Month: November 2014

Former Rep. Disco Ray Metcalfe fancies himself as a political gadfly these days, and writes some sort of blog.  For some reason he took a shot at me, and I want to set  the record straight.

John Lindauer was a crazy Republican from Anchorage who served one term in the House.  He moved to Chicago, married into some mob money, and convinced his in-laws they could get to the Permanent Fund if they made him Governor.  He comes back in 1994 spreading all this money around, that he claimed was his.  He buys the Republican nomination for Governor, and then it’s proven that it’s his wife’s money, that he’s been lying about it all along.  I was on the Republican Party Central Committee, and we met to figure out what to do.  I argued we should disown Lindauer and endorse Sen. Robin Taylor, who came in second.  I came up short, and after the meeting told the press, “Lindauer’s a pathological liar, but, hey, he’s our guy.”

Disco Ray says this meant I’m urging loyalty to Lindauer.

He’s a man of limited education, and thus does not appreciate sarcasm.

Robin was my best buddy in the legislature, and we did eventually get the Party to do as I asked.  He ran a valiant but losing campaign under impossible circumstances.

Disco Ray is most famous for his vote against his own amendment.  He offered some screwy amendment on the floor, and someone pointed out the obvious flaws in his thinking.  He asked the Speaker to be allowed to withdraw his amendment, and was denied.  Speaker Ben Grussendorf liked to have a little fun, especially if it was at Disco Ray’s expense.  So Disco Ray is on record, in the official annals of the Alaska House of Representatives, as joining his colleagues in a unanimous vote against his own amendment.

He’s better off in the gadfly business.

That’s what it will take in Wyoming.  We got a lot of educatin’ to do back there.  NFIB’s man in Wyoming, Tony Gagliardi, says Sen.  Charlie Scott is our target sponsor.  No big Birch/Eagle Forum problem.  We’ll have a session with Natelson, myself, and maybe Bill Fruth sometime around 1-21-15, a week after the session opens.  I have been a little too sanguine about our prospects there, but as long as they have open minds — minds not infected with the dreaded Birch/Eagle virus — we should convince them.  The counter arguments are so weak — lame, really.

Excellent news in the Article V Caucus newsletter, produced by Stu McPhail.  There’s a new group in Texas pushing term limits through Article V —  americansforcongressionalreform.org, headed by Bryan Anderson.  They also want an amendment that would prohibit Congress from passing any law that didn’t also apply to Congress.  A fairly impressive list of guys.  I’ll be talking to them.  I introduced their Reso in the Alaska House in 1989.  Aaron Cook of termlimitconvention.org will be getting ahold of them Monday so they can team up.

Good report from Dave and Bill on the Liberty Congress.  Aglialoro will probably give us something in the mid five figures.  We need all we can get.  Bill is now “The Closer”, having made an irrefutable closing pitch.  18 or 20 big conservative/libertarian groups in attendance.  They’ve all got their own agendas, but now they at least know we exist, and are generally supportive.

The Task Force is sponsoring a breakfast on 12-6, the Saturday after ALEC.  Hopefully a good, receptive crowd.

Good news out of West Virginia, via Scott.  Looking good.

Been thinking about my old pal Rick Halford back in Alaska.  He’s a bit of an odd duck.  When I first get down to Juneau we hit it off, and pretty soon we were strategizing together.  One night he tells me this delicious tidbit of gossip about something.  Kind of amazing, you’d never think of it.  And he swears me to secrecy.

I don’t talk.  Never have, never will.  It’s a sign of weakness, a way of drawing attention to yourself as somebody “in the know.”  Snitches get stiches where I come from.

So a couple weeks go by, and I never hear a word, from anyone, about Rick’s secret info.  Then I realize it was bullshit.  He made it up, and told it to me to test my ability to keep my mouth shut.

Rick’s back in politics to kill the Pebble Dam.  I’ve got a stock tip for you.  Find out the stocks which are invested in that mine.

And short ’em.

In Time he says he’s going to be out campaigning for our resolution.  In addition, Dave says retiring Sen. Coburn should be endorsing our cause in the next few weeks.  At the Liberty Congress in Philly Dave asked when we would start to get some media.  Dick Morris (yeah, that one) said it would happen when Republican Presidential candidates started talking about in the debates.  I disagree.  We don’t have to wait for the debates.

