By R.A. Dillon, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, September 23, 2007

23 Sep 2007 // Senate Republicans blocked three attempts by Democrats last week to limit the war in Iraq.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski joined the majority of her GOP colleagues on Friday in defeating a bill that would have ordered most U.S. troops home in nine months. On Thursday, a proposal to cut off funding for the war by June 2008 fell far short of the 60 votes needed to overcome the threat of a Republican filibuster. On Wednesday, Murkowski voted against a proposal to require more leave time between deployments.

Murkowski had previously spoken in favor of requiring the Defense Department to allow troops more time at home, but she said she decided to vote against the measure by Virginia Democrat Jim Webb because of the “chaos” it could cause military leaders.

“I’m very concerned that, in an effort to send a very clear message to the administration, that we must ensure that the families’ needs are met, that we would see some very unintended consequences,” Murkowski said Friday.

Murkowski said she sought the advice of Lt. Gen. Charles Jacoby, the former commander of the 102nd Stryker Brigade at Fort Wainwright, and was convinced that the additional leave would put too much strain on the military at this time.

Murkowski said she remains committed to making sure U.S. troops have enough time at home to recover from their time in Iraq and Afghanistan before being redeployed.

“Webb is off the table, but the discussion about how we ensure adequate reset time for the troops is still active,” she said.

Murkowski said a proposal like the one offered by Webb could work in 2009 after the Department of Defense has had time to restructure the way it deploys troops.

Sen. Ted Stevens also voted against the measures.

“Bridge to nowhere”

Gov. Sarah Palin’s decision to drop the $398 million Ketchikan bridge project came as a shock to the congressional delegation.

Aides to all three members of the delegation said their offices were not contacted about the decision prior to the governor’s announcement. The first time anyone in Washington became aware of it was when an Associated Press story out of Juneau appeared on the Internet on Friday.

Sen. Stevens and Rep. Don Young secured more than $200 million in funds for the bridge between Ketchikan and Gravina Island. The project became known as the “bridge to nowhere” among Democrats and fiscally conservative Republicans who saw it as the perfect example of pork-barrel spending.

Sharon Leighow, a spokeswoman for Palin, said the governor determined the money could be better spent elsewhere in the state and has directed the Department of Transportation to consider alternative projects.

Congressional staff members who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue said the decision was a slap in the face to Stevens and Young, who endured a lot of criticism from their colleagues and the media over the funding.

The behind-the-scenes grumbling has raised concerns about souring relations among the state’s Republican leaders and the effect it could have on future federal support for Alaska projects. Palin didn’t help the situation Friday when she called on Stevens to explain his involvement in a federal corruption investigation.

Leighow said the governor is confident the congressional delegation will judge future projects on merit and not politics. However, aides say she could be in for a frosty reception the next time she visits Washington.

As for the bridge money, Palin contacted Young the day after the Minnesota bridge collapse about giving them the Ketchikan funds, Leighow said.

Young advised her that he thought it would violate public law and the subject did not come up again. Staff members who were present during their meetings said they had no recollection of the governor suggesting the funds could be used for other transportation projects in Alaska.

Three for three

All three members of Alaska’s congressional delegation made the list of “most corrupt” members of Congress by the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

The third annual list, released Tuesday by CREW, claims to document the most “egregious, unethical and possibly illegal activities of the most tainted members of Congress.”

The list includes 18 Republicans and four Democrats, including New Mexico Republican Sen. Pete Domenici and Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. John Murtha.

Sens. Stevens and Murkowski and Rep. Young made the list for the first time.

The watchdog group’s Web site offers summaries of each member’s alleged transgressions as well as dozens of related media stories.

The report is designed to draw public attention to the problem of corruption in Congress, said Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director. She said the group may follow up by filing ethic complaints against individual lawmakers on the list.

Alaska is the only state to have every member of its delegation listed, although California has five lawmakers on the list.

“Alaska has a lot of serious problems,” Sloan said.

The group has already sent letters to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., asking him to remove Stevens from his committee posts until the federal investigation into political corruption in the state is resolved. CREW sent a similar letter to McConnell after FBI agents raided Stevens’ Girdwood residence at the end of July.

“It’s just inappropriate for him to have jurisdiction over the Justice Department budget when he’s under investigation,” Sloan said of Stevens’ position as ranking Republican on the Appropriations Committee.

McConnell, who also made the CREW list, did not respond to requests for comment. He has previously said the ethics committee is unlikely to act until Stevens has been found guilty of a crime.

The FBI is looking into a 2000 renovation of Stevens’ Girdwood home. Bill Allen, former chief of oil field service company VECO, testified last week in the trial of former state Rep. Pete Kott, that VECO employees were paid to work on the remodeling project. Stevens has said he paid every bill he received. He has declined to comment further, citing the ongoing nature of the investigation.

Rep. Young made the list for allegedly steering congressional earmarks to his campaign donors. Sloan claimed Young is the subject of four separate federal investigations, including a probe into his role in securing a $10 million earmark for a road in Florida, assistance he offered to VECO’s Allen, his ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his financial relationship with recently indicted businessman Dennis Troha.

“Rep. Young does not find it proper to comment on an ongoing investigation. However, we caution people to not make assumptions based on a collection of headlines and innuendo,” said Meredith Kenny, a spokeswoman for Young.

As for Sen. Murkowski, CREW alleges she violated the Senate’s ethics rules when she bought property on the Kenai River from developer Bob Penny for below market value.

Sloan said the deal amounted to an improper gift. Sloan said Murkowski broke Senate rules a second time when she failed to declare the property on her annual financial statement to Congress.

Murkowski disagrees with Sloan’s reading of the Senate ethics rules. Nevertheless, Murkowski returned the 1.27-acre parcel to Penny for what she paid for it, saying she wanted to avoid any appearance of wrongdoing.

None of the congressional delegates have been charged.

On Friday, Murkowski said she was upset that CREW’s accusations have been taken as fact by the media without any evidence she did anything wrong.

“What facts are they citing?” she asked. “It makes my head spin that a blog can take a rumor and spin it until the newspapers pick it up, and it becomes the basis for an ethics complaint.”

And finally…

The Sean Penn-directed “Into the Wild” wasn’t the only Alaska-themed movie to hit theaters this past week.

The global-warming ghost tale “The Last Winter” opened in New York and at select theaters across the Lower 48. The movie follows a team searching for oil in Alaska’s Arctic — although it was shot mostly in Iceland — and the madness that engulfs them as the melting permafrost raises more than just logistical problems. The film, which is more art-house than horror flick, offers Mother Nature a chance to hit back against Big Oil. There’s even a spectral herd of caribou that charge out of the darkness and stomp their victims to death. The independent film premiered at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival and will probably reach Fairbanks on video in a year.