Official Ties With Big Oil Now Bind in Uncomfortable Ways

[Blue_In_AK]

http://www.adn.com/news/politics/fbi/story/9186882p-9102378c.html

Line between industry, Alaska politics blurred

By STEVE QUINN
The Associated Press

Published: August 2, 2007
Last Modified: August 2, 2007 at 08:37 AM

JUNEAU -- One former state representative is guilty of bribery. Three more await trial on similar charges. The state's lone congressman is under federal investigation for corruption. A U.S. senator just had his home searched by the FBI.

This is not what Vic Fischer envisioned when he and about 50 others drafted the state's constitution 50 years ago. Now in the wake of the most recent development -- Sen. Ted Stevens' Girdwood home being searched by the feds -- Fischer, current lawmakers and political analysts say the state is reaping what it sowed from years of lax oversight and a cozy relationship with the oil industry.

"Greed is rampant," said Fischer, who helped draft the state's constitution in 1956. "The character of the politicians has changed a lot. I'm very disgusted. It's not so much a matter of betrayal. It's more a matter of sadness and concern, but most of all disgust."

<snip>

Eventually, the lines between the industry and politics became blurred, said former House minority leader Ethan Berkowitz. He said the state's checks-and-balances system eroded into something that is now broken.

"We've been a one-party state and a one-industry state for too long," he said. "The economic and political power has consolidated into just a few hands and that breeds contempt. That kind of concentration of power gives rise to fascist tendencies."

Berkowitz is fast becoming known for a sound bite captured during a May 2006 floor session questioning the lobbyist-lawmaker relationship.

"This is our floor. Our floor," Berkowitz said, addressing House Speaker John Harris. "No telephone call's supposed to change what we're doing.

"No lobbyist is supposed to peer over the railing and tell us to change our mind. Never should happen."

It was ultimately a precursor of things to come a few months later when the FBI raided the offices of several state lawmakers, including Stevens' son, former Senate President Ben Stevens.

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(Incidentally, above-named Ethan Berkowitz is rumored to be considering a run against Ted Stevens, assuming he's still around and running, next year. I love his use of the word "fascist.")

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

1. It's like a microcosm of our federal government: rampant greed, concentration of wealth & power.

I'd like to witness clean-up from Alaska to the steps of the WH and the whole of DC.