Trump's tariff tirade will be bad for Alaska

I am waiting to hear the arguments about how the Trump trade war, which has the backing of Alaska Republicans not named Sen. Lisa Murkowski, will be great for Alaska.

That it will be great for the export of Alaska fish and that Trump’s attempt to blackmail countries in Asia is just what is needed to get the Alaska gas pipeline built.

This, after all, is the Golden Age of Alaska, brought to us by the great and powerful Trump, according to Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Nick Begich 3.

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Dermot Cole Comments
Bill to close $100 million Hilcorp loophole advances in Alaska Senate

The Senate bill to close the glaring loophole that enriches billionaire Jeff Hildebrand to the tune of $100 million a year or more moved out of the Senate Resources Committee Wednesday.

The Legislature should have closed the Hilcorp loophole in 2019 when he bought out BP. Since then many hundreds of millions that could have gone to state services, including the Permanent Fund Dividend, went to Hildebrand’s pockets in Texas.

The oil industry propaganda, which is thoughtlessly copied and repeated year after year, never mentions this high-stakes cash flow Outside.

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Dermot Cole Comments
Legislators should have demanded to see the AIDEA economic analysis

Tuesday was the perfect day for Randy Ruaro to release the “robust, independent analysis” of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority that was completed more than a year ago and kept secret.

Not because it was April Fools’ Day, but because the Alaska House and Senate held a joint meeting of their state affairs committees.

Legislators should have demanded to see what they received for the $250,000 contract.

Ruaro addressed the topic “What is AIDEA and how does it benefit Alaskans?”

There is no better document to answer that question about benefits than the study prepared for AIDEA and completed more than a year ago by Northern Economics of Anchorage for $250,000.

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Dermot Cole Comments
Fairbanks assembly member Haney says she only claimed protesters 'looked like a tour group'

Barbara Haney did repeat and amplify Suzanne Downing’s lie that the Fairbanks protest was the work of imported characters brought to the Golden Heart City specially for the occasion.

Haney did this in a limited way on Facebook under her own name and more directly on X, formerly known as Twitter, where she does not use her real name but self-identifies as “Steamboat Landing.”

The Fairbanks protest was “protest tourism” and was “paid for by the 50501 fund—the Bernie Bros,” Haney/Steamboat Landing said.

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Dermot Cole Comments
Marvin Roberts settles with City of Fairbanks for $11.5 million in landmark case

Marvin Roberts has won his case against the City of Fairbanks for wrongful conviction. The settlement is $11.5 million.

Here is a press release from his attorney, Fairbanksan Mike Kramer, of the law firm Kramer and Cosgrove.

“I don’t think any amount of money will be enough to justify what I endured as an innocent man in prison,” Roberts was quoted as saying.

“This settlement, however, give me freedom with my life, and most importantly, more time with my daughter and my parents, who supported me throughout the nightmare.”

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Dermot Cole Comments