In the 22nd hearing it has held on the Dunleavy plan to cut taxes on the proposed gas pipeline by 90 percent, the Senate Resources Committee tried on May 1 to fathom the mysteries of the gravel giveaway.
The lack of news coverage of those 22 hearings is a problem for Alaskans, as most of us are not following along with the analysis of the Dunleavy plan to cut the pipeline taxes by 90 percent. I will try to catch up here in the days ahead.
Read MoreOn behalf of all Alaskans, Temporary Attorney General Stephen Cox signed this amicus brief claiming that not everyone born in the United States deserves to be a citizen.
For more than a century, lawyers and government officials have misinterpreted the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, according to Cox, who said he reached this conclusion over the last couple of years—more or less corresponding to the second Trump era.
Cox decided—without raising this issue with Alaskans for a public discussion—to aid an Outside court fight to oppose birthright citizenship for some people born in the United States.
Read MoreAnother strategic choice that Cox is making is that he has gone out of his way in his confirmation hearings to appear to be the most conciliatory attorney on the planet, a guy with no sharp edges and not a hint of stridency, nothing at all like a right-wing culture warrior.
The amicus briefs that he has signed reveal his true character as a right-wing culture warrior, but he knows he can’t appear that way in confirmation hearings where he must convince legislators who haven’t read the amicus briefs that his is a voice of moderation.
Read MoreIn a hearing before the Senate State Affairs Committee Thursday, Cox said he didn’t know how many amicus briefs had been approved over the last seven years under Dunleavy, but it was “well over 500, maybe even over 600.”
He said that he is approving amicus briefs “relatively on pace with that same sort of trend.” Not true.
Cox signed 110 amicus briefs in his first 215 days as attorney general. That puts him at a rate of about 190 per year. Had the previous Dunleavy AG’s done this from 2019 to 2025, they would have signed about 1,330 amicus briefs.
Credit Sen. Loki Tobin for spotting Cox’s inaccurate claim and noting that he was signing amicus briefs at a rate more than twice that of Dunleavy’s previous generals.
That Cox is unwilling or unable to give a clear answer on something this simple is alarming.
Read MoreTemporary Attorney General Stephen Cox didn’t tell the straight story Thursday about the terrible judgement he and Education Commissioner Deena Bishop displayed last fall in spreading lies that officials of the Anchorage school district are teaching children not to believe in the Declaration of Independence or the U.S. Constitution.
General Cox should refresh his memory about his grandstanding exercise before his next confirmation hearing Friday at 1:30 p.m.
Read MoreAny group that submits a charter school application and fills it out correctly cannot be denied approval by a locally elected school board, according to the Dunleavy administration.
I expect that every school district in the state will see this claim as an unconstitutional attack on their ability to operate public schools and serve the interests of all students.
Read MoreTemporary Attorney General Stephen Cox, the transplanted Texan who has yet to celebrate his one-year birthday as a member of the Alaska Bar Association, faces confirmation hearings this week in two Senate committees.
One of the most striking aspects of his tenure is that Cox has stamped his name on right-wing court cases from elsewhere in America every couple of days, siding with the Fox News bubble on everything from cake decorations to firing members of the Federal Reserve.
Read More“I have to tell you it’s the real deal. I will be shocked, shocked, not surprised, shocked if in December or January there’s anything other than we’re going to FID (final investment decision on the gas pipeline),” Gov. Mike Dunleavy told the Resource Development Council last October 16.
He must be shocked, shocked, not surprised, shocked.
Read MoreIn early 2025, Revenue Commissioner Adam Crum personally selected three private fund managers in which he wanted to invest $225 million in public funds in infrastructure. He did little research and did not consult experts available to the state revenue department.
Read MoreIt’s a good sign that Sen. Bert Stedman is planning to hold public hearings on former Revenue Commissioner Adam Crum’s ill-conceived attempt to take $225 million of public funds that might be needed soon and lock it up for years.
The public has not been given a clear picture of this irresponsible action.
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