Comments (35)

Oscar wrote on August 15, 2007 1:11 PM:

I was just scimming through Bill Allens plea facts and I stumbled upon something pretty damning for Teddy Boy;

"From in or about 1995 until in or about 2001 ALLEN corruptly authorized VECO to engage and pay on a monthly basis the consulting services of a private company owned by [Ben Stevens], who was, at that time, not an elected public official. During that time, ALLEN discussed with [Ben Stevens] the possibility that [Ben Stevens] would eventually become an executive at VECO."

So, if Allen was making "corrupt" payments to Ben Stevens before he was even elected, those payments clearly cannot have been intended to by his vote. These payments also do not appear in the round-up of fees used to influence Stevens jr's support. Furthermore, it is not likely that Allen would start paying for his support back in 1995 when Ben probably did not even think of going to the Legislature (they even discussed ANOTHER job for him, at VECO).

The only logical conclusion can be that these payments were made to buy Ted Stevens' support. This is gonna be bad.

Anonymous wrote on August 15, 2007 1:37 PM:

let the victimization begin! Ted Stevens is officially running for office with these comments

P.S. Ted, Capitol Hill are reading TPM not ADN

tubular

JesseLman wrote on August 15, 2007 1:39 PM:

Best part of the interview:

Q. Isn't al-Qaida a Sunni organization in a Shiite country? Are you suggesting the Sunnis are going to end up back in charge of Iraq?

A. I'm not exactly certain who's going to be in charge of Iraq. I don't know if we pull out. And, by the way, I don't think it's necessarily a Sunni organization.

Yup, he's a US Senator.

johnnydoughey wrote on August 15, 2007 1:54 PM:

"statements that really no respectable reporter would ask a senator"

I believe this statement is an important insight to the attitudes our elected officials have embraced.

When this country became a democracy, it was attempting to do away with the complete separation of the heirarchy with the masses. Our Constitution is full of protections quarding us from the Kings and rulers. Even George the 1st (sad that this clown in office was given the same name as our 1st president, who refused to be known as anything more than "one who presides").

We have come full circle. We now have senators, congressmen, and presidents who actually believe they should be treated differently than us common folk.

The problem we are up against has nothing to do with the Iraq War, terrorism, poverty, or anthing else. These are only the situations which have resulted from the REAL problem. We have allowed our representatives to become arrogant, self serving, nonaccountable rulers, and this past 6 1/2 years has shown us just how much and how often rulers listen to their subjects...

Unless we have another revo@&* (any of you still secure enough to believe they are NOT using their "find" command to look for certain words) in which we somehow pull their throwns out from under them, their rule will become more and more set in concrete and we will become less and less annoying. Look around... it is becoming more and more evident as the months go by...

Ed*ard Teller wrote on August 15, 2007 1:59 PM:

Laura,

I suggest you call Willie Hensley and ask him if he's willing to be candid about the threatening phone calls Don Young has been making to him and his employer over the past few weeks. I hope you beat the ADN to the story, because it is even better - by far - than St. Ted's rant to the ADN editors.

johnnydoughey wrote on August 15, 2007 2:00 PM:

RE: 1:54 PM

Sorry. "thrown" should be "throne". Freud must have been whispering to me...

JEP wrote on August 15, 2007 2:04 PM:

"statements that really no respectable reporter would ask a senator."

No respectable reporter would have ignored the Alaska gravy train story(s), it is really muckin'up the river water...

And so what is TPMmuckraker, Ted, chopped liver?

Methinks the Anchorage paper took some cues from Laura, but that would be more proof that the 4th Estate has moved on up to the east side, and is now living on The Blogs..

Needless to say, "The Senator for Life" may not appreciate that "sentence, when it comes from the other side of the wiitness chair...
...a 20 year sentence for his overt corruption would be tantamount to a life sentence. And who needs to even look for "proof", when you've been a Republican from Alaska for so long, all your crimes are right there on the Congressional Record!!!

Pork Barrel wrote on August 15, 2007 2:11 PM:

Stevens said he is friends with Murtha. No suprise there, is there?

Just Asking wrote on August 15, 2007 2:16 PM:

Darn! The Alaska Daily News didn't ask Stevens about what Barbara Flanders, 54, does to earn $150k as a financial clerk for the Senate Commerce Committee.

Flanders is the one who did personal bookkeeping for Ted and was called to testify about the Girdwood bills.

Are Stevens and Flanders romantically linked? Did Senator Inouye, committee chairman, give Flanders a $38k raise this year on behalf of his best friend, Ted?

Inquiring minds want to know!

Didn't you just know it! wrote on August 15, 2007 2:36 PM:

LOL - Our failure in Iraq is Bill Clinton's fault!

Herb wrote on August 15, 2007 2:42 PM:

TED STEVENS REALLY SHOWS HIS "INTERNET-TUBES" MENTALITY IN THAT INTERVIEW... AND ALSO COMES ACROSS AS A SILVER-SPOON SPOILED BRAT.

