Typical Alaskans can make better decisions than groomed or professional politicians. Professional politicians from both the Republican and Democrat parties have failed us. They have enslaved countless future generations with $31 trillion of national debt (and growing). These same parties have given us the Patriot Act and 20-plus years of war. The parties continue to dive toward activism, corporate protectionism and away from good governance. Should a D or R win in November, one thing is sure, they will have a dance partner in D.C., and it will not be us Alaskans. I aim to change this. Sitting on the sideline is no longer an option. By running, I hope to encourage more typical independent-minded Alaskans to run for office, giving other Alaskans better representation through a diverse field of candidates.

I possess a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired in a long career in the military, including tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Teamwork is one of the essential skills. Often this means working with new individuals and, while overseas, working with foreign militaries, nongovernmental organizations and U.S. government agencies. Another skill is encouraging and taking refinements from varied sources to ensure the mission or task is completed efficiently and with minimal resources. I have found refinements can come from myriad sources that professionals often overlook.

Right now, the system is a race to the last fish. That is not management, that is a car wreck similar to the striped bass or Grand Banks cod fishery. If commercial fishermen, the fishing industry, Native corporations and, most importantly, Alaskans want salmon for the next 50 years and beyond, it is imperative that we adopt sustainable harvest methods that are responsive and reflexive to the needs of all Alaskans.

1) Place upriver community (such as Holy Cross or Upper Kalskag) representation and coastal representation (such as Emmonak or Hooper Bay) on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council in place of out-of-state interests.

2) Phase out bottom trawling. Akin to “clear cutting,” the ocean floor is indiscriminately impacting the ocean’s food web. This practice needs to be phased out.

3) Continued research with outputs. It is not enough to merely observe the decline. Research must be designed to improve the population. Researchers would have to provide their results to various affected communities throughout Alaska, not just Anchorage and Juneau. Lastly, research must include actionable proposals that improve population numbers.

4) Increase bycatch innovation from professional, experienced commercial crews and captains. Few others understand this profession and its technology better.

5) Every vessel must have an observer, even C/Ps such as Arctic Fjord II.

(Listen to the Kodiak Fishery Debates on KMXT for a more in-depth exploration of fishery policy. You can read reporting on the debate from the Alaska Beacon here.)

None, there are bright people in each state that can figure out what their next step is. This ruling returns some degree of control to the states. A central planning power cannot meet the needs of a diverse country such as America. A one-size-fits-all series of regulations will indeed discriminate against someone. It is better for state governments to develop solutions closer to the issues than continued reliance upon D.C. politicians and bureaucrats. Local control, local accountability.

Let’s be truthful with one another: There is no new regulation or law that will end this violence. Assault and murder are already illegal and yet those laws do not prevent the violence from occurring. To end this, parents must become involved with their children. Dads and moms, check to see if your kids are playing GTA, Fortnite or COD, if you do not know what these are, you should find out today. Review what entertainment they are watching. Be involved in their social life. Community leaders, neighbors and others must become involved in their communities. If this is to end we need to have an honest discussion about bullying and harassment. Don’t walk by it. Do not accept it.

To have the most immediate impact and truly challenge the status quo, we must make changes at the lowest level possible. This begins with consumers. If consumers truly want this addressed, stop buying products that contribute to the issue. Refrain from activities that fuel it. The consumer retains far more power to demand changes from corporations than the U.S. Constitution allows for the federal government to undertake. Money talks. Frankly if we are relying on politicians and bureaucrats to fix this or myriad other issues we are in a world of hurt.

Any changes will need to be state driven. D.C.’s professional politicians, bureaucrats and special interests are not going to allow any necessary changes because it will upset their cozy positions. States however could instill term limits, which would in effect change funding habits. The First Amendment makes it pretty tough to limit anyone’s free speech and spending money is a form of free speech. Alaskans who are truly engaged in this issue should encourage folks to research all candidates thoroughly and completely disregard all advertisements and question all media stories.

Inflation for Alaskans is tied directly to government spending and energy costs.

Thomas Sowell and Milton Friedman figured inflation out decades ago. Two easy steps: 1) stop printing money and 2) reduce government spending. The more dollars printed or “digitized” the less value the dollar retains. The more debt the federal government carries, the weaker the dollar becomes, and without self-discipline, eventually, the dollar will collapse or becomes devalued increasing the cost of everything.

