Ballot Fraud - The "Alaska Anti-Corruption Act" Initiative... or, "Alaska's Gag Law."

Yes, I realize that the 2010 General Election is some 7 months away, and there will be a lot of candidates clamoring for your vote.

But there will be an initiative on the ballot that is potentially far more onerous than any of the candidates (including Don Young and Eddie Burke).

The "Alaska Anti-Corruption Act."

ALL Alaskans who favor a participatory government should crush this ballot measure.

WHAT? 

In the wake of Bill Allen's shenanigens and Alaska Legislators accepting bags full of money in dimly-lit hotel rooms, how in the hell can anyone be against an Anti-Corruption Act, you ask?

Well, that's exactly what New York Libertarian multimillionaire, Astroturfer, and asshat Howie Rich is hoping Alaskans will think when they step inside the voting booth.

Remember what I said back in August about "Grass Roots" vs. "Astroturfing?"  This is Astroturfing of the worst kind.  For a while now, Howie Rich has been funding groups across the nation trying to get his own political agenda put in place by ballot initiative... and his agenda sucks.

Deliberately misnamed in an effort to confuse voters, the "Anti-Corruption Act" ballot initiative contains very little that's good, a whole lot of what's bad, and does virtually nothing to stop corruption.

What it will do, however, is abridge your rights as a citizen.

The measure bans the use of public funds as payment of dues or fees to "any league or association" which "engages in lobbying."

There goes the Alaska Municipal League (which lobbies the legislature in an effort to look out for the interest of Alaskan taxpayers).

Part of the definition of "lobbying" includes "any governmental official or employee who may participate in the formulation of legislation."  Yeah.  The LAST thing you want is any advice on crafting legislation from the local governments (and taxpayers) it will affect.

Any municipalities that use contract lobbyists will be silenced.  As a matter of fact, City Council, Assembly, or School Board members couldn't even travel to Juneau to advocate on behalf of their constituents if the governments they serve were to cover their expenses to do so.

Do you have a no-bid contract worth more than $500 with any governmental agency in the state?

Fuggedabout you, or any member of your family (right on down to your step-grandkids) making a contribution to any political campaign, even if the person you support has nothing to do with your contract.  

Hell, fuggedabout even contacting your legislator on behalf of those you serve.

Political Action Committees of any union organizations that have collective bargaining agreements with any government in the state would be prohibited from endorsing candidates or making political contributions.

In an excerpt from a February, 2010 Anchorage Press Article, here's what a few other people far more knowledgable than I have said (all emphasis mine):
Alaska Municipal League executive director Kathie Wasserman: 

“It’s a gag law; it has nothing to do with corruption or anti-corruption.  Municipalities would have no voice in how state government runs. It just shows how on the surface something can look like one thing, but you unzip it a little bit, you see it’s pure stupidity.”

AFL-CIO’s political director Joelle Hall: 

“It’s such an egregious attack on people’s First Amendment rights.  I don’t know how, if you’re an organization that is functioning in the community and doing good work, how you could support this. It affects nonprofits, for-profits, small business owners, big business owners, it goes out to reach everybody’s family members—I can hardly conceive of anybody who’s untouched by it.”

Alaska State Chamber of Commerce President CEO Wayne Stevens: 

“Here’s an out of state group, virtually no reporting requirements, blowing into town, spending money, paying to get signatures, nobody’s ever heard of them, nobody knows how they presented the petition to people that signed it. ‘Are you against corruption?’ ‘Oh, I’m absolutely against corruption.’ ‘Well, sign the petition.’ But there’s so much language in the petition that will basically shut down the ability of most citizens to gather in groups and advocate for positions and issues.”

Vince Beltrami, president of the Alaska AFL-CIO:  

“The irony is that Bill Allen and the five or six legislators went to prison for a situation that, if this law passed, would increase the likelihood of that happening more.  It would do nothing to dissuade people from doing what happened in the VECO case. The Anti-Corruption Act does nothing to fix that situation. But when people were signing the petitions, I think that’s what they thought they were signing.”