HE'S SUPER-SPECIAL: HE SHOULD ONLY HAVE POSITIVE STORIES WRITTEN ABOUT HIS ILLEGAL, CORRUPT, PORK-GLUTTONED WORK AS A SENATOR.

OLD FART!

Cyrptographer wrote on August 15, 2007 2:42 PM:

Could Senator Stevens elaborate here?

"If we walk away again -- we (already) have very few partners left in the world -- and we won't have any."

Walk away again? Is he talking about Vietnam or what?

Very few partners left in the world? Why is that?

Which of our partners will abandon us if we walk away from Iraq?

I like Ike! wrote on August 15, 2007 2:53 PM:

"Gen. David) Petraeus has all the qualification of Eisenhower. As a matter of fact I think if he succeeds he will be an Eisenhower."

And if Petraeus doesn't succeed, he can be Westmoreland.

gbheron wrote on August 15, 2007 3:09 PM:

"I've spent hours here with you here in the past, and I've never seen any result of it at all."

Talk about perfect insight into the corrupt mind of Sen. Stevens: "I did you a favor, therefore I deserve preferential treatment." Clearly there's a sense of betrayal that the local paper is undermining the Alaskan graft industry.

TEL wrote on August 15, 2007 3:19 PM:

Of course the ADN reporting on his legal troubles is causing him grief - it is widely read throughout the state. From the ADN pages to the voters. This is also probably why his handlers suggested he agree to an interview. It's unfortunate for him that he couldn't keep a lid on his temper, and threw a hissy fit at the paper for doing it's job.

His sense of entitlement, that he is above suspicion because he is a senator, is breathtaking.

AlaskaVet wrote on August 15, 2007 3:38 PM:

One can listen to the entire interview by going to the Daily News site (www.adn.com) and downloading it. The way the transcript was edited was very kind to the Senator.

It is clearly time for him to resign; or, at the very least, to step aside when his term ends next year. He is not a well man.

Ed*ard Teller wrote on August 15, 2007 3:47 PM:

Alaska Vet,

I doubt either Senator Stevens or Representative Young will be standing for re-election come next spring. Young has already pulled his 2008 campaign website - http://www.donyoung08.com/

glennpdx wrote on August 15, 2007 3:56 PM:

Universal rule of the road:

When a public official openly blames the media for their troubles, they are finished...

Adios, Sen. Stevens

glennpdx wrote on August 15, 2007 3:57 PM:

Universal rule of the road:

When a public official openly blames the media for their troubles, they are finished...

Adios, Sen. Stevens

Anonymous wrote on August 15, 2007 4:12 PM:

Hey Oscar...If VECO was talking to Ben around 1997, than the $20,000.00 that Ben received in 97 certainly represents some sort of quid pro quo. Also in 1997, Ben was a hovercraft operator/captain for a partnership called Alaska Hovercraft that included Bering Marine(ie...Lynden) and Champion Contrators(ie...Cook Inlet Region, Inc.) What a kind thing for Uncle Ted to get these very low low cost military surplus hovercraft exempted from the Jones Act for his buddy Carl Marrs over at CIRI in 95-96. Than for Ted's good ole boy son Ben to earn his hovercraft pilot's license so he can have a "J.O.B." working as an operator for Jim Jansen at Bering Marine in 1997.

Don't ask Carl Marrs over at CIRI too many questions about these hovercraft. That's right he was eventually ousted. But, Carl Marrs, you know, the close friend of both Ted and Ben just let Lynden Inc. or one of it's subsidiaries have these for a steal in 2003. Don't ask too many questions about these hovercraft at CIRI because like a phantom asset on CIRI's financials nobody seems to know anything about them.

Here's the rub. Alaska Hovercraft in 2005,now owned by Lynden had these dozen or so craft being marketed for over two million dollars apiece. Unfortunately, at CIRI, they could investigate, but they would probably hire Bill Bittner again like they are currently using in the Nabors/CIRI litigation against John Ellsworth. Ohhh...and Carl is testifying on Ellsworth behalf.

Here's where the conspiracy theory kick's in. Don't look in the Alaska Business, Corporation, LLC Licensing Website. Because guess why? All previous files prior to 2004 for Alaska Hovercraft have been taken off...only just recently. Imagine that!!!

Ben Stevens
1997 VECO $20,0000.00 Lynden Inc. $10,000.00

p.s. Don't even ask the nice people at CIRI if they purchased/arbitraged any National bank of Alaska stock before/during the Wells Fargo buyout.
That might be a big fat secret that Carl Marrs wouldn't want out there. Because you know Oscar, Carl sat on the Bank Board with his friend Mr. Rasmuson.

Mcboo wrote on August 15, 2007 4:33 PM:

You poor bastard! (/cry)

Yeah Ted, I hear you...it's much easier to lie to people that don't know you that are on the other side of the country than it is the people in your own back yard that do know you.

/cue music "It's a hard knock life...."

azbill wrote on August 15, 2007 4:35 PM:

"I've spent hours here with you here in the past, and I've never seen any result of it at all."

Sen. Ted "tubes" Stevens expects to receive a stack of $100 bills when he spends hours talking to anyone. What a CROOK and IDIOT he is. In fact all the federal elected officials from Alaska are not worth a plug nickel, let alone a stack of cash. They all belong in jail.

