Corruption Out of Control among Alaska Republican Leaders
VECO stench corrupts GOP
By DOUGLAS YATES
Published September 28, 2007
http://newsminer.com/2007/09/28/9086
A fetid smell circulates in the forest this time of year. Rotting vegetation and decaying mushrooms forecast the change in seasons. But there’s another odor slapping the faces of Alaskans these days. For many, it’s unthinkable, but as details emerge from the federal court house in Anchorage, it’s impossible to deny. It’s like finding a freezer full of salmon after the power’s been off for a week.
The spoiled legacy of Alaska’s Republican Party has stained the carpet and mold is climbing the walls. The entire building may need to be demolished if there’s any hope of recovery.
Here’s what we know. Until the FBI raided Juneau, the sellout of Alaska was a crime in progress. The state’s oil and fisheries resources, as well as our integrity and sovereignty, were being auctioned off by predatory capitalists and their hired stooges. The bribery conviction on Tuesday of Pete Kott, the former Speaker of the House, confirms what many have known for years.
VECO was an oil field contractor. Its former chairman, Bill Allen, and Rick Smith, his lieutenant, made more than $400,000 in payoffs to elected officials. Their testimony and FBI evidence has implicated many current and former state and federal legislators for accepting bribes and favors for official actions or access.
So far, they include: state Sen. John Cowdery, former state representatives Bruce Weyhrauch and Vic Kohring, and former state Sen. Ben Stevens.
Rep. Don Young and Sen. Ted Stevens are under similar investigations. Another former legislator, Tom Anderson, was recently found guilty of accepting bribes. Anderson’s wife, state Sen. Lesil McGuire, is being investigated for conflict of interest in another matter. Randy Ruedrich, Republican Party chair, was fined for political organizing while working for the state.
The major conspiracy appears to subvert legislation to the benefit of Alaska’s big three oil companies, ConocoPhillips, Exxon and BP. In a phone call taped by the FBI, Allen and Jim Bowles, president of ConocoPhillips Alaska, talk about working behind the scenes to keep tax rates below a certain number.
Perhaps that’s why ConocoPhillips is running diversionary TV spots headlining the chump change it throws at Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge and Potter Marsh. “Environmentalists” greenwashing Big Oil’s white-collar crimes epitomize the depth of its influence.
Sen. Ted Stevens is the longest-serving Republican in the Senate, and fish rot from the head down. His careless lack of attention to the power of his office, his single-minded focus on grabbing money for Alaska while ignoring ethical standards, has attracted flies. It’s time to clean camp.
Who in their right mind would allow VECO to act as his agent on a home-construction project? It’s been an open secret for years that Allen’s money greased the skids in Juneau. Did Uncle Ted think we were all blind?
A senator with a grasp of his place in the arc of history would have used his current term to groom a replacement. But at 84, Stevens has no protégés because there is no accountability in the Republican Party.
It’s a free-for-all. Everyone is on their own; steal as much as you can carry. According to Allen, Ted’s son Ben took more than $240,000 of VECO money while serving in the Legislature. Largely unmentioned yet is the $900,000 funneled to the younger Stevens in fees for allocating federal grants to seafood companies. Father and son wallowed in a moral cesspool and thought it smelled like roses.
Not to be outdone, Sen. Lisa Murkowski showed her family colors with a sweetheart deal for prime Kenai River property. It was sold to her by Bob Penny, a wealthy developer with a stake in fisheries legislation. When it was made public, Lisa denied special advantage but was soon overcome with buyer’s remorse. She quickly dumped the property, but voters must wait until 2010 to express their regrets.
Rep. Don Young has been throwing federal transportation money around the country like a silage farmer spreading manure, apparently expecting a return on the investments. Young’s $10 million Florida highway earmark was rejected by locals, except for a nearby landowner who sent $40,000 to Don’s re-election campaign. With an investigation under way, Young is spending $250,000 for lawyers to shrink the stink.
Alaska’s Constitution is a model of open government, but that didn’t protect it from being sold down the river. Today’s Republican Party is a club of glad-handers, thieves and liars, people who appear sincere then stab Alaskans in the back. Voters and the press, however, can’t escape blame.
Malfeasance grows in a climate of apathy and weak journalism; it’s a cancer that undermines Alaska’s future. The cure is more sunlight.
Douglas Yates is a writer and photographer who comments on politics from Ester.