The fact is, most of the "Anti-Corruption Act" violates both the state and federal constitutions, and if it passes, will be struck down in court.  Alaska's Attorney General has said as much, and so has the Legislative Affairs Agency legal counsel for the Legislature.  

But Alaskans should not have to go to the time and expense of defeating this measure in court when it can be defeated at the ballot box.

For more information about why this measure must not pass, go here.

It's NOT A "Grass Roots Effort." It's called "Astroturfing."

At several recent town hall meetings sponsored by Democratic members of Congress, "angry protesters" are showing up to protest health care reform.

Many in the mainstream media - Fox News in particular but CBS as well - would have you believe these are natural and spontaneous "grass-roots" efforts by people who fear "government interference" and oppose the "socialist program" being pushed by President Obama.

They're not any such thing. It's phony. That's why it's called Astroturfing.

The "action memo," a blueprint on how to be a disruptive influence (thus preventing any meaningful public discourse) at such meetings has been promulgated and disseminated by Freedomworks.

Freedomworks has been described as a "conservative website," and gives the impression that it's some sort of "organic grassroots" outfit.

It isn't.

Freedomworks was the driving force behind the (mostly failed) "Teabag" events.

Freedomworks is run by former Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey - now a corporate lobbyist receiving bucks from, among others, the pharmaceutical industry.

The President and CEO of Freedomworks ("spontaneous" grassroots organizations need CEO's?) is Matt Kibbe, who's been wrapped up in political shenanigans for a while - including a Republican attempt in 2004 to get Ralph Nader on the Oregon (a presidential battleground state) ballot prompting a complaint to the FEC by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) .

The scare tactics and intimidation by the insurance and health care industries and the GOP in the guise of "a grass roots effort" is covered pretty well by Rachel Maddow:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Now, I have no doubt that some of the people showing up at these meetings are legitimately concerned, and want questions answered about how health care reform will affect them, and America.

It's too bad. If this effort is continued, people with actual questions will never have them answered.

I guess it's the anti-Obama pro corporate profit plan.

h/t to Media Matters, Think Progress, Huffington Post.

Friday In the Twilight Zone

Celtic Diva has a very interesting post this morning.

In it, she has listed comments from readers of the New Republic, reacting to Palin's press release

The article, which contains nothing other than the press release, has the blaring headline "Latest Complaint Deemed Outrageous Alarming New Development in Alaska Politics".

The remarks following the article indicate that most commenters are absolutely certain that the complaints are part of some sort of nefarious organized effort... and that David Axelrod, political consultant from Chicago and Senior Advisor to President Obama is the "mastermind" behind it... especially the latest ethics violation complaint.

I keep half-expecting Rod Serling to step into view, cigarette in hand, saying "We present for your consideration..." - and then letting us know about the bizarre alternate reality into which we have embarked.

Except that what's happening here isn't a fictional TV show (though it does make pretty good theater). The bizarre reality is only in these lunatics' minds.

During my morning coffee, I thought this over.

Why would anyone jump to the assumption that David Axelrod, the White House or the National Democratic Party is somehow involved with what is actually a true grass-roots effort to make a rogue governor follow the law?

How do you get there from here?

The, during my second cup, it hit me: Because that's how the Republicans do things!

That's exactly how this whole "Teabag Party" idiocy came about!

"Teabaggery" didn't start as a grass-roots effort.

It was a perfect example of astroturfing.

The Tea Party campaign actually was organized by a paid Republican consultant and strongly promoted by "Unfair and Unbalanced" Fox News.

So naturally, these wackjobs who see a left-wing conspiracy under (and in) every bed just assume that every effort to hold Sarah Palin accountable must have received marching orders from Obama's minions.

Because, after all, Obama is really really worried that Sarah will run against him in 2012, and such as.

Also.