Free Republic

The Biden administration is facing heavy criticism from Native Alaskans over its crackdown on oil and gas drilling in Alaska, activity which generates tax revenue vital for key state and local programs. Native Alaskan leaders have particularly taken issue with the Department of the Interior's (DOI) recent actions blocking future oil and gas development in the National Petroleum Reserve (NPR), an area in North Slope Borough, Alaska, specifically set aside by Congress for resource development, in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), and in federal offshore waters off the state's coast. "My community unapologetically supports the leasing program," Charles Lampe,...

Alaska’s two U.S. senators are offering conflicting views on the merits of the health care bill under consideration by the U.S. Senate this week. SNIP: The bill reauthorizes the Indian Health Care Improvement Act for the first time in 21 years- a major accomplishment pushed for by Begich and eight other senators. It also protects Alaska Natives from penalties for not acquiring insurance and expands coverage to other public programs.

Newly released documents from the Bush administration show that a former member of Saddam Hussein's inner circle has resurfaced inside the new Iraqi government, bringing charges of corruption, bribery and bid-rigging. As a result, millions of U.S. aid dollars and billions in Iraqi government funds have disappeared in an ongoing scandal that is poised to engulf Baghdad and Washington. Worse still, a leading candidate for the top elected post in Iraq has also been implicated in the report as having taken "payoffs" in order to rig a major government cell phone contract. According to a May 2004 U.S. Defense Department...