by Eric Dondero

The Independent Political Report (IPR) is reporting this morning that the Alaska Libertarian Party and the Alaska Independence Party have agreed to form a “new bipartisan coalition.”

at least in the battle for four seats in the Alaska Legislature, including that of Speaker of the House. The Alaskan Independence Party (AIP) and the Alaska Libertarian Party (ALP) have both agreed to endorse and support each others candidates for the Alaska Legislature this year.

There are three Alaska Libertarian Party candidates, Robert Clift in HD21 in Anchorage, Harley Brown in HD25 in Spenard/Jewell Lake and Scott Kohlhaas in HD20 in Mountainvie (photo – right), Russian Jack and Northeast Anchorage. There is one Alaskan Independence Party candidate, Ray Southwell, RN of Nikiski, who is challenging Alaska Speaker of the House, Milke Chenault in House District 34. Southwell said, “Isn’t it time that like minded people from all political persuasions band together in defense of our liberties by electing those who will hold our government accountable?”

Although IPR describes this as a “new” coalition, this has been done before. The Alaska Independence Party in many ways emerged out of the Libertarian Party of Alaska in the 1980s. The LPA got immersed in a huge scandal over a raffle for a sea plane which ran awray of state election laws. For years after, Libertarian candidate ran on the “Independence” ticket. The Party itself is said to have been formed by former members and fellow travelers of the Libertarian Party.

As is well known, Todd Palin was a dues-paying member of the AIP for years. Sarah Palin herself was often an attendee at AIP events, and even produced a video for an AIP convention welcoming attendees as Governor. Of course, Sarah Palin’s political mentor was former Alaska Governor Wally Hickel, twice elected on the AIP ticket.

Added to the connections, Rob Clift listed above as helping for forge the coalition between AIP and the LPA, is the very individual who invited Sarah Palin to be a guest speaker at two Libertarian Party of Alaska local supper club meetings held in Anchorage in 2005/06.

In that election year, the leadership of the LPA, including then State LP Chair Jason Dowell publicly endorsed Palin, and worked as volunteers for her campaign. Sarah Palin’s opponent for Governor on the ballot Billy Toien, good naturedly endorsed her too the last 3 days of the election.

Briefly in the 2008 Presidential campaign, the Palins were slammed by the liberal media for their attachment to the AIP. Though, suspiciously, their connections to the Libertarian Party of Alaska were largely ignored.

Now the connections may be resurfacing, in an effort to connect Palin and the Tea Party to extremist of “fringe” movements. Progressive Nation and Huffington Post are reporting “The Alaskan Independence Party, The Tea Party Before There Was A Tea Party”:

If you like the Tea Party, you gotta love the Alaskan Independence Party, so why has it been shunned even by Alaska politicians?

Onetime Gov. Sarah Palin sort of started this when she was running for vice president back in 2008…

Todd Palin, the husband of ex-Gov. Sarah, was for years a registered AIP party member, and now he’s helping out with the campaign of Tea Partier Miller.

Note – Joe Miller was a guest on “Libertarian Politics Live” (LPL) two weeks ago, the radio show for this blog hosted by Andre Traversa and Jim “Right Guy” Lagnese.

Sarah Palin endorsed Miller (photo) over incumbent Republican Lisa Murkowski on her Facebook page last month.

Sarah Palin’s ties to the Libertarian Party of Alaska do not fit the agendas of either the third party advocate folks at IPR, nor the liberal media types at HuffPo and Progressive Nation, which prefer to paint her as a “religious conservative,” rather than a Libertarian. So, interestingly enough, her and her husband’s ties to AIP are played up, but her ties to the LP are ignored.

Disclosure – I am a longtime friend of Scott Kolhaas, and worked closely with Rob Clift in 2005/06 in Anchorage on a local initiative. I also served as a volunteer in Sarah Palin’s campaign for Governor the last few weeks of the election.

A Radical for Capitalism, and Gun Rights

Ayn Randian Republican for the US Congress – Colorado CD 3

From Eric Dondero:

Three hateful ultra-liberals are now extremely vulnerable according to Democrat strategist Stuart Rothenberg. He blogs:

Right now, Democrats look poised to lose five to eight seats, and any net loss short of that would have to be regarded with relief by Democratic strategists.

