Looks like the Obama Administration and the Democrats in Washington are at it again!  When will it stop?  Haven’t they done enough damage to our country already?

Obama and the Democrats in Congress are considering tax hikes on energy to pay for two years of deficit spending and proposed billions more spending that Obama outlined in Ohio on Labor Day.

The fact of the matter is that higher taxes on energy mean lost jobs.  In-fact, according to the American Petroleum Industry raising taxes on energy threatens over 43,000 Alaska jobs, and that will make Alaskans feel the crunch right here at home.

Alaska jobs directly provided by the oil and gas industry:   16, 854

Alaska jobs directly or indirectly connected to the oil and gas industry:  43,454

That’s a $5 Billion (with a B) in economic impact right here in our state where we live.

If Obama and the Democrats, like Mark Begich, in Congress go ahead with their plan to implement higher energy taxes, lost jobs are just around the corner.   America’s oil and natural gas industry supports 9.2 million jobs throughout the economy.  And it is common sense knowledge, to the average American on the street, that keeping those jobs is essential to our nations economic recovery.

Our economy is at a crossroads.  Earlier this month, the government reported the lost of another 131,000 more US jobs in July.  That’s on top of nearly 5 million lost jobs since 2008 when Obama and the Democrats took over, their complete, control of congress.  The US unemployment rate remains high, at 9.5% with very little relief in sight.  And remember that many Americans are not counted in that unemployment rate because they are no longer receiving unemployment benefits and not even looking for work anymore because they can not find jobs.

For our economy to recover, America needs jobs.  We will not get them if Obama and the Democrats in Congress continue their plan for new taxes on energy to pay for dramatic increases in government spending.  Some reports suggest taxes on energy could be as high at $80 – 100 billion.

Taxes cost jobs!  Maybe that’s why a recent survey suggest that more than 64% of Americans oppose new taxes on oil and gas.  The American people get it even if Washington doesn’t.

Call Senator Murkowski and Senator Begich and urge them to oppose new increased taxes on oil and gas. Raising taxes on energy will kill jobs across the nation and right here at home in Alaska.

Then, hopefully, in November, Americans can put a stop to Obama and his Democrats by throwing many of them out of office.

Think About It!!      9-8-10

Well, how did you vote in the U.S Senate race?  Did you vote for Joe Miller or for the incumbent Lisa Murkowski?  Joe Miller is just about to be our new U.S. Senator and one of the major reasons is his endorsement by our former Governor Sarah Palin and the TEA Party movement that has spread across the nation like “a wild fire”.

So…what in the world is the TEA Party??  The Media and Party propagandist would have us believe that up is down, left is right, and that tax means to invest. Party elites have been successful with their propaganda that big-government programs are conservative, but big-government Democrat programs are liberal.  TEA Party people know that both are wrong. TEA Party people are citizens who have learned to focus on the behavior of their elected officials, not the words that come out of their mouths.

Here are the five foundational beliefs that are interconnected:

1)  Constitutional compliance.     2) Smaller Federal government.     3) States’ Rights.     4)Lower Federal spending and taxes, and     5)Individual rights, responsibility, and integrity.

TEA Party people understand “Constitutional Compliance.”  Like Thomas Jefferson they understand that our U.S. Constitution is a restrictive, not a permissive document. The role of the federal government was intentionally limited, because history proves that the more power a central government assumed, the less freedoms their citizens enjoy. This was true during the Roman Empire, monarchies of the middle ages and many of the dictatorships of the twentieth century.

TEA Party people are not anarchists, but merely opposed tp excessive growth in government not authorized by the Constitution and entities such as the Department of Education, Energy, and Health and Human Services because they were not created by the amendment process.

TEA Party people believe the Federal government has over-stepped the States’ Rights guaranteed by the 10^th Amendment and that if a very specific power is not stated in the Constitution then our states or the people retain that power.  For Instance, the federal Dept. of Education consumes billions of our tax dollars but does not educate anyone. Think of the improvements we could make to our classrooms if federal bureaucrats were not skimming the top off of our education budget!

Tea Party people believe that shrinking the U.S. government results in less federal spending;   hence fewer unnecessary taxes would be confiscated from our paychecks.

There was a time in our nation when individual responsibility and integrity did not need to be explained. However, now our society is ruled by a legal system which makes excuses for convicted murderers (had a bad childhood) or groups of individuals (to include those here illegally).  This “victimology” mentality allows the federal government to act as a monarch dictating to her serfs. TEA Party people believe that integrity is inseparable from individual responsibility.

