Food for thought: A provocative new video from the folks over at Americans for Limited Government promoting a new project focused on economic liberty and free market policies. Watch:
by Thomas Sowell | TOWNHALL
The “Occupy” movement, which the Obama administration and much of the media have embraced, has implications that reach far beyond the passing sensation it has created.
The unwillingness of authorities to put a stop to their organized disruptions of other people’s lives, their trespassing, vandalism and violence is a de facto suspension, if not repeal, of the 14th Amendment’s requirement that the government provide “equal protection of the laws” to all its citizens.
by Becky Bohrer | ADN
JUNEAU — A U.S. Postal Service spokesman says a moratorium on closing postal facilities is still scheduled to end May 15, despite calls from senators to extend it.
From Rep. Bill Thomas:
HAINES–The Alaska Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation will be hosting a public workshop on April 17, 2012 at the American Bald Eagle Foundation in Haines from 6:00 – 8:00 pm. The purpose of the workshop is to gather public input on Chilkoot River corridor management recommendations and improvements planned for the area. There will be representatives from various agencies available at the workshop to answer questions and discuss corridor concerns.
By Corey Allen-Young | KTVA.com
Qualifying individuals who haven’t applied yet for their slice of the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend are in danger of missing out.
The deadline to apply is 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, March 31, and the PFD office is closed on the weekends.
That makes Friday do-or-die time if you want to file in person.
WASHINGTON, FEB. 8, 2012—The average American relying on federal government assistance receives more in benefits than the average American’s disposable personal income, according to The Heritage Foundation’s newly released 2012 Index of Dependence on Government.
The Index reports Americans who rely on government receive an average $32,748 worth of benefits, surpassing the average American’s disposable personal income of $32,446.
Overall, the Index—which scores the nation’s dependency across numerous federal assistance programs that were once done through communities, churches, neighborhood groups and the private sector—rose 8.1 percent in 2010 from the most recent data available.
By Dan Joling | AP
ANCHORAGE—Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s announcement that the Pentagon will seek new rounds of military base closures drew a swift response from Alaskans who watched a similar process nearly gut Eielson Air Force Base in 2005.
Alaska’s congressional delegation and Gov. Sean Parnell issued a joint statement saying they will stand together to resist attempts to close or shrink Alaska bases.
By Brian Edwards | ACCUWEATHER
Alaskans have been experiencing the most brutal winter conditions of anybody in the United States this season. Thanks to cold being bottled up across the Northwest Territories and Alaska, the season has been chock full of snow, frigid temperatures, and plenty of ice fog to go around.
The Heritage Foundation
President Obama’s State of the Union address laid out his long-term economic recovery plans, which he claims will “work for everyone, not just a wealthy few.” That is, unless it is the pipeline construction business. President Obama’s politically intoned decision to reject TransCanada’s permit application to construct a 1,700-mile pipeline from Alberta, Canada, to Texas refineries last week sent a clear message that special-interest demands are more important than more energy and much-needed job creation.
AK DOL Press Release
JUNEAU—The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s annual job forecast is 1.2 percent job growth in 2012, a modest gain in Alaska for a third straight year. The state’s employment levels dropped briefly in 2009 due to the national recession. Read more->
by Jeff Richardson | FAIRBANKS DAILY NEWS-MINER
FAIRBANKS — Filing for an Alaska Permanent Fund dividend check is a happy ritual for most Alaskans, but this year some residents have been a little too eager to get their paperwork in the mail.
The Alaska Department of Revenue has received hundreds of applications this week for the 2012 PFD and expects as many as 1,000 could arrive in Juneau by the end of the year.
That prompt attention comes with a drawback: Applications aren’t valid unless they’re signed and delivered after Jan. 1.
By Hope Yen | AP
Texas, Utah and Alaska were the fastest-growing states in 2011, according to new Census Bureau estimates. Alaska’s population grew 1.8 percent from April 2010 through June 2011, double the nationwide average. Alaska’s estimated population on July 1, 2011, was 722,718, a gain of about 12,500, reports the Census Bureau.
By Diane Cardwell and Rick Gladstone | NY TIMES
The United States economy managed to cope this year despite triple-digit prices for barrels of oil. The lessons may come in handy, economists say, because those prices will probably be sticking around.
