Lisa Murkowski Best Choice for Senate

Kids today.

Lisa Murkowski hates veterans and wants to send all the really good paying jobs overseas. Tony Knowles hates fisherman and is proud that the fast food industry is creating more new jobs than the oil & gas industry. All things considered, I’m afraid to vote.

However, putting campaign attack ads aside. Reality is far more kind.

Both Murkowski and Knowles support veterans, education and fisherman. And both support resource development to provide good paying jobs. For me the big difference between these two isn’t found in an issue. For me it’s in the personal experiences while serving with them in Juneau.

Like life, there are moments of opportunity in politics. Points in time where leadership must not be exchanged for expediency. When decisions are made with an eye to the next generation rather than the next election.

The most serious problem threatening Alaska’s economic future has been the lack of fiscal stability. The problem is due to the inability of policy makers to stabilize revenues with expenses. Alaskan communities have been struggling with increasing costs and shrinking resources for a decade. Services haven’t been maintained and necessary investments haven’t been made, creating cost shifts that are now crashing through the back door.

During their years in Juneau, both Lisa Murkowski and Tony Knowles had moments of opportunity to solve the state’s fiscal problem.

As a freshman, Murkowski helped build bi-partisan support in the house for the first fiscal plan. In 2001, she helped create the fiscal policy caucus, a bi-partisan group of legislators committed to balancing the budget. In 2002, she helped engineer passage of bi-partisan legislation that balanced the budget, provided a community dividend and protected your dividend.

And what about Knowles?

After the house passed the first fiscal plan in May 1999, Gov. Knowles had a golden opportunity to bring Senate Democrats along to solve the state’s most critical problem.
With a little leadership and one stroke of the pen, Knowles could have guaranteed a balanced budget, protected Alaskan communities and improved the economic climate. And oh yeah, dividends would be around $1,600.

Instead, Knowles refused to act until there was a non-binding public advisory vote.

Not surprisingly the complex plan didn’t stand a chance against simplistic opposition slogans. After Alaskans just said no, the negative impacts we predicted came true.
And since Knowles viewed those same predictions before he exchanged leadership for political expediency, his failure to lead was even more alarming.

Today we still have a structural budget problem, communities are still straining their local tax base and dividends are projected to drop to $750 next year.

In March 2002, Gov. Knowles had another opportunity. In a private meeting with legislators who were working on a fiscal plan, he asked how he could help. I answered very clearly. Governor, every time you walk to a microphone or hold a press conference say something about the importance of a fiscal plan. Say something about the need for action. Knowles smiled and nodded.

Later at a press conference regarding natural gas pipeline developments he never mentioned a word. Not even in the context of how a balanced budget and stable tax structure would help attract investors for the twenty billion dollar project. And even after the house passed another fiscal fix in May 2002, Knowles was virtually silent.

Not once but twice Gov. Knowles had opportunities to bridge Senate Democrats with Senate Republicans to solve Alaska’s largest economic threat. He bailed out both times. He even walked away from the limited solutions he personally introduced. And while it’s commendable to request investments for education and veterans, it’s considerably more commendable to provide a way to pay for them.

Meanwhile Murkowski’s fiscal leadership was rewarded with a nail biting 56-vote primary victory.

True leaders seize moments of opportunity without regard to personal political futures. They make decisions with an eye for future generations not future elections. And after four years of working with Lisa Murkowski and Tony Knowles, I have no doubt about which candidate best represents those qualities.

Lisa Murkowski gets my vote.