Moving from the Lean Democrat category to “Toss-up”:

Toss-Up/Tilt Democrat ( 0 R, 3 D)
Boxer (D-CA) *
Feingold (D-WI) *
Murray (D-WA) *

With help from Independent and 2008 McCain supporter Sen. Joe Lieberman, a sweep of 8 seats by the Republicans could hand the GOP a Senate majority.

Recent polls within the last two weeks have shown Boxer falling behind Carly Fiorna by 3 points, Murray behind her two likely GOP challengers by 3 points each, and even Feingold a 3 points behind Republican Ron Johnson. (All within the margin of error.)

(H/t Jim Antle, AS)

Loss for Democrat-run states like New York, Illinois, and Ohio is a big gain for Texas

From Eric Dondero:

Governor Rick Perry attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Reyes-Amtex Automotive’s production facility, in San Antonio.

From the Office of the Governor (release):

Reyes–Amtex Automotive is part of a joint venture that is comprised of three companies with a combined 120 years of manufacturing experience. The three entities will combine their strengths to make trim components and carpet manufacturing for the next generation Toyota Tundra pick-up trucks using injection molding, blow molding and various assembly techniques.

While other States mainly in the Northeast, Mid-West and California, are losing jobs at a record pace, Texas continues to be among the leaders in job creation. Commented Perry:

“As Americans look for the best place to live, work and raise a family, more of them are heading to Texas all the time,” Gov. Perry said. “The root cause of our economic success is hardworking Texans, but pro-job policies, low taxes, predictable regulations and fair legal system have also helped Texas lead the nation in job creation.”

The Business world is taking notice. CNBC recently named Texas “America’s Top State for Business” for a second year in a row. CEO named Texas the “Best State to Do Business” for the sixth time in a row. Finally, Forbes named Texas Metro-areas like San Antonion, among “America’s Recovery Capitals.”

From Eric Dondero:

Libertarian Republican contributor and publisher of our allied site Left Coast Rebel, Tim Daniel, got published at Tucker Carlson’s The Daily Caller. Tim’s piece, “Ringing the bell at the top: Paging Chris Christie” July 24:

Here’s an excerpt:

Consider Bell. A diverse, poor offshoot of Los Angeles, Bell’s population in 2000 stood at 37,000 and its median per year household income clocked in at $29,000. But according to a blitz of media reports, city manager Robert Rizzo’s yearly salary clocks in close to $800,00.

The local issue of overpaid, zealous administrators in Bell, California, demonstrates a far more troubling macro picture for both the state and the nation a whole. California’s pension system alone now comes with a price tag that dwarfs the estimates of 10 years ago. This is due mostly to the 1999 California enacted pension ‘reform’ based on ludicrous investment gambles that assumed (among many other things) that the Dow Jones Industrial average would be trading at 25,000 by 2009. And with the ongoing recession and business/entrepreneur exodus – it will only get worse.

California may break records in fiscal insanity and union largess but the issue is not unique to this state alone. A story today out of Ann Arbor, Michigan highlights city officials who saw it fit to use taxpayer dollars to purchase an $800,000 piece of art despite the city’s current fiscal distress. The city also hired an art-coordinator and while doing so fired the city administrator that oversees trash collection efforts.

A Vote for Carnahan is a Vote for Obama and ObamaCare

Latest polls show Republican Roy Blunt 6 points ahead. He’s held a small but consistent lead in the polls throughout the campaign.

From the Kansas City Star:

President Barack Obama has been here three times since January — and big dollars. As of mid-July, Blunt and Carnahan together have raised more than $15 million.

50 to 41%

From Eric Dondero:

In a previous poll Perry had 48% to ex-Houston Mayor Bill White’s 43%. Now the libertarian-leaning Governor has widened his lead to 9%.

From Rasmussen July 15:

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the Lone Star State shows Perry with 50% support. White, a former mayor of Houston, picks up 41% of the vote. Two percent (2%) like another candidate in the race, and seven percent (7%) are undecided.