With Iran threatening to cut off about a fifth of the world’s oil supply by closing the Strait of Hormuz and unrest in Iraq endangering the ability to increase production there, financial analysts say prices for two important oil benchmarks will average from $100 a barrel to $120 a barrel in 2012.
AP | ADN
JUNEAU — Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell estimates a proposed coastal management program would cost $5.4 million a year. The program is being proposed as a ballot initiative.
Alex DeMarban | ALASKA DISPATCH
The National Marine Fisheries Service has renewed plans that may lead to a listing of the ribbon seals under the Endangered Species Act, bringing to three the number of ice-dependent seals in Alaska that could be protected by the act.
The agency rejected a ribbon-seal listing in 2008 but said new information warrants a second look. That’s disappointing news, said Rick Rogers, executive director with the pro-industry Resource Development Council in Anchorage.
The combined population of ribbon, bearded and ringed seal populations in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas exceed 1 million animals, so why should they fall under the act’s protections, he wondered.
Mia Bennett | ALASKA DISPATCH
The U.S. Congressional Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, part of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, held a hearing earlier this month on U.S. Coast Guard operations in the Arctic. The chief topic of concern was icebreakers. As I reported back in February, the U.S. will be without heavy icebreakers for at least two years.
By Walter E. Williams | TOWNHALL.COM
The Occupy Wall Street demonstrators are demanding “people before profits” — as if profit motivation were the source of mankind’s troubles — when it’s often the absence of profit motivation that’s the true villain.
Press release
WASHINGTON, DC – At times educational and historic, other times scathing and critical, Senator Lisa Murkowski today took to the U.S. Senate floor to commemorate the 144th anniversary of Alaska Day.
She set a sober tone early in the speech when she shared that she is “worried about the future of Alaska – not because of the global economy, not because of high unemployment levels, but because of the treatment we experience at the hands of our own federal government.” Read more->
John Stossel | TOWNHALL.COM
What’s there to say about Occupy Wall Street? The answer isn’t so simple. Some complain about taxpayer bailouts of businesses. Good for them. In a true free market, failing firms would go out of business. They couldn’t turn to Washington for help.
But many protesters say they’re against capitalism. Now things get confusing.
WASHINGTON, D.C.– Alaskan Congressman Don Young released the following statement regarding the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s passage of H.R. 2309, the Postal Reform Act of 2011, which includes a provision that would have a drastic effect on the bypass mail program on which many Alaskans rely:
by Chuck Tobin | WHITEHORSE STAR
WHITEHORSE, YT–The value of construction in the city continues to eclipse last year, according to figures compiled by the city.
Last month alone, the city issued construction permits for housing and other projects with an estimated total value of $14.3 million, according to records.
In September 2010, the value of construction permitted in September was $4.3 million.
The total value of construction for the first nine months of this year is estimated at $86 million, compared to $59.2 million to the end of September last year.
For all of 2010, the total value was estimated at $69.4 million.
The city calculates the value of construction based on the estimated development cost of a project when the building permit is issued, not including the price of the land.
For years, Haines folks have had the luxury of a locally owned source for furniture, carpets, floor coverings, appliances, home electronics and more. Today, Scott and Candi Bradford are the proud new owners of Miles Furniture Showroom.
The new owners are enthusiastic about their new purchase. ”We’re not making too many changes right away,” said Scott Bradford, “The only immediate change will be some hobby items, Yankee candles, and some pet supplies in that corner in the front of the store. Otherwise, the store and the business will remain the same.” Then he smiled and added, “I’m one of only a half-dozen Lionel Model Train dealers in Alaska.” Read more->
The smaller the community, the more the politics take on the intensity of a family feud.
Haines, a small town on the road system in the Alaskan wilderness, has more than the usual degree of political buzz going on, with the mayor, and all but one assembly seat up for either election or recall. In a town sharply divided between radical left ideologies and a few radical right wingers as well, control of the borough assembly is up for grabs. Read more->
The Haines Alaska News is a public information service of the Alaska Alliance for Commerce, Inc., a grassroots movement organized to advocate for small business and a free market economy in Alaska.
The AAFC is organized under section 501(C)(4) of the U.S. Tax Code; contributions are not tax deductible.
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Mia Bennett | ALASKA DISPATCH
The smaller the community, the more the politics take on the intensity of a family feud.