Congress must pass the Balanced Budget Amendment. Such an amendment would require them to prioritize spending within an attainable budget. This would mean special interests would have to compete with actually necessary spending.

It is very important to encourage state self-sufficiency by reducing federal control of Alaskan resources, particularly regarding energy costs. Self-sufficiency in producing necessary amounts of heating oil and vehicle fuels would reduce costs. This would include renewable and nuclear energy sources as well.

An easy win: wood heat — simple, time tested and cost-efficient, but made costly because of rules imposed upon Alaskans by D.C. bureaucrats requiring costly kiln-dried wood only in many areas of North Star Borough. This is an economic hardship imposed upon us and should be removed.

– First and foremost, abolish the certificate of need system that prevents competition in health care.

– We’ll have to see how the broadband improves with the infrastructure bill but, potentially, telehealth would be beneficial across much of the state. Bush, rural and other Alaskans could get medical appointments virtually delivered while in their homes, reducing the costs of transportation, hotel stays and food.

– I would work to end the corporate protections for Big Pharma enabling behind-the-counter sales of most current prescription medicines such as contraceptives, insulin products, etc. This would allow Alaskans to avoid insurance, hospital admin and doctor fees.

Sovereignty. Webster defines this word as freedom from external control or controlling influence. I would encourage the Tribes to exert sovereignty including responsible sustainable development of natural resources. Further encouraging the Tribal leadership and corporations solve tribal issues internally with minimal federal input. Reliance upon handouts from the federal government undermines Tribal sovereignty’s internal resiliency/self-sufficiency and the mere fact that with the federal dollar comes unintended consequences from D.C. bureaucrats and special interests. It is important to recognize the 229 tribes are still Alaskans entitled to the same representation as any other Alaskan. A place to start maximizing the sovereignty and resources of the United States would be improving the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Task Force and the Operation Lady Justice Task Force with improved lines of communication and routine public hearings on the systems and procedures the involved departments are using. Another good angle is fishery management. Here a mix of rules predicated on the Magnuson-Stevens Act and NOAA (NPFMC) provide for some coastal tribes but do little for upriver communities. This must be addressed.

1) We have some incredible environmental laws and watchdogs. Accordingly, we have experienced workers both union and otherwise who work in the natural resource field. Additionally, we have incredible educators teaching the next generations ways to problem solve. We have the raw ingredients, the environmentally sustainable drive and the know-how to recover those ingredients and process them for consumers. Yet we transfer the resource development to countries with poor child labor laws like the Congo, where 6- to 12-year-olds mine for cobalt, a needed ingredient in your electronics and EVs. Likewise, in countries with atrocious human rights and environmental laws like China, where slave labor is used and poor environmental policies have created a wasteland, Baotou toxic lake. A NIMBY attitude fuels reliance upon these human rights and environmental travesties.

2) Only a fraction of Alaskans voted in the special primary. 70% did not participate. Most common reason: It does not matter which two parties win, taxes will rise and there will be new regulations. Using the significant number of votes from the special primary, 43,601, as an example, a mere 7% of Alaskan voters would determine the state’s future direction. Please vote. I do not care how you voted in the past only how you vote in the future. That vote represents actual opportunities for each and ALL Alaskans.

No, there are laws already on the books making murder illegal. This will not reduce the tragedies. Only personal and community involvement can.

Yep — urban heat island effect is real. Large urban areas made by humans are a huge problem.

Is this a real question with everything going on? This seems like a Dermot Cole finger trap. I do not know anyone who is remotely concerned about this right now with $4.90 gallon for heating oil. The only losers in that election was us, Americans in general.

YES, open primary allowed this nobody to participate. Would like a block to check if I was a single-candidate voter. This would reduce concerns about ballot integrity.

No, not at this time. Too much fodder for the media and special interests to further divide us on.

This report only covers contributions through 7/27/22. The next quarterly report is due on 10/15/22.

Understanding FEC filings: Contributions only need to be itemized if they are larger than $200 or if the combined contributions from one person for that election year are more than $200. Bye only has three donors larger than $200. The largest contribution is from the candidate himself at $3,439.

Independent Expenditures are things like ad buys or mailers sent out by organizations that are not associated with the campaigns and are forbidden by law from working with campaigns. The only one made on his behalf was from Alaskans for Bristol Bay Action for $1,809.