You can bet the ranch that all the potential candidates are watching each other like hawks.  Kasich’s statement, in Time, puts him out front on this issue — and it’s a good one, as anyone with a room temperature IQ can see.  My bet is that before Kasich is allowed to take this issue, run with it, and make it his own, other candidates will weigh in.  It’s too good an idea to let him have to himself.

Thus far, the NFIB and ALEC have been our pillars of support.  Having them with us makes this doable.  Dave set up a cc with them this morning — Gary Selvy, Steve Woods, and Daniel Markels of NFIB, and Michael Bowman of ALEC.  I’ll be working mainly with Daniel, Western States Director.  He’s taken the initiative and is setting up cc’s with his state reps and a few others in AZ, ID, SD, ND, MT, UT and WY.  This is exactly what needs to be done, now.  I’ve got a strong ally, which helps.

My old buddy Rick Halford has done it again.  In 1990 he masterminded the successful third party candidacy of Wally Hickel for Governor of Alaska.  The Republican candidate was Arliss Sturgulewski, a RINO.  Now that he’s an old pro, he’s proven he’s still got it (he’s 70).  He’s got a hard on for Republican Governor Sean Parnell.  Probably over the Pebble Mine, which Rick vehemently opposes (he’s evolved, politically).  So he decides he wants Bill Walker, an independent, to be Governor.  He gets the Democrat to drop out, has Walker team up with the Democratic Lt. Gov., a well respected Native, and goes one to one with Parnell and beats him.  Today Walker announced that Rick and a Native woman from Bethel will head his transition team.

Rick was already in the legislature four years when I got elected in 1982.  He was my mentor for a while.  An amazing guy, one of the smartest people I’ve ever known.  Politics cost him his first marriage, to Connie, who everybody liked.  Had three daughters.  Then he married a staffer in Juneau, a part Native gal from Dillingham.  When he quit the legislature he moved out there, and now has three sons.  I talk to him every couple years.  He seems really happy, more so than I’ve ever seen.

He’s got something to smile about tonight.

I signed on as a volunteer in the Paul campaign.  All Fivers (Biddulph’s term) should pick a candidate and do likewise.  I hope to worm my way into a position where I can make a suggestion on political strategy.  You get one guess as to what my advice will be.

I will specifically suggest the Senator travel to Columbia, South Carolina to testify before the South Carolina legislature in support of our resolution.  I’ve read (somewhere on the internet, so you never know) that he testified in support before the Kentucky Senate, so this isn’t anything new.  I would also suggest he make a side trip to Charleston to meet with Republican leaders there, including John Steinberger, Chairman of the Charleston County GOP, and a serious player in SC Republican politics.  John and his wife told me they were mightily impressed with their extended talk with Ted Cruz.  When I told them Cruz was not supporting us they were surprised.  I urged them to ask Cruz about that if they got the chance, and they agreed.

If this is taken seriously I’d go further and suggest day trips to Virginia and West Virginia to testify before those legislatures.  And if his travel plans permit, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to drop by Oklahoma City, Phoenix and Helena.  I could go on.

This all may come to naught, but it’s worth a try.  Paul is my choice, and I want him to win.  I strongly believe pushing Article V and the BBA is smart politically, and would help him.  And I’ll make a bold prediction that if he does this, his rivals will follow suit.  (The only down side is pissing off the Birch/Eagle Forum crowd.  If that idea scares you you’re not a serious person.)  If Pence, Kasich or Jindal runs there’s no doubt they would follow Paul’s lead on this.  Probably Perry and Rubio as well.  I’m not a fan of Christie or Bush, but if they want to jump in, the water’s fine.

Cruz is the only one that might balk.  When he took on the establishment candidate in the Texas Senate primary he looked for help wherever he could get it, and my bet is that he got significant help from the Birch/Eaglers, and owes them.  To be honest, Cruz turns me off.  He’s smarmy, and too eager to show he’s the smartest guy in the room  — the fact that he probably is, is no excuse.  Ten years from now I might change my mind, but I don’t think his current demeanor works.