Anonymous wrote on August 15, 2007 4:36 PM:

www.donyoung08.com

Don Young does not even use Alaska web designers- people in Florida do it. Coconut Roaders perhaps?

Congressman for Floridians ? Contact why its down?

Website ownership
Registrant:
First Wave Concepts, LLC

4258 Mayfair Lane
Port Orange, Florida 32129
United States

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: DONYOUNG08.COM
Created on: 28-Nov-06
Expires on: 28-Nov-08
Last Updated on:

Administrative Contact:
henry, sean shenry@levanttech.com
First Wave Concepts, LLC
4258 Mayfair Lane
Port Orange, Florida 32129
United States
(386) 304-2566

Technical Contact:
henry, sean shenry@levanttech.com
First Wave Concepts, LLC
4258 Mayfair Lane
Port Orange, Florida 32129
United States
(386) 304-2566
ave Concepts, LLC

Uncle_Meat wrote on August 15, 2007 4:58 PM:

Ain't oversight a bitch?!?

kazoom wrote on August 15, 2007 5:00 PM:

"I've spent hours here with you here in the past, and I've never seen any result of it at all."

I can't understand why he would say that ... I think the ADN has always endorsed him when it comes to election time.

Eric Ferguson wrote on August 15, 2007 5:01 PM:

Oops. Did Stevens admit something he wasn't supposed to? "You know, al-Qaida wasn't there when we started. The money for that insurgency wasn't there until we started."

In context:
"Q. Well, I don't think we've got a much better situation now. We've got people on their third rotation, we've got near anarchy there. You're saying we can't get out now. And the threat from Saddam was so imminent . ...

A. I'm saying we can't get out now because of developments since the war. You know, al-Qaida wasn't there when we started. The money for that insurgency wasn't there until we started. That's an aftermath of the militant, Islamic terrorist world.

The question is, are we going to do anything to prevent them owning a nation. ... "

Nelly Bly wrote on August 15, 2007 5:01 PM:

DonYoung06.com is available in the Wayback Machine. Click the link below of Young's invitiation to the King Crab Feast held on March 7 at the Capital Hill Club:

$500 per person
$1,000 per PAC
RSVP: (202) 637-0447

BeeinSac wrote on August 15, 2007 5:38 PM:

Ahhhh -- a long, long time coming. As a Democrat who grew up in Southeast Alaska, I've hoped for this day for years and years. The Republican Party is finally getting its due for the years of corruption and good ol' boy deals.

bugs bunny wrote on August 15, 2007 6:02 PM:

what a maroon.

ryan wrote on August 15, 2007 7:50 PM:

All of this may be enough to sink guys in other states but up here they will literally need to be convicted if there is any hope of a dem getting one of those seats. Their ability to get pork is celebrated. Also there is a lack of strong dems to run. Knowles is too old and has lost too many times. Begich is our best hope, but he would be beaten by Palin because her whole appeal is that she's (supposedly) cleaned up the republican party. So if two seats came up and they ran against each other (assumably for senate) she'd win. Ethan Berkowitz or Diane Benson might be viable as a rep., but it'd still probally be a toss up if someone from the valley ran. This is probally all hypothetical because Ted and Don will most likely run again.

Max Renn wrote on August 15, 2007 8:05 PM:

Uh oh... alright....who turned up the burner under this frog-in-the-pot?

lespool wrote on August 15, 2007 8:36 PM:

Much to the chagrin of a prima donna, Steven's disrepute, dishonor, and disgrace are all the more difficult to face.

Shawn Dochtermann wrote on August 16, 2007 4:54 AM:

Roll Call, TPM & ADN are my heros for getting the truth to press about all of the Alaskan delegation. The fishermen in Alaska have been screaming to the press for years that Ted and Don were crooks. Our crab/fish prices have dropped (except halibut, where we have open markets), since Ted racketeered to give the fisheries processors closed markets (for Bering Sea crab, & pollock, and the rockfish pilot program in the Gulf of Alaska) to control the price making mechanism. Most of my friends that live in Kodiak are without crab jobs (250 of 1000)forever and most had 20 years of their lives invested in the Bering Sea, just as everyone has viewed "the most dangerous catch". We previously fished for 3-7 months a year in the Bering Sea and risked our lives every minute while on deck. We need to deep-six Ted, or let him and his boy serve another term.....in jail. Crabbers revolt.......racketeers go to jail!

bill wrote on August 20, 2007 9:51 PM:

"Senator for life"? Now that is one scary thought and if true, implicates the editorial board of some slimey understanding with the devil. OMG people, wake up and throw all these bums out of office.

I'll NEVER vote for any republicon again. These people are common criminals that just don't ever get caught. We have tens of thousands of people in prison that are less guilty than these people are.

tlcinAlaska wrote on September 14, 2007 1:13 AM:

So many people, so eager to condemn. I can see it is easier to ruin lives in a big way than simply vote people out - kind of the same way you voted them in. Is it jealousy or self-righteousness? I can't decide.