevance?

Preserving Democracy in Kenai

It was standing room only at Paradisos in Kenai for the Preserve Democracy fundraiser with Kelly Tshibaka on Tuesday night. Over 100 people showed up and supported the cause through a silent auction, live auction, and straight-up donations to get an education campaign going about ranked-choice voting dangers. Kelly had a brief presentation on how RCV suppresses turnout. Alaska’s voter turnout in 2022 was a 20% drop, and the lowest recorded turnout in state history.

Tshibaka said people can assume they know why people didn’t vote, but there needs to be a lot more research on how ranked choice voting really works to undermine democracy.

The Preserve Democracy nonprofit is focused on that research and education, and is not part of the petition that is circulating to repeal Ballot Measure 2.

Fallout continues: Bronson HR director resigns

The mayor, responding to media innuendo, was compelled to put out a second press release: “To be clear, former Human Resources Director Niki Tshibaka was not asked or encouraged by any member of the Administration or Municipality to resign. Mr. Tshibaka resigned on his own volition for the reasons stated in his letter. I would like to thank Mr. Tshibaka for his service to the Municipality.” Mainstream media doesn’t care.

One third of senators and representatives took money from corruption-tainted FTX executives

More than one in three of the 535 senators and representatives in the U.S. Congress showed up to the new session with FTX baggage, having received campaign support from one or more of the senior executives of the crypto giant. FTX wants the $$$ back.

Peltola votes against ‘Show Up Act’ for federal workers, is a no-show in committees and floor votes

Rep. Mary Peltola is missing a lot — committees, hearings, floor votes. Where is she? No one knows.

‘Born alive’ bill that Rep. Peltola voted against is introduced in Senate

Senators James Lankford of Oklahoma and John Thune of South Dakota introduced introduced a bill requiring medical facilities and providers to treat infants who survive abortions as legal persons entitled to legal protections, including providing the babies with the same level of care that would be provided to other infants.

Outlaws indicted: Two women accused of stealing thousands

Two notorious women scammers with a long list of run-ins with the law are now in jail for conspiracy, fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering after perpetrating a lengthy scheme to steal identities and defraud elderly victims and Habitat for Humanity.

Gas cards for parents of students in Mat-Su? School board to take it up next week, as bus driver strike continues

Parents were in shock when Mat-Su bus drivers abandoned the children at schools. The school board will consider helping out by giving parents gas cards to offset the unexpected no-bus situation, which may continue for days or weeks.

• Price of Alaska oil: $80.77

• Price of Henry Hub gas: $2.58

• Alaska North Slope Production: 504,094

• Permanent Fund (principal and earnings reserve): $78,596,800,000

COLUMNS

Alexander Dolitsky: Memories of Soviet pilots in Fairbanks and Nome

The first Soviet envoys arrive in Nome in 1942; eventually up to 600 were stationed in Alaska. Part III of a series.

Robert Wall: Write in Wall for Kenai Borough mayor

Although Peter Micciche is a nice gentleman, he is not conservative and can’t be counted on for mayor, says write-in candidate Robert Wall.

Richard Derkevorkian: Vote for Peter Micciche for Kenai Borough mayor

Micciche is pro-business conservative. Don’t split the conservative vote with a write-in, Derkevorkian says. Vote for a known public servant.

Alexander Dolitsky: Roosevelt’s choice with Soviets — to help or not to help?

To help the Western Allies fight the Nazi war machine in Europe, in early 1941 U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced in the Congress a Lend-Lease bill titled “An Act Further to Promote the Defense of the United States.”

The bill was intensely debated throughout the United States, with the most strident opposition coming from isolationists and anti-Roosevelt Republicans.

Downing: Magical thinking environmentalists want green toys, don’t want mining

Pebble is the most misunderstood and unloved mine proposal in America. But the question has to be asked: Does mining have a future in the green-energy America envisioned by environmentalists. An electric future requires mining. Environmentalists just cannot figure it out.

Win Gruening: Education funding is complicated, political

If we keep doing things the way they have always been done, we can’t expect anything to change. 

MUST READ ALASKA SHOW

Tune in to hear Kelly Tshibaka talk about her new nonprofit that will educate the American public about the reality of Ranked Choice Voting.

Tune into the Must Read Alaska Show for an interview with Wall Street Journal's Kimberly Strassel. You can watch it here on Facebook.

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