Talk:Frank Murkowski/Archive 1

"The Jet"
Last two sentences of article reference a local issue, but it is unclear and seems partisan. I deleted it. If they want to elaborate that's fine, but no one who's not from Alaska knows about the governor's private jet. - okieman1200

I cleaned up the last sentence and added a link to a newspaper story on the issue. - okieman1200


 * Regarding the jet, I did remove the info as I think it is a local issue, not worthly of mention in an encyclopedia. It is among many things which his critics cite as reasons for his low approval ratings, the latter of which I left and cleaned up a bit. &mdash;akghetto talk 08:03, 11 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Not really local, it IS a major source of contention for the Governor. All 5 candidates running so far for Gov. this year have pledged not to use it, 2 dems, 2 repubs, and the one republican-as-an-independent. - M ask Flag_of_Alaska.svg 00:05, 21 March 2006 (UTC)
 * I came to this article hoping to find a bit more discussion about the jet issue. Can someone more familiar with the issue expand it, please? (My new job doesn't leave me a lot of time for research; otherwise, I would read some back issues of the ADN and figure it all out.) I wasn't aware there was a controversy about actually using the aircraft; I thought it was primarily the purchase of the aircraft. Anyone have any sources on this info? The newspaper article that okieman1200 posted was deleted, but even that article didn't mention anything about controversy in using the aircraft (it was published before the jet's purchase). And what about the opposite point of view--that most or all other states have private jets that their governors use, etc.? Seems very slightly POV, but I'd need to research the issue first to determine it. cluth 01:43, 24 July 2006 (UTC)
 * The controversy is the governor is using the jet to taking him places in or out of state for questionable "state affairs" (i.e., he carries out a bill signing ceremony and then makes a large campaign speech) or being dropped off in Bellingham to take his yacht up the inside passage. I'll try to find sources on this...Jarfingle 02:18, 24 July 2006 (UTC)
 * I corrected the jet text to note that it was purchased using a state line of credit with Key Bank, an act that was legal but did not require legislative approval. (I left out that the legislature opposed the jet, as that would be too partisan for Wikipedia) I also added the elimination of the longevity bonus, but added that it came at a time when the budget was in the red to give it balance. Note added August 23, 2006: YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HE IS GONE AND POLLED LAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so NOT a supporter of his, but nonetheless felt his Wikepedia article should have balance. Signed - Michael A. Haase, Anchorage, Alaska michaelh2001@gci.net

Michaelh2001 16:52, 23 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Don't know why the "localness" of the issue should matter. This is an online encyclopedia. Make it as comprehensive as it should be.Leo dubiam 01:11, 30 November 2006 (UTC)Leo

First political run
Added the line that Murkowski first ran for Congress in 1970 against Nick Begich. 69.247.131.177 06:09, 23 March 2007 (UTC)Anonymous, 23 March 2007

Governor infobox
I'm glad someone added the infobox at whatever point, but it needs to be an infox that also includes his other major offices held, such as U.S. Senator, particularly considering his extremely long history in that office. I'll try to get around to this myself if no one else does. --Yksin 21:46, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

Oil on Ice
He's seen in Oil on Ice being a complete idiot. Former Sen. Frank Murkowski, now Alaska's governor, is seen on the floor of Congress with a large piece of white cardboard in hand, telling his colleagues that the refuge is "flat, it's unattractive, it's not pristine -- this is what it looks like. Don't be misinformed.''

Any cost effective exploitation of Alaska would therefor have to cram four times as much activity into the three months where Alaska is lush and verdant. But don't be fooled, the rest of the time Alaska is harsh and white.

This kind of thing must strike some fundamental reverse-psychology nerve ending in the human condition. Any person who can get away with such a ridiculous display against such a ridiculous comment must be extremely powerful, and not to be messed with. Gorillas seem to have a preference for garbage can lids in their status displays; apparently a sheet of white cardboard works almost as well. MaxEnt (talk) 08:31, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Name
This is borderline pedantic. Every source I had observed over the years listed Murkowski as Frank Hughes, and never as Francis that I can recall. Well, lo and behold, I found a reference to him as Francis. Only problem is, it's a Who's Who-type profile of his father published in 1947. This lists Francis Michael Murkowski, who was in there by virtue of being executive vice-president of the First National Bank of Ketchikan (which I believe still exists as a Southeast Alaska regional bank called First Bank, but it's been years since I've been there). His only child is listed as Francis Hughes. Contrast this with both and  which both list Frank Hughes Murkowski, the son of Frank Michael Murkowski. Is this really worth trying to figure out one way or the other?