TEA Party people do not believe in a classed-based society where elected officials are allowed to lie, cheat, or steal, but common citizens are prosecuted for similar conduct. TEA Party people believe in the rule of law and fairness to all American citizens.

Only time will tell if Joe Miller will be able to bring this kind of TEA Party thinking to the U.S. Senate or whether, in Alaska, all will continue as it has been for the past 24 years.

Think About It!         JCD   9-01-10

Download audio file (think-about-it-8-25-10.MP3)

So….Has America become the land of the special interest and home of the double standard?

Let’s see….. if we lie to the Congress, it’s a felony and if the Congress lies to us it “just politics”;  if a white person dislikes a black person ,they are a racist and if a black dislikes whites, it’s their first amendment right;  our government spends millions to rehabilitate criminals and they do almost nothing for the victims;   in our public schools you can teach that homosexuality is OK, but you better not use the word God in the process;  you can kill a living unborn child, but its wrong to execute a mass murderer.

We don’t burn books in America, we now just rewrite them;   We got rid of the communist and socialist threat by naming them progressives;   we are unable to close our border with Mexico but have no problem protecting the 38^th parallel in Korea with our young men;  if you protest against President Obama’s policies his staff calls you a terrorist, but if you burned an American flag or George Bush in effigy it was your 1^st Amendment right.

You can have pornography on TV or the Internet, but you better not put a nativity scene in a public park during Christmas;   we have eliminated all criminals in America, they are now called sick people;   we can use a human fetus for medical research, but it’s wrong to use an animal.

We take money from those who work hard for it and give it to those refuse to work;   we all support the Constitution, but only when it supports our political ideology;   we still have freedom of speech, but only if we are being political correct;   parenting has been replaced with Ritalin and video games;   the land of opportunity is now the land of hand outs;   the similarity between Hurricane Katrina and gulf oil spill is that neither president did anything worthwhile to help.

And how do we handle a major crisis today?  The government appoints a committee to determine who’s at fault, then threatens them, passes a law, raises our taxes and then tells us the problem is solved so they can get back to their reelection campaign.

What has happened to the land of the free and the home of the brave??  Sounds like it is gone and may never return.  In retrospect, the voting policy of some to never ever vote for an incumbent now sounds like a pretty good idea.

Think About It!!      JCD   8-25-10

Voting “YES” on Ballot Measure 2 will protect teen health and uphold the rights of parents to direct the upbringing of their children.

When you enter the polling booth on August 24^th you will be asked to vote For or Against Ballot Measure 2.    The measure asks a simple question:  “Should parents have the right to be involved when their minor daughter is considering an abortion?”

The reason the question is on the Ballot is that in Alaska today, a doctor can perform the surgical procedure of abortion on an adolescent female without even informing the girl’s parents!  One would think that parental control of their underage children would never be challenged by anyone, and would be a natural common sense right of the family.

It is a right that parents would naturally take for granted. Parental consent or at least notification is required before your child can get an aspirin at school, have her ears pierced, get a tattoo, go to an R-rated movie or the even go on a school field trip.  So, why are parents not required to give their consent or at least be notified when their minor daughter is considering an abortion?  That is a really good question.

More than 35 other states have laws requiring that a parent provide consent or receive advance notice before an abortion can be performed on their child. A “YES” vote on Ballot Measure 2 will promote the health and welfare of our kids and protect the Constitutional right of parents to rear their children. Parental involvement laws, like Ballot Measure 2 if passed, ensure that parents have the opportunity to discuss their daughter’s medical history with both their child and their doctor.

Ballot Measure 2 contains exceptions for the very rare instances when notifying a parent might not be in the best interests of the young girl, for example, when a teen comes from an abusive home.

Opponents of parental notification required by Ballot Measure 2 argue that it is a “government mandate”.  However, all laws are government mandates from highway speed limits to placing your infant into a car seat when traveling on the road.

A “YES” vote on Ballot Measure 2, a parental involvement law, will protect, and safeguard the health of our children.  Ultimately you must ask yourself, who do you trust more to make medical decisions for your child: yourself and your family doctor, or an abortion doctor who is looking to make more money by performing abortions?

Remember that parental involvement laws like Ballot Measure 2 are supported by most Americans, regardless of their positions on abortions.

Next Tuesday, vote “YES” on Ballot Measure 2.  Vote “YES” for parental involvement to protect and safeguard the health of our young Alaskan girls.

Think About It!!          JCD  08-18-10

Voting for Ballot Measure 1 in our Alaska Primary Election is one of the most important things you can do to curb the growth of government and if you don’t understand why please study the Measure before you go to the polls on August 24^th.