In mid-June, Perry held a 48% to 40% lead over White.

BREAKING NEWS!!

From Eric Dondero:

Late Friday, Libertarian Republican received the news that our longtime international contributing editor James Fryar, has been nominated for a Senate seat in Queensland. This is the northeast province of Australia. The capitol of Queensland is Brisbane.

From Jim:

The Liberal Democratic Party has nominated me as Senate candidate for Queensland in the forthcoming election to be held on the 21st of August.

Gillard has panicked and decided that rather than try to fix the mess she and Rudd have left the nation in, her best option is to go to the polls now before her reputation starts to really stink with voters. Three weeks ago she was put in power by the unions and claimed that she would be the fixer and sort out the problems which she blamed on Rudd, even though she had clearly been involved in every decision the government had made.

The last straw for her was the details of Rudds political knifing being leaked to the media. She has to have the election now, while she is only on the nose, instead of waiting until she is putrefying.

Jim is an oil rig worker. He is a member of the Australian Libertarian Society.

You can read his full announcement, including an insider perspective on the mining industry and the controversy Gillard has gotten herself into over mining rights, at our sister site WorldwideLiberty.

BREAKING NEWS!!

From Eric Dondero:

Late Friday, Libertarian Republican received the news that our longtime international contributing editor James Fryar, has been nominated for a Senate seat in Queensland. This is the northeast province of Australia. The capitol of Queensland is Brisbane.

From Jim:

The Liberal Democratic Party has nominated me as Senate candidate for Queensland in the forthcoming election to be held on the 21st of August.

Gillard has panicked and decided that rather than try to fix the mess she and Rudd have left the nation in, her best option is to go to the polls now before her reputation starts to really stink with voters. Three weeks ago she was put in power by the unions and claimed that she would be the fixer and sort out the problems which she blamed on Rudd, even though she had clearly been involved in every decision the government had made.

The last straw for her was the details of Rudds political knifing being leaked to the media. She has to have the election now, while she is only on the nose, instead of waiting until she is putrefying.

Jim is an oil rig worker. He is a member of the Australian Libertarian Society.

You can read his full announcement, including an insider perspective on the mining industry and the controversy Gillard has gotten herself into over mining rights, at our sister site WorldwideLiberty.

By The Right Guy

In a keynote speech before the NAACP (NAALCP for those familiar with Rush Limbaugh), Mobama condemned racist elements within the Tea Party movement. Really? This is a woman from a party that  championed Robert Byrd, who was a klansman and dismissed it as a election ploy. This same klansman was against the civil rights act of 1964. How convenient.

The truth is, is that The Tea Party is making such huge inroads with the voting public and is a vehicle for the repudiation of her incompetent and feckless husband, the Mountebank in Chief, Barack Hussein Obama, hmmm, hmmm hmmm.

The Tea Party, which espouses the philosophy of our founders, which is small government, low taxes, protection of natural rights, elimination of entitlements, and strong national defense. These are everyday people of all colors, races, and national origins as well as ethnic identities and it transcends identity politics as espoused by organizations such as the NAACP and the democrat party.

Right now Obama is sinking in the polls faster the W on a 24/7/365 Katrina-like groundhog day movie. He’s proven feckless in fixing any problems or even being involved in such a way to give the impression he is trying to anything other than play another round of golf or eat a cheeseburger with a foreign dignitary.

This is truly a desperate attempt by a many that will hide behind his wife’s big behind (would you prefer skirt?), instead of confronting the issues and using reason instead of a marxism template that has been proven not to work, time and time again.

Right now this administration is playing out like a bad episode of Boondocks except there’s no comic relief from Uncle Ruckus. Obama is doing his best to ruin this country, like a driver white knuckled on the steering wheel of a bus going over a cliff. It’s not that he doesn’t have a clue, it that he refuses to admit he is wrong, that his philosophy is wrong and that the country knows this. He truly is not one of our own. We might as well have Lars Rasmussen or Frederik Reinfeldt in the White House.

So, Lady Back can complain all she wants, but if she wants to confront racism, look in the mirror. If she wants this country to do better, she she ask her husband to resign.

Thank you for reading this blog.