Effort to recall "little ben" Stevens finds support in police

[cleofus1]

ha hah ha
http://www.adn.com/news/politics/story/6784014p-6673243c.html

By SEAN COCKERHAM
Anchorage Daily News


(Published: August 5, 2005)
JUNEAU -- A group pushing to recall Senate President Ben Stevens turned in a thick stack of signatures Thursday as a first step in attempting to cast out the Anchorage Republican.

The move, telegraphed in advance by press releases and e-mail alerts, instigated a flurry of accusations and counterattacks. And this unexpected development came to light: The Anchorage police union has joined the fight against Stevens.

"Our objective is to see to it that Ben Stevens does not pick up the gavel at the opening of the next session of the Legislature," said Ray Metcalfe, the driving force behind the recall attempt and chairman of the Republican Moderate Party.

Metcalfe must now clear a review of whether he has met the legal grounds for a recall, such as corruption or incompetence, before going out to collect more signatures

[snowbear]

1. Good !!

I'd love to see his weasley little arse booted! (And I'm sure the people in the MatSu Valley wouldn't mind either )

Ah hell, unless you're a complete wack-job, who wouldn't way to see him ousted?!?!? :D

The Republican Party in Alaska is in complete shambles! A Governor with the 2nd lowest approval in the nation, 3 of his commissioner's just quit, ethics violations a running rampid, and the list just goes on and on and on..

Getting rid of this guy is a good start -- ACK! :puke:

[roguevalley]

2. Good. Frees him up to inherit his barony from his old man.

:P

[Ken Burch]

3. He can't actually INHERIT the Senate seat

Now that the special election statute is in place there.

Question is, would Young Ben be able to win on his own, the way Senator Princess did?

[Heman]

4. Ben and Adak seafood

Saw little Ben on TV last night. He wasn't looking to cocky.

The Adak seafood deal his daddy made is in the court.

This is the leader of the Alaska republicans.

They all support this corruption.

[Heman]

5. Bribes are now called consulting fees.

Legislation could give exclusive pollock fishing rights to Aleut Corp.


THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ANCHORAGE - Legislation by U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens that could give exclusive pollock fishing rights to the Aleut Corp. along the Aleutian chain has come under attack by some commercial fishermen.

The Aleut Corp., a Native regional corporation, is trying to convert the abandoned Navy base on Adak Island into a thriving new commercial fishing town.

The legislation, included as a rider to a pending federal budget bill, could be worth $10 million a year or more. Some commercial fishermen say that would unfairly snatch money out of their nets.




The critics also note that the Alaska senator's son, state Sen. Ben Stevens, an Anchorage Republican, is on the board of an Aleut Corp. subsidiary that's leading efforts to redevelop Adak.

Ben Stevens also is a consultant to Adak Fisheries, a small fish-processing plant on Adak that stands to grow much larger if Adak lands the large pollock haul.

(In last nights news we find that Little Ben had received $ 300,000 in consulting fees and 25 % interest in Adak Fisheries.)

I bet talk radio is silent on this.

[Heman]

6. Ben and Ted’s Ethically Challenged Adventures

Ted Stevens' son, Ben, worked in the fishing industry for 15 years, working his way up from dockhand to captain of a crab boat. In 1994, Ben started his own lobbying firm in Washington, D.C., and began working for several fisheries-related companies among other clients. In 2002, Ben was appointed to the Alaska State Senate and is now the Senate’s majority leader. Over the years, the fishing industry and Ben-and-Ted have worked their connections to their own great reward:

http://cascadia.times.org/archives/2005/bented.htm

[Heman]

7. Michigan man says Ted's corrupt

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens has stuck some pork to a key spending bill concerning Alaskan fisheries. Considering that the senator's son, Alaska state senator Ben Stevens, has a financial interest in two of them takes the pork to the level of what appears to me to be corruption and conspiracy to commit fraud.

Old Mr. Stevens says the pork will “rationalize the Bering Sea crab fisheries.” Apparently he is trying to use Congress to make a law so that local fishermen sell ninety percent of their catch of certain crab species to officially designated processors. Compare that to a law that would allow only Wal-Mart to sell you pants, while Kroeger's or CVS were the only officially sanctioned market for Band-Aids. The Justice Department calls it “anticompetitive.” Some of my neighbors call it stealing. It is opposed by fishermen who want less government interference. Young Stevens, a former crab fisherman, is a paid consultant for a trade association of crab processors. Old Stevens and Little Stevens have actually admitted talking about the arrangement before the bills were corrupted. Young Stevens claims not to have been lobbying, he was just talking to his daddy. Old Stevens just happen to be performing the work necessary to plug this rotten little plum into our legal system.

The bill claims to “promote economic development in the Aleutian Island fishing community of Adak.” It gives exclusive pollock fishing rights in an area off the Aleutian Islands to a single corporation that boasts Young Stevens as a director for one of its subsidiaries.

Adak used to be home to six thousand people. Then the military packed up and left, and less than three hundred stare out at the empty ocean. It seems Young Stevens and Old Stevens are using the Congress of the United States of America to attempt to gain control of billions of dollars in fishing rights for themselves and their friends and family members.

The bill is supposed to “extend the time periods” for local fisherman (most of whom moved in from outside or who work for company boats out of Australia, Korea, China or Russia) to define what is called “essential fish habitat.” What it does is cut off federal funds for the identification and designation of commercial fisheries, areas important to the Pacific salmon and tuna fisheries.

Of course you would think centuries of experience with the fruitful north Atlantic and the tragic loss of productivity it has suffered would have been lesson enough. We are not talking about people that think about nation. We are talking about people that stuff their pockets with money. We are, in my opinion, talking about Old Senator Stevens and Young Senator Stevens. Like father, like son.

Alfred Brock

Canton, Michigan