Two more things

 * I'm pretty sure that Frank and Nancy retired to Wrangell several years ago. I dunno if they are still listed as owners of record of the Fairbanks residence. The Fairbanks North Star Borough does maintain its property tax database online, though. Far as I know, their daughter and son-in-law, Eileen and Leon Van Whye, live there now. There was a news story that I dimly recall a few years ago that they maintain a structure on the Fairbanks property (which may have been a former Alaska Railroad boxcar?) for use as a residence when they're in Fairbanks. I believe the story had to do with a property tax exemption the Murkowskis were seeking. In other words, since the media barely touched Knowles for eight years but then went after Murkowski with a passsion, I guess they still had plenty of lumber lying around in spite of the mortality of the horse in question.

Published in the May 4, 2008 edition of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, article entitled "Former governor's railcar, property raise questions about tax structure", subtitled "Murkowski's railcar, property stir tax questions in borough". RadioKAOS –&#32; Talk to me, Billy  04:46, 30 October 2012 (UTC)

"After leaving office more than one year ago, former Gov. Frank Murkowski has traveled the world, built a cabin in Wrangell and traveled some more. In March, he led a delegation to watch democracy in action while Taiwan elected a president."

"But while the ex-governor certainly gets around, the question of where he lives - at least for tax purposes - hasn't proven quite as simple to answer."
 * I seem to recall that several pages on Wikipedia previously mentioned Donald Lee Ramsey and his shooting rampage on the Anchorage Times in 1986, but that those mentions have since been deleted. I'm guessing someone here is on a mission to ensure people don't know about it if they're not going out of their way to find out. The reason I bring this up? I'm also pretty sure it's been largely forgotten that Murkowski (along with an insider of 1970s/1980s Republican politics in Alaska named Miles Davic) was Ramsey's original target. The ad Ramsey took out was pulled after one printing in an early edition, so it's not like that many people even saw it or that it would have necessarily been preserved on microfilm. However, consider that the best effort made recently to correct the undue weight issue of a U.S. Senate section (which covered 22 years) being one-third the size of the section on his governorship (which covered 4 years) was to rehash "don't ask don't tell." In light of that, I'm probably being very immature in even bringing up such deep subject matter at this time.RadioKAOS (talk) 08:07, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

Murkowski listing in List of United States political families
Lester Otto Gore (1890-1965) was Nancy Murkowski's father/Frank Murkowski's father-in-law/Lisa Murkowski's maternal grandfather. Gore was a judge of the United States territorial court based in Nome (where if I recall correctly, Nancy Murkowski was born) from 1932 to 1934, and a candidate for Alaska Territory's At-large congressional district in 1936. He doesn't appear to have an entry in Political Graveyard, from which these lists are largely sourced. Of course, there are other sources available. Should the entry be changed to "The Gores and Murkowskis" to reflect this?RadioKAOS (talk) 01:25, 11 September 2012 (UTC)

Murkowski's ancestry
I've noticed for some time now that the masses of wannabe publicists for Lisa Murkowski appear content to keep this article as little more than a coatrack to her article, so the needed improvements (which are trivially easy to source) haven't been forthcoming. Never mind that he left public office only a little over five years ago. User:Johnpacklambert attempted to remove Murkowski from Category:American people of Polish descent. Gee, I thought the objective here was to build the encyclopedia, not tear it down, especially when we're talking about a no-brainer such as this. I can only assume that this is someone eager to brag about his edit count, without regard for whether those edits are productive. Anyway, this page may not qualify as a reliable source per se, but there are plenty of references to such contained within. The Anchorage Daily News article published in late 2002 about Włodzimierz Krzyżanowski (which has appeared as a source in several articles) was presented in the context of a Polish American taking office as governor of Alaska. Lisa's article states "Her paternal great-grandfather was of Polish descent, and her mother had Irish and French Canadian ancestry", though the cited source mentions nothing specific of the ancestry of the Murkowski side. I would take it that WP:COMMONSENSE wouldn't exist if we were all expected to be policy pedants instead. RadioKAOS –&#32; Talk to me, Billy  04:30, 30 October 2012 (UTC)

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External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20060924231034/http://www.elections.state.ak.us/06prim/data/results.htm to http://www.elections.state.ak.us/06prim/data/results.htm

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