You post something like that and call Alaska

• Wow - if I couldn't decide before this has really confirmed it for me. - Tired MT
  • Too bad we added that skanky red state - to the US back in ཷ.
    • You post something like that and call Alaska - sam
  • Republican rebuttal - Dem
  • Great post, Tired MT. I am with you! nm - Independent
  • Wow - thanks everyone - Tired MT
    • I agree with your post - except for one thing
      • Good point. I see no problem with both points of view being taught... - sam
        • I totally agree - Zville MT
  • Very nice post - MTQA
  • I forgot to add I like what she says about energy and drilling and not being dependent on other coun - Tired MT
    • oops - my subject line got cut off - Tired MT
  • nice post - Emily Ayn
  • Glad to see someone else... - mt29

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Incumbent republican Senator Stevens.  Convicted of 7 counts.  He hasn't won yet, but the last I heard had about a 2-3 point lead.  Below is a link for the whole story.  Pretty much all news stations are saying the same thing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/06/us/politics/06alaska.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

The really bad thing about this is that they are waiting for counts from early voting and absentee votes, both of which may have been cast before his conviction.  We may yet see another first in history.

The facts below have been corroborated in many studies:

1. Will drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge do anything to solve our current gasoline and heating oil supply problems and reduce prices?

No. Most experts predict that oil production from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge could not begin for 7 - 12 years and the Congressional Research Service estimates it would take at least 15 years. A new study by the US Energy Information Agency (March 2004) entitled Analysis of Oil and Gas Production in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge shows that even if oil were being pumped today, it would only reduce our oil imports from about 70% to about 66%, having no real effect on overall prices or supply.

2. Are estimated oil supplies in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge expected to significantly change our long term energy prospects?

No. It is estimated that the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge contains no more than a six month supply of oil at our current consumption rates.

3. Given the current war against terrorism, shouldn’t we do absolutely everything we can to maximize our oil supply to be self sufficient?

No, it's not possible to be self sufficient given the amount of oil we consume as a nation. We use more oil than we could ever find domestically, even if we were to drill on all public lands, in all of our national parks and monuments, national forests, etc. The United States uses 25% to 30% of all of the oil produced in the world, yet we only have less than 3% of known oil reserves. These numbers are well known. The amount we could recover from the Arctic Refuge is literally a drop in the bucket by comparison. Also, any oil that is produced, regardless of its source, is bought and sold on the world market. That's how major commodities like this work. Even now, oil from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, often is exported to Asia. The only way to really enhance national security is to develop alternatives that reduce oil consuption. Our current usage as well as archaic public policy that encourages more oil development and consumption is actually what puts our nation at risk. And why destroy a unique treasure for something that will make no difference in our reliance on foreign oil?

last night on CNN said she was absolutely vicious to those who opposed her or believed differently and was very vindicative.  Come on Joe, bring this personality trait to light in the debates.

http://bigshow.bigfolio.com/?s=000011662&t=0e6a8ae03101be65098418ccb735e4a1

Definitely worth the watch

Their thought is if he's voted in and goes to prison, they'll be able to hold a special election and put someone else in or something like that.

I thought it was ridiculous.

By STEVE QUINN

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Alaska's investigation into whether Gov. Sarah Palin abused her power, a potentially damaging distraction for John McCain's presidential campaign, ran into intensified resistance Tuesday when the attorney general said state employees would refuse to honor subpoenas in the case.

In a letter to state Sen. Hollis French, the Democrat overseeing the investigation, Republican Attorney General Talis Colberg asked that the subpoenas be withdrawn. He also said the employees would refuse to appear unless either the full state Senate or the entire Legislature votes to compel their testimony.

Colberg, who was appointed by Palin, said the employees are caught between their respect for the Legislature and their loyalty to the governor, who initially agreed to cooperate with the inquiry but has increasingly opposed it since McCain chose her as his running mate.

"This is an untenable position for our clients because the governor has so strongly stated that the subpoenas issued by your committee are of questionable validity," Colberg wrote.

