Do you really want to want to replace Don Young and Ted Stevens?
Some of you say that Young and Stevens are corrupt. Some say they are wrong. Some want to see stronger Democratic majorities in Congress. Perhaps a couple less people voting along with the damaging right wing crap of the last several years suits your fancy. Maybe you are simply looking to move forward rather than backward. In any case, many opinions here imply that you want to see them out of our House and Senate. Even Young and Stevens know that in 2008 they will have to put up a fight to win.
How about a challenge? A challenge to turn Alaska blue. I will match, dollar for dollar, the first $500, within 24 hours, donated to my Turn Alaska Blue! actblue page.
Why replace Ted Stevens?
Perhaps because his son, Ben Stevens, appears to be benefiting directly from his legislation.
http://www.adn.com/... (9/18/2005)
State Sen. Ben Stevens held a secret option to buy into an Alaska seafood company at the same time his powerful father, U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, was creating a special Aleutian Islands fishery that would supply the company with pollock worth millions of dollars a year.
http://alaskareport.com/... (6/26/2006)
In a 2 1/2 hour hearing last Thursday at the Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC), with Ben Stevens in attendance, Metcalfe laid out his argument that for years Ben Stevens has been accepting back door bribes through the cover of consulting fees and illicit payments. Both are felonies under Alaska state law. Metcalfe alleges that Steven's has been paid $923,507 over the years in payments through the processors, various kickbacks, and funneled through the Alaska Fisheries Marketing Board set up by his father, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens.
Numerous and hundreds of thousands of dollars in consulting fees paid to Ben Stevens looks related to Ted Steven's legislation. Los Angeles Times via the Sunlight foundation: http://www.sunlightfoundation.com/... (9/2006)
Ben seems to do pretty well on his own.
Did Ben take cash from VECO, an energy and resource service company, for favors? http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/... (5/8/2007). He has not been indicted yet.
Why is it that VECO and Ben Steven's names come up when former State of Alaska House Representative and gubernatorial candidate Andrew Halcro argues for stronger disclosure laws? http://www.andrewhalcro.com/...
So why does Alaska need stronger disclosure laws?
Two days after I was elected as a freshman representative in 1998, the House Majority caucus was scheduled to meet to elect leadership for the coming legislative session. Answering my phone I was greeted by Bill Allen, the CEO of Veco and the most profligate political donor in Alaska. A man whose name appears on a large amount of Republican contributions as well as prominently on the masthead of the Voice of the Times as its publisher.
After opening salutations he got right to the reason for his call, he insisted my vote to go a certain way for Speaker of the House. When I declined, he pointedly reminded me about the financial help he had given the party and the fund raiser he had sponsored for my campaign months earlier. I quickly ended the call.
Today the same campaign donor who tried to influence my vote writes $50,000 checks to my state senator –Ben Stevens, for something called consulting.
That’s why Alaska needs stronger disclosure laws.
http://www.adn.com/...
Stevens is facing scrutiny from federal investigators for a home remodeling project, an investigation that dovetailed with a corruption investigation into state officials.
Meanwhile, his son Ben, a former Alaska Senate president, was one of six state lawmakers who had their offices raided by the FBI last year. He has not been charged and has denied any wrongdoing.
Ted and VECO seem to like each other too.
What does VECO have to do with house remodeling and Ted? Is VECO normally in business of residential remodeling or only if it's Ted's house. http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/... (5/31/2007), http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
I'm sure that Oliver North's lawyer can clear that up for us. http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/... (7/2/2007)
See also:
AK-Sen. Stevens: "FBI put me on notice to preserve records" by Nuisance Industry (6/7/2007)
The Veco Effect by Kuparuk (5/31/2007)
Maybe Ted isn't corrupt, just wrong..
What do you mean he wastes fish? http://alaskareport.com/... (7/2/2007)
We're talking about how the man, Sen. Ted Stevens, engineered an Act of Congress to not only exclusively benefit a few large fish company owners, but to leave the entire public wondering where their salmon went.
He wants to hand over control of internet content to large telecommunications companies. We don't call him Tubes for nothing. http://www.pcmag.com/...
Don Young, corruption, and Abramoff all in the same sentence?