Thanks to Lou Marin and Loren Enns of IamAmerica we have a lot of grass roots support in South Carolina.  These are the kind of people who get involved in Presidential primaries.  The first candidate to champion Article V and the BBA will have a leg up getting their support.  And, of course, South Carolina comes right after New Hampshire on the 2016 calendar.

The thing is, Paul testifying in Columbia is newsworthy.  United States Senators don’t normally testify before state legislative committees.  For federalists, it is a proper sign of respect to the state legislatures who, under Article V, are the ultimate sovereigns in this country.  So this thing will get covered, maybe on Fox News.  90% of the audience would wonder, “WTF?  What is Article V, for God’s sake?”  And then they’d learn.  And they’d like it.

All Fivers, not just in the Task Force, should sign up for a Presidential campaign and try to promote the Article V BBA as an issue for their candidate.

As is typical, I get carried away.  But for Christ’s sake, Republicans have been yammering about how they want a BBA for forty years.  No one takes it seriously any more.  It’s a throwaway line in a stump speech.  But when only ten more states are needed, all of them with Republican majorities in both chambers, the idea of doing it through Article V isn’t some wild-eyed vision.  It could happen.

If Rand Paul grabs this ball and runs with it he’s the next President of the United States.

That would be Brent Mead of the Montana Policy Institute.  From what I’ve been able to learn, he appears to be a respected and connected player in Montana politics, particularly the legislature.  I don’t think he sits around thinking big thoughts.  He’s in the arena.

I’ve been worried about Montana.  If we come up short in North Dakota (highly unlikely) or Wyoming, we could try to get the Governor to call a special session in 2016.  But that’s not available in Montana, with a Democratic Governor.  And in those states we have huge, overwhelming majorities of R’s.  I think the Wyoming House is 51-9.  But there are a lot of Democrats in the Montana legislature, so we don’t have much margin for error.

I had a couple ideas about what to do in Montana.  Brent thinks he may have a better way.  I’m going to follow his lead.  He’ll be in the Capitol every day of the session, and has made a commitment to push our resolution.  I have no doubt he will, but it certainly won’t be his only project.  He’ll have other irons in the fire.  But the reason I’m much more optimistic is that I have something to offer him, of real value.  I’ll be making a deposit in the favor bank, and Brent will owe me one.  I think it will motivate him to put us at the very top of his list in the coming session.  And I believe he will deliver, if it is at all possible.

I haven’t been able to make contact with him the last few days, and that’s just fine with me, because I think I know why.  He’s up to his eyeballs working on the Republican Majority organizations, probably in cahoots with the new Speaker and Senate President.  All good.

A lot of chatter about where the wave came from.  I say it all started a year ago when people wised up to the Whopper — you can keep your health plan, keep your doctor.  Even the lowest information voter realized he’d been lied to.  Deliberately.  Repeatedly.  Knowingly.

Right then and there the D’s were toast.  And Obama’s a tar baby — they can’t get free of him.  For the next two years the leader of the Democratic Party will be a man no one believes, no one trusts.  And even when he leaves office they’re stuck with him.  He’ll be in his mid-50’s, and in excellent health.  He’s going to live forever, and you know damn well he won’t keep his mouth shut.  For blacks he’ll be a living icon, who can never be disrespected.  The D’s are married to the black vote, and thus to Barack Obama, for as long as he lives.

Live long and prosper, brother.

P.S.  Don’t worry about the Alaska Senate seat.  In tight races, where absentee and challenged ballots make the difference, R’s have a secret advantage — voter fraud.  When military guys (and there are thousands of them)  are rotated out of Alaska, they maintain their Alaska residence in order to keep getting Permanent Fund Dividends — about $1880 this year.  They all, every one of them, vote absentee to show their residence.  The only thing they care about in Alaska is the dividend — and Republicans were the creators and remain the defenders of the dividend (I had a hand in that).  Plus, Republicans are pro military, so we get 90% of their vote.  Democrats know about this, but don’t want to look anti-military.  Republicans?  Che sera, sera.  What will be, will be.