Dunleavy continues to pay $4,000 a month to Washington, D.C. right-wing image polisher

Gov. Mike Dunleavy has been paying a Washington, D.C. public relations consultant $4,000 a month to promote his image in right-wing media circles.

Dermot ColeFebruary 9, 2021 Comments

State loses again on former AG Clarkson's anti-union crusade

William Consovoy, the Virginia lawyer who claimed President Trump could kill someone and not face prosecution as long as he remained in office, has collected nearly $600,000 from the Dunleavy administration to pursue the failed anti-union crusade, now under its third attorney general.

Dermot ColeFebruary 8, 2021 Comments

Tuckerman Babcock's wife doesn't belong on Alaska Judicial Council

Given his improper efforts to interfere with the independent judiciary two years ago, Tuckerman Babcock doesn’t belong anywhere near the Alaska Judicial Council.

Dermot ColeFebruary 7, 2021 Comments

Dunleavy recall succeeded in capturing the governor's undivided attention, but it can’t force a fiscal plan

There is no Dunleavy fiscal plan other than unsustainable spending—which won’t last long because the easy money is almost gone—a story that belongs on the front page of every Alaska newspaper and in every newscast.

Dermot ColeFebruary 6, 2021 Comments

Dunleavy gas line plan calls for the feds to pay $4.5 billion for the $6 billion "first phase"

It’s not even a plan. It’s a press release straight out of Bizarro World asking the feds for billions in subsidies. The news coverage of this debacle ought to make that clear, but I doubt it will happen.

Dermot ColeFebruary 4, 2021 Comments

Dunleavy’s gas pipeline private sector dream would be funded by the feds

The project is founded on the dream of attracting support and major backing from the Biden administration, which seems unlikely. If there is any chance of selling the idea that a federal subsidy is in order, Dunleavy’s campaign that Biden and others are trying to destroy Alaska is going to destroy the chance for success.

Dermot ColeFebruary 3, 2021 Comments

Alaska on the hook for $160 million in lost taxes, thanks to weakness in state law

There is an easy fix the state can make—decouple the state corporate income tax law from all changes in the federal law, but the governor and Legislature are dawdling. About $70 million of the loss is from oil companies.

Dermot ColeFebruary 2, 2021 Comments

Dunleavy announces gas pipeline is 'closer than ever,' as so many have announced before

The billions for a pipeline to Fairbanks are supposed to come from unnamed private sources and the federal government, said Dunleavy, the same guy who claims the Biden administration has declared war on Alaska and wants to destroy the state. Without details, this is a press release pipeline, the kind that exists in the world of imagination.

Dermot ColeFebruary 1, 2021 Comments

Finally, Dunleavy gets called on his lies about 2020 Permanent Fund growth

The truth is that the fund grew by $4.8 billion in 2020, making this a lie of from $5.2 billion to $6.2 billion—which would put Dunleavy in first place as the author of the biggest lie in Alaska history.

Dermot ColeJanuary 31, 2021 Comments

Alaska news organizations ignore Dunleavy's unhinged Texas rant

I think it was the real Dunleavy who spoke his mind to his Texas audience, while the Dunleavy who spoke to Alaskans last week was the politically modified version—stiffly delivering a speech in which he attempted to give no ammunition to his political opponents. It was written by his handlers to help keep the recall at bay.

Dermot ColeJanuary 30, 2021 Comments