If we are to have a healthy economic future we must curb the growth of government, which is out of control in our state and our nation, and a YES vote on Ballot Measure 1 will do just that. It’s our chance for change. Don’t listen to the special interest, no bid,  government contractors who want you to support “NO transparency” and “No bidding” on government contracts.

Oh yes!  No bid, sole source contracts are awarded are in our state all the time. And it is time for we as Alaskans to clean up the process.  A YES vote on Ballot Measure 1 is our chance to prevent recipients of sole source and NO-bid contracts from making political contributions to our legislators well known as “Pay to Play”.

Ballot Measure 1 does NOT prevent union members or employees from making political contributions. Family members are not prevented from contributing  but only stopped from being USED AS CONDUITS for making political contributions.  It does NOT prevent free speech.  Right now, most or your seated legislators have received more campaign contributions tied to sole source government contracts than those convicted in the VECO scandals received from the infamous Bill Allen. Passing Ballot Measure 1 will create a true arm’s length relationship between government contract holders and the officials who approve their contracts.

A YES vote on Ballot Measure 1 will ban publically funded lobbying which, sad to say, has become a multimillion dollar industry in Alaska. Did you know that last year alone the state spent in excess of

$4 million lobbying itself for more money.  Those are dollars belonging to you and I as Alaskans and that does NOT include trade organizations that maintain multi-million dollar budgets from state and local governments to lobby as well.  This must all come to a stop.

One of the most common abuses of public funds used for lobbying is the use of public dollars being used to support or opposed ballot measures and bonds, as is happening in the opposition to Ballot Measure 1 this year.  Ask yourself, How can anyone on the opposing side to a bond or ballot measure combat the bottomless pit of government advertising dollars?  This disenfranchises the general public and turns our government into an economic engine for special interests. That is just not right.

Also, remember that Ballot Measure 1 does NOT limit public officials (like a mayor, assemblyman or councilman) from communicating with other government officials like legislators. Nine other states have similar legislation.

A Yes vote on Ballot Measure 1 is an extremely important  issue for each and everyone of us as Alaskans, so remember to vote in our Alaska Primary on August 24^th and vote YES on Ballot Measure 1.

Think About It!      JCD    08-11-10

Alaska is a “resource state” and we as Alaskan need to be very careful when we say “no” to resource development. Very careful, for the sake of all Alaskans and our children.

The Pebble Mine holds 80 Billion pounds of copper, 5.6 Billion pounds of Molybdenum and over 10 Million ounces of gold plus huge amounts of silver and palladium. When authorized for development it will provide 2000 construction jobs for over two years and more than 1000 highly skilled, high wage operational jobs and many business opportunities. The project would pump many millions of dollars in tax revenue into our State and Borough governments.

The Chuitna coal prospect is a proposal by PacRim Coal to build a large strip mine on the western side of Cook Inlet, near  the communities of Tyonec and Beluga, where the Kenai Peninsula Borough has already built a large coal loading and docking facility. If built, the project is expected to employ around 350 Alaskans and provide almost $400 million in tax revenue, each year, to the State of Alaska and the Kenai Peninsula Borough for more than 25 years.

Coalbed methane has received a lot of attention in Alaska over the last 15 years, in particular in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley at Wishbone Hill. Usibelli Coal Mine, Inc. is currently building an access road to the site.  Usibelli has also applied for a permit from the state to explore for coalbed Methane deposits in the Healy Basin of Interior Alaska near their present coal exporting facility at Healy. If the deposit is large enough, Usibelli would like to provide gas to railbelt utilities, as well as their coal mining operations. The US produces about 1.7 trillion cubic feet of coal methane gas from about 20,000 wells, each year.

The potential for development of natural resources across Alaska is huge.  Mining for coal, gold, silver, copper, zinc, molybdenum, oil, and a host of other valuable strategic minerals is very important because Alaska is a “resource state”. Our Alaskan economy depends on it.

Right now, any of the potential mining development and operations in our state must undergo years of environmental research by anyone seeking to bring any kind of mine into production. The list of State and Federal agencies, which must decide if any mining proposal meets all of their environmental requirements, is long and extensive.  The environmental list of regulatory requirements and oversight that each one of these dozens of agencies must follow before permitting is approved is overwhelming. Meeting them requires the expenditure of many millions of dollars by all companies seeking mining permits.

However, if we can put a man on the moon, it surely must be possible to mine without environmental damage to our beautiful state and provide the thousands of jobs that we and our children will need in the future.

As Alaskans, let’s not let the greenie, leaf licking, tree huggers, among us, scare us into becoming a place where those seeking to bring about sound and responsible resource development are not allowed to develop environmentally sound projects.

