AADC 2008 Lobbying Expenses

From Opensecrets.org

Alaska Aerospace Development Corp

A special interest’s lobbying activity may go up or down over time, depending on how much attention the federal government is giving their issues. Particularly active clients often retain multiple lobbying firms, each with a team of lobbyists, to press their case for them.

Year: 20092008200720062005200420032002200120001999

Total Lobbying Expenditures: $50,000
Subtotal for Parent Alaska Aerospace Development Corp: $50,000

Industry	Total
Defense Aerospace	$50,000

Lobbying Expenses Reported by Subsidiary Alaska Aerospace Development Corp

Firms Hired	Total Reported by Filer	Reported Contract Expenses (included in Total Reported by Filer)
Birch, Horton et al		$10,000
Cohen Group		$40,000

*Each quarterly filing is treated as a separate report, and each may mention multiple clients.

Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics. For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center.

Science(?) Fiction from Sarah Palin: Launch Pad to Nowhere

Sarah Palin repeats the "build it and they will come" false rhetoric we've heard from AADC since 1995. "Significant Growth?" - only if the 17.5 million in state and federal funds AADC has received this year continues for years to come. And the growth will not be number of launches or more business; just a larger white elephant marring the Narrow Cape landscape. Expand the infrastructure for less than one launch per year on average for the life of the facility.
KLC is NOT the "best equipped [launch facility] anywhere": it does not have the capacity to store more than one rocket at any one time. And, try getting your personnel to Kodiak when Mt. Redoubt erupts ash and all the flights are grounded; or the fog rolls in and flights from Anchorage can't get in for days at a time.
The only launch customer for the KLC has been the U.S. government with all but one launch being overtly military. Keep in mind that while Governor Palin doesn't want to accept federal stimulus money for education, she has requested increased pork barrel funding for the KLC. Our fiscal conservative wants to spend more of your tax dollars on a facility that cannot even support itself with launch revenues. It's a kind of "launch pad to nowhere" scenario.

Sarah Palin Report

A Conservative Outlook
Friday, April 24, 2009
Kodiak Launch Complex

Governor Sarah Palin visited the Kodiak Launch Complex Thursday April 23, 2009 located at Narrow Cape, AK on Kodiak Island. KLC is poised for significant growth as the vital role of the space-based systems becomes increasingly important to our nation. The launch facility is the newest and best equipped anywhere. AADC will provide support for future MDA target missions as well as two missions with the United States Air Force in 2009.

Old KRLIG web site

Click on the title to view the old KRLIG website, last updated three years ago. Some relevant links at the bottom of the page are still active. Interestingly, we were saying back then that the only reason the KLC was ever built was due to former Senator (now convicted felon) Ted Stevens' backdoor pressure on the Pentagon; these charges have since been validated by the NY Times.

Kodiak Rejects Missile Defense - Overwhelmingly

Results from the Kodiak Daily Mirror online poll, December 5 through December 12:

The U.S. missile shield...

is unnecessary - 67.17%

is important for the nation's defense - 21.59%

will never work - (5.1%)

will ramp up a new arms race - (6.15%)

[percentages based on 667 responses]

Over 78% of the respondents voted anti missile defense. While online polls are generally considered "unscientific", it seems clear a community that is home to a facility used in missile defense tests rejects the notion that it is actually needed.

Coupled with another poll from 26 February 2005, it appears that the KLC is not only unneeded, but also unwanted. We have copied the post from that date below:

Poll Proves Local Opposition to Kodiak Launch Complex

Results of the Kodiak Daily Mirror online poll (17-24 February 2005) 839 responses
Published 24 Feb 2006 in the Kodiak Daily Mirror, page 4
"Why Should the Kodiak Launch Complex exist, or not exist?"

41% - It's waste of taxpayer money and useless in national defense
15.85% - It could potentially damage the environment.

56.85% - Anti-Kodiak Launch Complex

27.41% - It's crucial for national defense
15.71% - It's good for the local economy

43.12% - pro-KLC

The poll clearly indicates local attitudes toward Space Pork Kodiak. We suspect the numbers opposing the KLC would be even higher if there hadn't been the large number of out-of-state workers in town to support the latest MDA launch. The poll was running over 50% for "It's a waste..." until somebody alerted the KLC staff around Feb 22 causing a huge spike in the pro percentages. Despite this anomaly, the unmistakable community opposition is undeniable and prevailed in the overall results.

The Pentagon didn't want the Kodiak Launch Complex

Perceptive analysis of Erik Lipton's article on wasted missile defense money is here:

http://andthecowgoesmoo.wordpress.com/2008/10/12/nyt-350m-wasted-on-missile-defense-projects-even-the-pentagon-thought-was-stupid/

and here:

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfromthewing/2008/10/12/he-leveraged-his-lounge-membership-a-whole-lot-better-than-i-ever-did/