Predators & Sheeple

Nature Bites Dept: 

Encounters with aggressive wolves on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson near Anchorage have prompted the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to issue orders to eliminate the animals on the base. 

~ snip ~ 

Burch said only one wolf has been killed so far, out of about a dozen wolves on the base. 

Burch said he issued an order to remove the wolves in October after a number of reports of wolves showing no fear of humans, including one incident last April in which wolves chased a group of women until they climbed a tree for safety.

Remember that these aren't Alaskan citizens we're dealing with here - they're military personnel, for whom having regular access to personal firearms is verboten.

They Just Don't Get It Dept:

Both of Alaska's senators said Tuesday they were disappointed the top Senate appropriator was calling for a moratorium on earmarking, the practice that has directed billions of dollars in federal spending to Alaska. 

Democratic Sen. Mark Begich and Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski both said they agree there's a need to cut federal spending, but neither thinks an end to earmarks is the way to do it.

"I have said many times before, Alaska is a young state with many needs, and we deserve our fair share of federal funding to develop our resources and our infrastructure," Begich said.

Murkowksi, who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said she believes it's up to Congress to determine spending. By leaving the executive branch to determine such appropriations, they're ceding power to the White House, she said.

"We are in essence abdicating our constitutional duties, giving cabinet departments and federal agencies the sole power, authority and ability to target and spend taxpayers’ money," she said.

This is wrong on so. many. levels.  

Yes, Alaska's infrastructure has been built largely by earmarks. That said, it's time we tried standing on our own feet.

Here's an idea: instead of paying municipal Parks & Recreation personnel to spend their summers driving up and down the sidewalks in their 6-wheelers, watering the thousands of hanging baskets WHEN IT'S RAINING ... just perhaps they could direct those folks in more, ahem, useful enterprises.

And clearly they do NOT understand about "our fair share" ... Americans have finally waked up en masse to the concept of "We're broke."

Alaska has received far more than its "fair share", already. Yes, I grant that we did not have the population nor tax base to build modern roadways and airports on our own. But okay, guys, we have them. Could we at least try to maintain them on our own?

Maintain what we've got, folks, and quit trying to build another bigger-better-shinier anything. Live within your means.  It's not a bottomless pit, and it's other people's money.  I know that's a novel concept, but give it a whirl, 'kay?

And excuse me, but did she say that failure to use earmarks was "abdicating our constitutional duties"? I know she's talking about the budget generation process, but exactly what article and section of the U.S. Constitution authorizes earmarks?  Just wondering.

Read more at the links.