Think About It!      JCD   8-3-10

There are still a number of people on our Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly who would like to get rid of our elected Borough Mayor and have the Assembly hire a Borough Manager to run the day to day operation of our Borough government, with the Assembly in complete control. . This is in spite of the fact that, not too long ago, the change to a manager type of government was placed on the ballot by the Assembly and Peninsula Borough voters turned down the idea.

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly has found out this year how hard it is to hire an honest and forth-right manager who will always have the best interests of the Borough at heart.  Right now, after firing their manager, they are advertising all across the nation for a new manager who would be willing to serve for about six months until October when new members of the Assembly will be elected.

Many voters in the Mat-Su Borough are now wishing they could return to their former “strong elected Borough Mayor” type of government, and with good reason.

Here on our Kenai Peninsula we have always had an elected Borough Mayor.  A Mayor chosen by Borough voters from throughout the entire Borough, whose work ethic, honesty and political stance is well known.  A Borough Mayor, elected by voters from all across our Borough, who answers directly to the voters every four years. The system has worked well for our Borough because of its automatic check and balance system.

Our elected Borough Mayor either makes all his decisions and recommendations knowing that they must win Assembly approval or they fail.  If the Assembly passes an Ordinance or Resolution it must be approved by the Mayor or it will fail.  Our elected Borough Mayor is always under the scrutiny of the electorate and if his behavior or performance does not meet with the approval of his constituents we will “run him off” at the end of his term we “run him off” and elect another person from among us who will. It’s our tax-paying voters who decide, in the voting booth, if their Mayor “sinks or swims”.

On the other hand, our Borough Assembly of nine men and women, are elected from nine different districts.  Only three of them face voters each election, and it is harder for voters to remove “bad apples” on the Assembly who favor a  manager who may not be doing his job.  

Those Assemblymen, right now on the Assembly, who advocate a Borough Manager form of government for our Borough, are simply hungry for, want more power for the Assembly.  The power to dictate to their Borough Manager just how Borough government will be operated with no check and balance from a Mayor elected borough-wide by Peninsula voters.

Keeping our present Borough Mayor form of government with a Mayor elected area-wide,  and  an Assembly made up of our friends and neighbors in nine districts, keeping an eye on each other, is a check and balance system that has served us well in the past and should NOT be changed.

Think About It!     JCD    7-14-10

The Pebble Mine, if permitted by the state and Federal government, has great potential for Alaska’s economy, work force and income to the state treasury.  It holds 80 Billion pounds of Copper, 5.6 Billion pounds of Molybdenum, and over 10 Million ounces of gold plus large amounts  of silver and palladium.

The Pebble Mine will diversify the regional economy with 2000 construction jobs for two years and over 1000 highly skilled, high wage operational jobs and many business opportunities.  Mining in Alaska is the highest paid work force in the state with an average of $80,000 per person.  Truthfully, it should be pointed out that when one looks at fishing in Alaskan waters,  46% of crew members are NOT Alaskans and 74% of seafood processors are NOT Alaskan residents.

The big question opponents to the Pebble Mine raise is, “Can the mine be developed without harm to the environment and the two small creeks that are near the mine site?”

The Pebble Mine must receive approval from 12 state agencies and receive 67 permits before any approval for development of the mine can be undertaken. Federal approval is also necessary. Responsible, environmental mining is mandatory and the Pebble Mine must not only be permitted before start-up but every facet of the operation and the eventual shut down and restoration of the land will be monitored daily by all these agencies.

To meet all these permitting requirements, the Pebble Partnership has spent over $100 million, year to date, and is spending $73 million again this summer on environmental and social-economic  studies. They are forced by the permitting process to develop a comprehensive project plan that is environmentally sound and responsible.

Alaska’s Clean Water Act is one of the most stringent in the world and to meet Alaska’s strict environmental standards the Pebble Partnership has on board over 50 environmental consulting firms and more than 500 environmental scientists from around the world.

Alaska has proven over the years that successful mining is possible with the Red Dog Mine, the Fort Knox Mine and the big Green’s Creek Mine and either the Pebble Mine will meet all the provisions of Alaska’s Clean Water Act and a multitude of many more safe environmental requirements or it will not happen.

If the Pebble Mine can meet all those safe guards for our land and our water in Alaska over the next three years, then it will create a huge opportunity for many Alaskans and over the next fifty years it will be give a major boost to our Southwest Alaska, Kenai Peninsula and  our Alaskan economy.

