Concerned Conservatives of Alaska
Contributed by Mike Coons, President of CCAK
Concerned Conservatives of Alaska (CCAK) is up and running. Our last meeting on 17 December had a full agenda. We finalized our Bylaws then we had Ron Johnson, District 2 Chair for the Alaska Republican Party (ARP), Senators Shelley Hughes and Mike Shower and Representative David Eastman make presentations.
Although CCAK is not an exclusively Republican organization, conservative values are found in the ARP Platform throughout. We welcome all who have conservative values, be they non-affiliated, Alaska Independent Party (AIP) and of course Republicans. As I have said in the past, Blue Dog Democrats, who share conservative values of freedom, liberty, standing for our Republic and who are seriously considering leaving the Democrat Party, like Ronald Reagan and now Tulsi Gabbard have, are welcome as well.
A large amount of the discussion was on the results of this election. Specifically the State Senate. How is that even though 65% of voters voted for Republicans and the values of the Republican Party, the left of center or as we call them RINO Senators combined with the Democrats vs maintaining a Republican Majority in the Senate. This has now caused three of the strongest conservatives in the Senate, Senators Shelley Hughes, Mike Shower and Rob Myers to be put in a situation, that to stand for all their constituents who value our Republic, they are now in a 3 person minority. Senator Hughes, Shower and Myers reached out to Senators Bert Stedman, Gary Stevens, Click Bishop, Cathy Giessel with a solid plan to maintain a Republican Majority in the Senate. What is most important to state here is that not one of the above or others responded back. It was a very loud silence! In point of fact, along with that silence, the above and others went on personal attacks with vicious lies that are provable! There was a lively back and forth on what has happened and how Shelley, Mike and Rob will work to advance legislation or just as importantly try to block future legislation on things such as: (Income Taxes, Eliminating the PFD, Increased Spending, etc.)
The bottom line is that they will be opposing legislation, as just stated, from a policy standpoint. Those RINO's, who push for such legislation, will be called out on what they are supporting, not as they have done on a personal attack aspect. Will people go against those RINO's, you bet we will. Focusing on their policy and their actions and comments. Will Bert, Click, Cathy and many others we will stand against take that as personal attacks? Of course they will, but they are the ones pushing for bad policy for personal reasons and gains. What was asked to the membership was to stand for conservative values, to be effective in any and all communications and most importantly, to call, write and testify in committee hearings, support and oppose that legislation being brought forward, in a positive manner!
There was also a lengthy dialogue as to the direction of the ARP, specifically the vote by the State Central Committee (SCC) to end the censure of Senator Lisa Murkowski and Rep and now Senator elect Kelley Merrick. The bottom line as stated by Ron Johnson was that the censure against a sitting US Senator who has millions of dollars had no real effect. Kelley Merrick used that as a badge of honor. Yes, voters are encouraged to continue to voice our disdain of these two's actions and of course to support others against them in 2024! We are going to work hard to try and repeal Rank Choice Voting (RCV). RCV will still be in effect in the 2024 races. We must reevaluate how we effectively vote for conservatives in both the House and Senate as well as remove those RINOs that have thumbed their noses at the voters! This means being involved at the Republican District meetings, planning to be a delegate in the coming ARP Convention and of course being an active member of CCAK.
We ended with Representative David Eastman, his views on the House, and of course his court battle, which I am so glad to report he has won! At this time the make-up of the House is up in the air and it is very possible that like two years ago, the House may not be decided on who is the Majority for an unknown period of time. As was pointed out, Alaska is very different from all the Lower 48 Legislatures. If the elected legislators are even a majority by one, that party is the Majority. The Democrats and Republicans stand with their fellow Democrats or Republicans. Our Legislators have put fingers in the wind and flipped to the other party which has harmed our State! This is another reason why the use of RINOs is even more prolific in use and why non-affiliated voters do not join the ARP.
Our next meeting will be January 21st at 11 AM, again at the Real Life Church in Palmer. Since this meeting we have gained another location to meet at, the Chugiak Senior Center. Thus the February meeting will be there, again, at 11 AM. So please put on your calendars if you are interested in joining or coming and being part of future CCAK meetings every third Saturday at 11 AM to about 1:30 PM, alternating between Real Life Church, Palmer and Chugiak Senior Center North Birchwood Loop exit.
The January meeting will have as guest speaker Ron Yundt, discussing repeal of RCV and other potential ballot measures his organization is looking at and supporting. After the guest speaker, I will be discussing a section out of the State of Alaska Constitution and related ARP Platform. This is part of the education within our Mission Statement. Hope to see many more people in January.
I wish you all a Happy New Year!