Last week, French's Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed 13 people. They include 10 employees of Palin's administration and three who are not: her husband, Todd Palin; John Bitney, Palin's former legislative liaison who now is chief of staff for Republican House Speaker John Harris; and Murlene Wilkes, a state contractor.

French did not immediately return a telephone call Tuesday for comment.

Earlier in the day, Harris, who two months ago supported the "Troopergate" investigation, openly questioned its impartiality and raised the possibility of delaying the findings.

Like Colberg's letter, the surprise maneuver by Harris reflected deepening resolve by Republicans to spare Palin embarrassment or worse in the final weeks of the presidential campaign.

And it marked a further fraying of a bipartisan consensus, formed by a unanimous panel before Palin became McCain's running mate, that her firing of the state's public safety commissioner justified the ethical investigation.

In a letter, Harris wrote that what "started as a bipartisan and impartial effort is becoming overshadowed by public comments from individuals at both ends of the political spectrum," and he urged lawmakers to meet quickly to decide on a course.

"What I may be in favor of is having the report delayed, but only if it becomes a blatant partisan issue," he told The Associated Press, while indicating he already believes it has become politically tainted.

Democratic state Sen. Kim Elton, chairman of the Legislative Council, the 14-member panel that authorized the probe, had no immediate comment on Harris' request. Under an unusual power-sharing agreement, the council is made up of 10 Republicans and 4 Democrats.

At issue is whether Palin abused her power by pressing the commissioner to remove her former brother-in-law as an Alaska state trooper, then firing the commissioner when he didn't.

The matter risks casting a shadow on Palin's reputation, central to her appeal in the campaign, that she is a clean-government advocate who takes on entrenched interests - not a governor who tried to use her authority behind the scenes to settle a personal score.

Palin has defended her behavior and said she welcomed the investigation. "Hold me accountable," she said. But she and the McCain campaign have taken actions that could slow the probe, possibly past Election Day.

Also Tuesday, five Republican state lawmakers filed a lawsuit against an investigation they called "unlawful, biased, partial and partisan." None serves on the bipartisan Legislative Council that unanimously approved the inquiry. They want it pushed past the election or top Democrats removed from the probe.

Making clear the dispute has ramifications beyond Alaska, Liberty Legal Institute, a Texas-based legal advocacy group, was working on the lawsuit. The institute has taken on a variety of cases in defense of conservative Christian positions.

Elton called the lawsuit "a distraction."

"The silver lining in this action initiated by the five lawmakers is that some of that debate now has been kicked to the judicial branch which, unlike the Legislature and the governor's office, is more insulated from the red-hot passion of presidential politics," he said.

Palin fired public safety commissioner Walt Monegan in July.

Weeks later, it emerged that Palin, her husband, Todd, and several high-level staffers had contacted Monegan about state trooper Mike Wooten, who had gone through a nasty divorce from Palin's sister before Palin became governor. While Monegan says no one from the administration ever told him directly to fire Wooten, he says their repeated contacts made it clear they wanted Wooten gone.

Palin maintains she fired Monegan over budget disagreements, not because he wouldn't dismiss her ex-brother-in-law. She has sought through her lawyer to have the matter investigated in a more favorable forum, the state personnel board.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081021/ap_on_el_pr/palin_family_travel

Gov. Sarah Palin charged the state for her children to travel with her, including to events where they were not invited, and later amended expense reports to specify that they were on official business.

The charges included costs for hotel and commercial flights for three daughters to join Palin to watch their father in a snowmobile race, and a trip to New York, where the governor attended a five-hour conference and stayed with 17-year-old Bristol for five days and four nights in a luxury hotel.

The 21-grand figure does not include the hotel expense, either.  Poor, beleaguered can't cath-a-break Sarah may owe back taxes on her per diem expenses, Troopergate, wardrobe malfunctions and now this.  Is is just me, or is there a pattern of widening gaps between the hockey mom and the privileged, dare I say elite, power-abusing, fibbing governor persona?