Think About It!     JCD   7/7/10

Natural Gas is the most important single asset we have in Alaska.  We have 37 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 478 million barrels of natural gas liquids on the North Slope. It all belongs to Alaskans, you and I and every other Alaskan resident, but unless we build a pipeline to make it available from Fairbanks to Homer, we just don’t understand its importance to our economy.

A two month summer tourism season and a declining commercial fishing industry is no longer sufficient to maintain the healthy and growing economy we have had in past years. Our natural gas reserves in Cook Inlet are at an all time low and a drive to North Kenai and Nikiski will prove to anyone that our once vibrant crude oil production is a thing of the past.

We simply must build an All Alaska Pipeline to distribute natural gas to the rail-belt and the Kenai Peninsula. If we are to keep our economy alive and growing an All Alaska Pipeline must be the most important priority for every single Alaskan.  Unlimited natural gas for every home, business and future manufacturing businesses in the rail-belt could give Alaskans the lowest energy cost in the country.

One can only imagine the industries that would build plants and locate in Alaska if they were assured of an unlimited amount of natural gas for at least the next fifty to one hundred years.  Growth and investment in our state would make our natural gas worth many times what it would be worth if we just sold it to markets outside Alaska.

This year is a critical election year for our state. We need a Governor and legislative candidates who are serious, dedicated proponents of an All Alaska Gas Pipeline. We as their constituents need to be willing to use a portion of the Alaska Permanent Fund to make sure the pipeline is built in a timely manner. What a great way to build our economy to the benefit of all Alaskans who own the resource in the first place.

In the upcoming elections this fall, we as Alaskans need to make sure that every candidate understands the importance of doing whatever is necessary to make sure we do not give away our most important natural resource, north slope natural gas, before it is made available to Alaskans first.

Our economy and our way of life depend on it.  Our children must be able to count on it.

Think About It!     JCD 6-30-10

The No Fly List is a list, created and maintained by the United States government, of people who are not permitted to board a commercial aircraft for travel in or out of the United States.   And may God help you if for some unknown reason you ever get on it.

About five years ago my wife, a grandma with 28 grandkids, discovered that she could not book a flight on line or use an airport kiosk, but was directed to appear before an airline official, in person, at the airport. The airline is required to call numerous Federal Government officials, getting approval from them all, one agency at a time. This takes a lot of time. And it has happened over and over again. In fact, the most recent incident the airline had to call so many different Federal Clearance numbers, one after the other, that it took almost two hours.  This caused us to miss our flight and our baggage had to be removed from the aircraft.  The airline booked us immediately on another airline flight, where the process had to be repeated all over again.  This time it only took one hour and forty minutes and we were able to board.

The exact number of names on the “no fly list” fluctuates, but the TSA says that tens of thousands of names are on the list plus thousands more names designated as “selectees” who must receive extra screening and research but are allowed to fly.  The “No Fly List” is different than the “Terrorist Watch List”.  Are the lists effective? It didn’t stop Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, another Muslim who was accused of trying to bomb Northwest Airlines Flight 253! It didn’t stop Faisal Shahzad, a Muslim accused of planting a car bomb in Times Square after flying into our country.  Plus, other serious failures allowing other Muslims to slip through the system.  But it does work on one white American Grandma. That I know, for sure.

For five years she has been interviewed, screened, wanded, searched and hassled by the TSA officials at airports both at home and in numerous foreign in countries. During those five years we have tried to do everything possible to end the torture from the TSA. We have called phone numbers given to us by the TSA officials.  We have contacted the office of Transportation Security Traveler Redress Inquiry Program(TRIP). We have sent several Traveler Identity Verification Forms (The TIVF) both on line and via snail mail.  Congress directed the TSA to establish a procedure to allow people to appeal their placement on the “No Fly List” or “Selectee List”, and we have tried that all to no avail.

Finally, this year we asked our powerful Congressman Don Young to intervene and even with his push all TSA would do was forward our documentation to the DHS TRIP office for a Redress Control Number.  That amounted to absolutely nothing.   We also asked Senator Lisa Murkowski  for help but after 2 ½ months, its obvious that a first term Senator has very little clout at all.

One has to wonder if the “No Fly List” and the “Selectee List” are Constitutional.   It would appear to many of us that they are not because they treat Americans as guilty without a trial, and deprives them of their freedoms without due process.  A national lawsuit to challenge the “No Fly List” system, Green vs.TSA was brought on behalf of “false positive” passengers who had no method of resolving problems even after they had been cleared for flight many times. As a result, out entire Congress told TSA to “no longer produce a large number of false positives”.  The TSA Bureaucracy won’t even listen to Congress.

 Think About It!      6-16-10