The 10 Worst Congressmen (10/19/2006) by cos82005
Don Young (AK), Abramoff's Firedoor, has a Democratic Opponent (8/24/2006) by dengre
Ted Stevens, Rest of AK Delegation Got Abramoff Money (1/5/2006) by Brudaimonia
The Abramoff Seven (4/15/2006) by jorndorff
21 Candidates tied to Abramoff = GOP troubles by dengre (4/3/2006)
AK: Former Don Young Aide To Plead Guilty by RandyMI (4/23/2007)
Doolittle is a lying hypocrite and you can help take him down by dengre (7/9/2007)
Don Young aide convicted in Abramoff Scandal: Anchorage Daily News, 4/30/2007
The guilty plea last week by a former senior committee aide to Rep. Don Young sheds new light on the circumstances surrounding Young’s success seven years ago in blocking reforms of the sweatshop industry on the Mariana Islands.
But the plea also raises new questions about why Young, R-Alaska, took the actions he did.
Former Alaskan Mark Zachares, a Mariana Islands official when Young blocked the reforms, admitted Tuesday that he later conspired to illegally use his official position on the House Transportation Committee to enrich disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, once the lobbyist for the island commonwealth.
AK Rep Don Young Just Called for Dems' Execution! (2/15/2007) by kovie
Using false quote concerning execution of congressmen against the war. http://www.youtube.com/...
Not from Alaska? Don Young will represent Florida developers too.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
It is no secret that campaign contributions sometimes lead to lucrative official favors. Rarely, though, are the tradeoffs quite as obvious as in the twisted case of Coconut Road [near Fort Myers, Florida].
...
The Republican congressman whose district does include Coconut Road says he did not seek the money. County authorities have twice voted not to use it, until Mr. Young and the district congressman wrote letters warning that a refusal could jeopardize future federal money for the county.
The Coconut Road money is a boon, however, to Daniel J. Aronoff, a real estate developer who helped raise $40,000 for Mr. Young at the nearby Hyatt Coconut Point hotel days before he introduced the measure.
...
"We were looking for a lot of money," said the consultant, Joe Mazurkiewicz. "We evidently made a very good impression on Congressman Young, and thanks to a lot of great work from Congressman Young, we got $81 million to expand Interstate 75 and $10 million for the Coconut Road interchange."
...
And a Republican commissioner of Lee County, Ray Judah, is campaigning against the interchange, calling it an example of Congressional corruption that is "a cancer on the federal government."
"It would appear that Don Young was doing a favor for a major contributor," Mr. Judah said.
http://www.adn.com/...
More recently, Young -- the former chairman of the House Transportation Committee -- is taking heat for directing money to a Florida road project study. The money was not sought by the district's Republican congressman but would benefit a major contributor to Young's campaign.
An Alaska Congressman is supposed to send pork to Florida: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/... http://www.clubforgrowth.org/...
They wouldn't support the worst Administration in US History would they?
Don Young and Ted Stevens have actively been supporting Bush Administration policies and have done nothing to support executive branch over site and accountability.
They are vulnerable!
http://www.adn.com/...
But the political terrain in the Last Frontier appears to be shifting, and two highly regarded young Democrats are seriously weighing bids against the state's two most powerful GOP politicians.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
"The worst thing about this investigation is that it does change your life in terms of employment potential," Stevens said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Don Young is very vulnerable. Steven's vulnerability will depend on how far the VECO corruption case goes. In the 2006 election very few people took Diane Benson's challenge to Don Young seriously. She won over 40% of the vote with $200,000 late dollars against Don Young's 1.9 million. People will take both contests seriously this time. Stevens and Young certainly look like they are.
Go for the challenge!
Do you really want to replace Young and Stevens? I will match you dollar for dollar up to a combined maximum of $500. My dollars will be split evenly among the two Democratic nominees, you are welcome to distribute as you wish. When the challenge is over, this time tomorrow, convince your friends to work against Young and Stevens and get an early start towards helping out their Democratic challengers.
The Democratic entries into the race are far from certain at this point in time. Diane Benson says she will run again. The DCCC and DSCC appear to be doing some heavy recruiting of Ethan Berkowitz and Mark Begich. Both would be excellent candidates. There are others that could potentially enter the race.
I personally will be happy to support whichever Democratic candidates win their respective primaries and run against Young and Stevens in the general. This actblue page will do just that. The money will go to the Alaskan Democratic nominees for House and Senate. Let's show the candidates that we support them, that they will get grassroots support. Let's give them early money. Let's undo the Republican damage and start making some progress now. Let's start this ball rolling! Turn Alaska Blue!
Note: Please see Nuisance Industry's excellent diary
Update (7/11/2007): 24 hours is up. Thank you all for your recs, mojo, contributions, and comments. I have doubled the current $50.16 to $100.32. I am determined to see the AK-SEN and AK-AL seats change hands in next years election, and am looking forward to helping many of your favorite candidates in your states and districts as well. Have a great day!
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