Now that she has apparently won re-election without the backing of the Republican Party, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is in debt to nobody -- besides the revolving-door K Street lobbyists and government contractors who financed her write-in campaign.
As her write-in votes surpassed the votes for Republican nominee Joe Miller this week, Murkowski asserted her independence from the party.
Murkowski told the press she feels liberated because she won "not because I came as my party's nominee but because a very, very wide range of Alaskans of all political stripes have stepped up and said 'you're the person we want to represent us in Washington.' " The Hill newspaper reported, "Murkowski said her 'backbone is stiffer, straighter' " from winning as a write-in.
And how is Murkowski standing up to the GOP bosses? By rejecting the party's earmark ban and promising to pork up spending bills with parochial, unauthorized pet projects that, no doubt, will help her political allies.
Murkowski has repeatedly said this week she will continue to request earmarks, justifying them because Alaska is a "young" state (a "young state" that takes five dollars in spending for every dollar in taxes it sends to Washington, according to the Cato Institute).
Murkowksi points out that the Republican Senate Conference rule banning earmarks has no real enforcement mechanism, and says she'll chose Alaska over the party.
But Murkowski's earmarking shows us that pork isn't about helping out the home state as much as it's about rewarding political donors and greasing the gears of the political patronage machine.
The "Alaska Mafia," as it's known on Capitol Hill, K Street, and in the 49th state, is a network of former aides to Murkowksi, her father, Frank, the late Sen. Ted Stevens, and Rep. Don Young -- all Republicans. The aides now populate K Street firms like Van Ness Feldman, BlueWater Strategies, and Birch & Horton, winning earmarks and special favors for their clients -- Alaska towns and privileged Alaska Native Corporations.
Read more at the Washington Examiner
As her write-in votes surpassed the votes for Republican nominee Joe Miller this week, Murkowski asserted her independence from the party.
Murkowski told the press she feels liberated because she won "not because I came as my party's nominee but because a very, very wide range of Alaskans of all political stripes have stepped up and said 'you're the person we want to represent us in Washington.' " The Hill newspaper reported, "Murkowski said her 'backbone is stiffer, straighter' " from winning as a write-in.
And how is Murkowski standing up to the GOP bosses? By rejecting the party's earmark ban and promising to pork up spending bills with parochial, unauthorized pet projects that, no doubt, will help her political allies.
Murkowski has repeatedly said this week she will continue to request earmarks, justifying them because Alaska is a "young" state (a "young state" that takes five dollars in spending for every dollar in taxes it sends to Washington, according to the Cato Institute).
Murkowksi points out that the Republican Senate Conference rule banning earmarks has no real enforcement mechanism, and says she'll chose Alaska over the party.
But Murkowski's earmarking shows us that pork isn't about helping out the home state as much as it's about rewarding political donors and greasing the gears of the political patronage machine.
The "Alaska Mafia," as it's known on Capitol Hill, K Street, and in the 49th state, is a network of former aides to Murkowksi, her father, Frank, the late Sen. Ted Stevens, and Rep. Don Young -- all Republicans. The aides now populate K Street firms like Van Ness Feldman, BlueWater Strategies, and Birch & Horton, winning earmarks and special favors for their clients -- Alaska towns and privileged Alaska Native Corporations.
Read more at the Washington Examiner
3 comments:
wonder how many dead people vote for her
I sorta liked her candidacy, you know, the "little guy" rises up and kicks the establishment in tender parts. That was then. Now, the more I see of this chick, the scarier she is. Here's for hoping the legal challenges are successful...
Mukowski sort of reminds me of a sore loser. She lost her party's primary fair and square, and then decided that she didn't want to accept the will of the people and then basically forced a write in campaign. In theory, she could have split the Republican vote and given the seat to the Democrat. She should have let the people decide if they wanted to write her in, versus saying "hey, I'm running, though I'm not on the ballot, write me in." She has made a laughing stock of Alaska and she totally disrespected her opponent Mr. Miller and disrespected the people of Alaska. She doesn't deserve the win.
Post a Comment