I think that most of our woes today are a result of the same old corruption that has always existed in Alaska. First let’s go back in time to the “Polar Pen” investigation into the “Corrupt Bastards Club”.
The probe began in 2004 or earlier. By 2006 the name "Corrupt Bastards Club" (alternatively "Corrupt Bastards Caucus") began being used to designate Alaska legislators implicated in the federal corruption (a.k.a., "Polar Pen") investigation. The nickname originated in the spring of 2006 as a barroom joke among Alaska legislators after a guest article by Lori Backes, executive director of All Alaska Alliance, that ran in Alaska's three largest newspapers named 11 lawmakers who had received large campaign contributions from executives of the oilfield services company VECO Corporation, which had a long history of making large campaign contributions to Alaska politicians. The article also named Senate President Ben Stevens as having received large consulting fees from VECO.
Source: Wikipedia, Alaska political corruption probe
Here is a list of the lawmakers and how much money they took;
- Senator John Cowdery (R-Anchorage), Senate Rules Committee Chair: $24,550.
- Representative Pete Kott (R-Eagle River), former speaker of the House: $21,300.
- Representative Norman Rokeberg (R-Anchorage), House Rules Committee Chair: $18,000.
- Representative Vic Kohring (R-Wasilla), House Oil and Gas Committee Chair: $14,708.
- Governor Frank Murkowski: $6,500 (excluding donations to past U.S. Senate races)
- Representative (currently Senator) Kevin Meyer (R-Anchorage), House Finance Committee Co-Chair: $12,300.
- Representative Mike Chenault (R-Nikiski), House Finance Committee Co-Chair: $12,000.
- Representative (later Senator) Lesil McGuire (R-Anchorage), House Judiciary Committee Chair: $12,000.
- Senator Con Bunde (R-Anchorage), Senate Labor and Commerce Committee Chair: $11,500.
- Senator Lyda Green (R-Wasilla), Senate Finance Committee Co-Chair: $28,000.
- Representative Mike Hawker (R-Anchorage): $8,050.
- Representative Tom Anderson (R-Anchorage), House Labor and Commerce Chair: $8,000.
Source: Wikipedia, Alaska political corruption probe
This was back in 2006, 5 years before the disastrous Citizen’s United Supreme Court ruling which essentially opened up the door to bribery and made it legal.
How it works today is a myriad of political action committees and money washin’.
Let’s break it down so that it makes sense to the common folks;
Let’s say I am Joe Blow, I am rich guy and I want to make a 100k donation to a candidate’s campaign in hopes that the legislator will vote for legislation that benefits my company and makes me more wealthy.
There are several laws and contribution limits I have to follow, but I have some loopholes and ways to get my money where I want it.
First off, I can donate $2,500 directly to an INDIVIDUAL CAMPAIGN.
Then, I can donate up to $10,000 per year to a STATE PARTY. (5k for primary, 5k for general).
I can take it a step further and give an even larger contribution to the NATIONAL PARTY in the amount of $30,800 per year.
What will I do with the remaining $56,700? I will donate that to an array of Political Action Committees of which can take my donation and route it into INDIVIDUAL CAMPAIGNS, a STATE PARTY, or a NATIONAL PARTY for me.
It’s like a big washin’ machine if you think about it. Gotta clean up that money and hide the trail!
Limits all depend on the type of PAC you donate to. If it is a PAC established for one candidate only, there are stricter limits. When it comes to multi-candidate PAC’s or advocacy/ideological PAC’s there may be no limits on what I can donate.
I see this all over the state campaign finance records and it’s shocking to see how much money is being washed and distributed amongst all the GOP candidates which tow the Koch brothers line.
One huge PAC that operates in Alaska is The Accountability Project, a friend of Prosperty Alaska.
Tens of thousands of dollars is spent by The Accountability Project to unseat GOP candidates that don’t tow the GOP line.
The GOP can remain neutral in campaigns where there are two or more republican challengers for a particular seat and simply hope that the Accountability Project will provide a donation to the candidates that they actually want.
You would think that the state parties would support their own candidates, but they don’t. They work against them and try to destroy them if they don’t vote the way they want them to.
Both George Rauscher and Mary Wythe received significant donations from The Accountability Project during the last election cycle. Both of them were running against a member of the Alaska GOP. Rauscher beat Jim Colver and unfortunately for the GOP, Seaton maintained his seat.
As far as the GOP is concerned? It’s business as usual and now they want to remove Paul Seaton from the party altogether so they can run an even more vicious campaign against him.
It’s corrupt. It’s wrong. It’s downright disgraceful.
Meanwhile, Alaskan’s are screaming at the top of their lungs for the state to fix the financial devastation we are facing and it’s falling on deaf ears.
So, as we move forward each session and as we watch our legislators give away our tax revenues and give away our dividends, look no further than the campaign finance reports.