The new Democrat majority in the Alaska Legislature is quickly reminding voters why Democrats did not hold a majority in that house for the last two decades. If they keep up the foolishness, it will be another two decades before they are in charge again. Here are three examples for your consideration.
Suzanne Downing reported about so-called ethics legislation coming out of young master Jason Grenn, HB 44, that would prohibit anyone with any sort of an oil patch job from voting on anything related to budget, oil, taxes, tax credits, exploration and development. This includes anyone who works for an oil or an oil service company. It is aimed directly at Senators Kevin Meyer and Peter Micciche.
If we follow that logic, a lot of interesting things begin to happen. For instance, should we also prohibit anyone who has taken campaign donations from any union or union PAC from voting on anything related to unions including contracts, taxes and budgets? This would wipe out the entire House majority, including one Jason Grenn. But that we must do it because of ethics.
How about banning commercial fishermen from doing the same? This would wipe out Paul Seaton, Louise Stutts and Gary Stevens. A similar ban on those with any sort of connection to native corporations would prohibit the vast majority of Bush legislators from voting on the budget. There are more examples, but this is a good start.
As much as I want to call Mr. Grenn a sniveling little weasel, I won’t. At best, he has been set up by his majority agreeing to spearhead this outrage. At worst, either he doesn’t know what he is carrying, or he is a true believer. Either way, he is too foolish or too dangerous to remain in office. One thing HB 44 does demonstrate is the absolute and fundamental hostility of the new House majority and the people who put them into office, the unions, democrats and greens, to the oil patch, the only part of the economy paying its way around here. That hostility must be countered.
The second example comes from one Geran Tarr of Anchorage, who introduced the first Alaskan gun control legislation in decades. This one allows law enforcement to take weapons from citizens. Her excuse is that she wants family members to feel empowered to speak up to prevent gun violence. Her legislation is aimed at preventing events that led up to the Ft. Lauderdale shooting. Of course, when someone wanders into the local FBI office and tells them that voices in his head are telling him to fight for ISIS, they ought to do something other than pat him on his little head and send him on his way. If law enforcement does its job, Ft. Lauderdale shootings do not happen.
Final example comes out of Andy Josephson, who wants hearings on manmade global warming due to CO2 emissions with the goal of imposing a carbon tax. As with all things climate related, his announcement was quickly followed by a massive cold snap in Alaska, with interior temperatures colder than -70F. This is called the Gore Effect. Will these hearings solve anything? Will anything that takes place in Juneau do anything to change the weather? Will anyone on either side of the issue be persuaded to change their mind on the subject? The answer to all three questions is a resounding “no.” So why hold the hearings? Other than Democrat self-gratification and virtue signaling, I can’t think of a thing. Apparently neither can Rep. Josephson, who seems to be well out of his element.
It is going to be a long session, and every single day these people are in power is another day they remind us why they were not in power for decades. Sadly, they are not silly at all. They are dangerous and should be treated as such. So should the people and organizations that put them into office – democrats, unions, media and greens.
Alex Gimarc lives in Anchorage since retiring from the military in 1997. His interests include science and technology, environment, energy, economics, military affairs, fishing and disabilities policies. His weekly column “Interesting Items” is a summary of news stories with substantive Alaska-themed topics. He is a small business owner and Information Technology professional.
image credit Aaron Saunders
