Editor's Note: Mike Doogan is an Alaska State House Representative, author and former newspaper columnist. The following commentary appeared in his legislative e-newsletter on April 16.
The legislature starts a special session Wednesday, the eighth in the six years Ive been a part of the circus. Theres a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth about this, especially among the freelance commentators, a surprisingly large number of whom can actually spell simple words. Unfortunately, all they have to offer to the discussion is spleen, and weve got plenty of that already.
Why are we going back to the same old place? Three reasons.
First, when it comes to the legislature, the governor doesn't know a hawk from a hand-saw. You'd think that a guy who had actually served in the legislature would know what makes it tick, but Sean Parnell sure doesn't. His public contribution to the proceedings has been a weekly whine-fest. I'm told he has been talking with legislators behind closed doors. All I can say is that didn't work. Maybe he should turn the legislative chores over to Mead Treadwell, who is at least smart, and go back to campaigning full time for the U.S. Senate.
Second, the coalition in the Senate is working the way it should, ejecting ideas from hardliners on the left and right and working in the middle. That left Parnell's daffy ideas – giving away $2 billion a year to his former employers in the oil industry and creating a super duper agency to build a very, very expensive gas pipeline – high and dry. He didn't like that and – voila! – it's special session time again.
Third, the leadership in the House seems to be particularly ham-handed on the issues that led to this special session. House members have performed well on many things in the recently concluded session, even though I disagree with some of what they did. But on the big issues that didn't go anywhere. They played follow-the-leader. And their leaders drove them right off a cliff.
The House could have, and should have, waited for the next session. The odds are they will have bigger numbers, thanks to the fact their party is reapportioning the state to produce more. But their leaders seem bent on proving they have the biggest – well, if you don't know how this sentence ends, I ain't gonna tell ya.
And Parnell? You figure it out.
So buckle up. We should be headed for a wild ride.
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