I Know Alaska is the Biggest State, But ...

there's no need to go to excess.

After concern new Alaska ferry may be too big, it gets bigger

JUNEAU -- Following complaints that the ferry being built to replace the aged Tustumena would be too big for Kodiak's cramped harbor, the vessel has been redesigned. But the new plan from the [Alaska] Department of Transportation and Public Facilities has the vessel lengthened by 5 feet.

Conceptual drawing of the ocean-going ferry that would replace the Tustumena in the Alaska Marine Highway System. Glosten / Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities 

Yeah, it'll fit at that little shared pier, just fine.

Sigh ...

Blaine's Bulletin: Investigating into Operation Choke Point April 25, 2014

My buddy in Missouri forwarded this; I LIKE THIS GUY.

Friday, April 25, 2014 Blaine's Bulletin   It is bad enough when the heavy hand of government uses its regulatory authority to stymie private  industry, but these days, the federal government is going even further and using its enforcement  authority to threaten an entire sector of our economy. This week I'll take a look at one such government  action, one that is so nefarious, it requires a code name.    Such is the case involving Operation Choke Point. This operation sounds like it's out of a movie, but it is  all too real. Earlier this year I learned about this operation, in which the Federal Deposit Insurance  Corporation loaned investigators to the Justice Department in a hostile attempt to take down  nondepository lenders they believe have no moral right to exist. Also involved in this operation, with  the blessing of the Obama Administration, was the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau which operates  independent of Congress and has extensively broad authority to persecute private industry. In an  effort to drive these legally-operating, licensed and regulated lenders out of business, banking regulators,  in cahoots with the Justice Department, are placing so much regulatory pressure on financial institutions that nondepository lenders are eventually "choked-off" from the financial services they  need to survive. That was the very description given by a Justice Department official on Operation  Choke Point. Consider that for a moment: we aren't talking about businesses that are breaking laws. We are talking about businesses operating legally, yet our government believes it has the moral authority to try  and shutter an entire portion of the private sector which is playing by the rules based on a moral  assessment made by federal bureaucrats and political appointees. This sets a very dangerous  precedent that if the government doesn't like your business, it will just apply enough regulatory  pressure on the financial institution that serves you in order to force it to drop you as a client and  make it impossible for you to function. Even worse, in this circumstance we have an agency  created to preserve and promote public confidence in the U.S. financial system working with a  Justice Department, which has at best a questionable reputation these days, running a secret war  against this industry adds insult to injury. It is chilling to think that another Justice Department  secret operation known as Fast and Furious led to the release of hundreds of weapons to  criminals in Mexico and ended with the death of a border agent and Mexican nationals. If government bureaucrats object to nondepository lenders as they have in this case, what about other  areas of the private sector economy? Well, other "high risk" merchants and activities listed in a  presentation given by Chief of the FDCI's Cyber-Fraud and Financial Crimes Section, Michael  Benardo, include, for now: ammunition sales; firearms and fireworks sales; tobacco sales; and  pharmaceutical sales. During a recent hearing of the Financial Services Committee, I questioned FDIC Acting General  Counsel Richard Osterman vigorously about the agency's involvement with Operation Choke Point  and made it crystal clear the operation was a clear example of a government running out of control.  In my opinion, after reviewing a variety of documents and speaking with bankers firsthand, we now have  not just a shadow banking system but also a shadow regulatory system, one that is undoubtedly being  nurtured by the White House. While I have been unsatisfied with the responses I've received on this matter from the FDIC and  Justice Department on this matter, many of us in Congress are working to get to the bottom of  this operation. Both the Financial Services Committee and the House Oversight and Government  Reform Committee are continuing to go through extensive documentation, most of which the  Justice Department was ordered to produce by Congress, to hear firsthand accounts of regulatory  pressure in an effort to bring the entire story of Operation Choke Point out in the open. A government that is left unchecked results in tyranny, and as your elected representative, I cannot  sit back and allow that to happen. There continues to be a dangerous and disturbing trend: overreach,  covert programs and blatant mistruths from an out of control executive branch. Today it stems from  Operation Choke Point, but we've seen it with the IRS scandal, the lies surrounding the Benghazi  terror attacks, the aforementioned Fast and Furious program – all of which beg the question of what  might come to light next.  I am committed to working with my colleagues to end these abuses of the people's government. We are in the process of connecting the dots and hope to soon have a full account of Operation Choke Point  and the motives of the FDIC and Justice Department, as well as answers on what other federal agencies  may be involved. CONTACT US: As always, for those of you with Internet access, I encourage you to visit my official   website. For those without access to the Internet, I encourage you to call my offices in Jefferson  City (573-635-7232) Washington, Mo. (636-239-2276), or Wentzville (636-327-7055) with your questions  and concerns. If you want even greater access to what I am working on, please visit my YouTube site,   Facebook page, and keep up-to-date with Twitter

"Big Implications For Alaska"

By Blake Essig, Channel 2 News

9:26 p.m. AKDT, April 10, 2013

ANCHORAGE, Alaska— 

 

Sally Jewell could become Alaska's new landlord of federal lands.

By a vote of 87 to 11, the U.S. Senate has confirmed REI’s 56-year-old CEO Jewell as the next interior secretary -- a position that has big implications for Alaska.

“The Secretary of the Interior is probably one of the most influential federal positions for Alaska,” said Tim Woody, Alaska Communications Manager of The Wilderness Society.  "That position has authority over everything from access to lands, oil and gas, minerals, off-shore fisheries.”

Despite the fact that Jewell has never served in public office, groups for and against development here in Alaska are cautiously optimistic that she's the right person for the job.

“She’s coming from the business world, but she’s managed a hugely successful outdoor equipment company,” said Woody.  “She’s got a long record in that role being involved in a lot of public land issues.”

“In some ways she’ll be challenged because she probably won’t know the ins and outs of the federal bureaucracy to the extent a tenured interior official might,” said Rick Rogers, Executive Director of the Resource Development Council.  “But at the same time, maybe she can bring a fresh perspective with a more business type approach to the agency.”

Two Alaska challenges facing the new Interior Secretary include whether to allow Shell to drill again in Alaska's arctic waters after trouble with both of its arctic drilling vessels, and whether to build a road between Cold Bay and King Cove through a wildlife refuge -- a plan that's already been rejected once by U.S. Fish and Wildlife.

Groups on opposing sides of those issues believe Jewell will come in with an open mind. They are hopeful that she can find a way to balance the pressures of resource development and the need to protect our public lands.