Comments (27)

The REAL Jake D. wrote on July 19, 2007 10:30 AM:

But, you guys "believed" Bush Sr. didn't know the price of a gallon of milk, right?

The FAKE Jake D. wrote on July 19, 2007 10:41 AM:

Jake is a fake.

Kuparuk wrote on July 19, 2007 10:48 AM:

Go TPM, Go!

Ed*ard Teller wrote on July 19, 2007 10:49 AM:

Well,on Monday I under-predicted how much Sen. Murkowski paid for this sweet parcel, but not by much:

"Thanks for once again investigating our Alaska politicians, something the in-state media outlets can't seem to consider important. I predict that it will emerge that Sen. Murkowski got a nice little deal on the property, probably paying just under $175K for it, with about a $40K down payment."

At least the Anchorage Daily News is showing a bit of integrity on this - for a change - especially in their editorial this morning. But they'll make up for it in the Sunday paper by putting in about 500 words of Lisa fluff.

FlyOnTheWall wrote on July 19, 2007 10:57 AM:

Congratulations, Laura. Great reporting, particularly from "an unfamiliar media outlet."

I'm having a little trouble with the math here. A 80/20 mortgage on a purchase of 179,400 should have been 143,520, a few thousand more than the bizarrely precise 136,561.26 listed in state records.

Murkowski listed the loan from the First Bank in Kenai at 7% for a 15-year term, but failed to disclose its value. (www.firstbankak.com) The rate is reasonable enough - the bank currently lists that loan at a standard rate of 6.5%. But I still can't figure out the amount.

Gotta love how a fellar in the real estate business is surprised by the way property appreciates over time.

Jane wrote on July 19, 2007 11:12 AM:

Quibble: Who is selling Penney -- how much will he fetch?

Grumpy wrote on July 19, 2007 11:23 AM:

The Anchorage Daily News quotes a local radio host, Dan Fagan, who thinks the deal stinks. I have to ask: why is that even in the story?

More importantly, the story doesn't mention that Fagan's on-air rival, Rick Rydell, is providing an alibi, of sorts, by claiming that it was his idea for Murkowski & her husband to buy the land.

Hanging Judge wrote on July 19, 2007 11:46 AM:

Nice work, Laura. You've found the quid; now find the quo.

Anonymous wrote on July 19, 2007 11:47 AM:

On what date did the 2006 assessment come out?

The odds that Penney would sell Murkowski the house for exactly the same amount as the 2006 assessment without knowing the amount of the assessment are astronomical.

He seriously wants us to believe that he randomly hit on a price $60,000 over the 2005 assessment but still over $100,000 under fair market value? Ridiculous!

Murkowski just got a sweetheart deal worth over $100k. Corrupt, corrupt, corrupt.

Hanging Judge wrote on July 19, 2007 11:48 AM:

NIce work, Laura. You've found the quid (sweetheart deal); now let's find teh quo.

halfnhalf wrote on July 19, 2007 11:50 AM:

I don't know about elsewhere, but here in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, a property on the market for 7.5 million has an assessed value of less than $200,000.

Winna wrote on July 19, 2007 11:57 AM:

Just a note on property assessment. Assessed values are as of the previous January 1; in Massachusetts, property values are probably dropping faster than can be reflected in the assessed value. Also, tax policy related to assessment differ among states so you'll have trouble getting apples to apples comparisons.

Ed*ard Teller wrote on July 19, 2007 12:20 PM:

Grumpy,

Why did the ADN quote Fagan and not quote Rydell? - good question. I'm not quite sure they're "on-air rivals," but the ADN currently seems to feel that Fagan can do no wrong. I seldom agree with either of these two tinhorn blowhards. Both are typical right-wing AM political "commentators" who stroke like-minded callers and insult people who disagree.

Fagan's recent rise is interesting. Rydell has been in Alaska for a long time, has worked hard as an independent business man and is active in his community. Fagan is a recent arrival from the deep South and has brought a strange patina of thinly disguised racial prejudices, homophobia and sexual insecurity to both his radio program and to his new weekly column with the Daily News. I predict that Fagan's downfall will be swift when he has a true Don Imus moment, either on-the-air, or in print. The Daily News severely insulted their readers by replacing an Alaska icon like Bill Tobin with this unfit, loudmouthed reverse carpetbagger.

Richard L. Adlof wrote on July 19, 2007 12:39 PM:

While jacking Jake and smacking any troll like specter about a bit is fun, having our own contrarian in residence allows us to understand the mindset and allows us crystalize our understanding of events.

Open hostility and calls for silencing/censoring reduces to the same trodladyte level. Acknowledge that nothing we type will impact his obvious positional stance or he/she/its snarky attitude. We need to respectfully engage and debate for our personal edifaction.

In short, it is good to have a jack_hole in our midst.

Cugel wrote on July 19, 2007 12:58 PM:

Ed*ard Teller are you deliberately being obtuse for effect or is this satire, I can't tell?

Someone sold a U.S. Senator real-estate for the tax-assessed value rather than the fair-market value. The fair-market value of land is always MUCH more than the value for tax assessment, just as the article stated.

It's impossible to know exactly how much more without knowing what comparables are going for on Kenai River land near his place, but it's bound to be at least a $500,000 property and possibly much more than that.

In non-polite language that's a bribe. Randy Duke Cunningham is doing some time in club Fed in part for that very reason.

What this amounts to is a minimum $400,000 bribe.

And no! Nobody gives away $400,000 worth of real-estate just because they think Senator Murkowski is such a sweet person.

Anyone who says they believe that is either a partisan liar or just fell off the turnip truck!

Nerka wrote on July 19, 2007 1:36 PM:

Salamatof Native Association had a bunch of native land subdivided into one acre lots for sale on East Redoubt Road in Soldotna (where this land transaction took place). Their asking price was $50K per acre, and most people thought this was an outrageous asking price, as land had been selling for $30K elsewhere. They sold all the lots at $50K, and then regretted they didn't ask more for them in hindsight.

Land on the Kenai River has been rising fast, and what seems to be a high price one day looks like a bargain the next. In 2002 in the neighborhood one lot sold for $70k for two acres, while in 2007 the lot right next door is being offered at $600K. Some people with lots on the Kenai will tell you their for sale price per acre is now $500,000, while others are waiting till it is $800,000. What is amazing around here is that they will likely get that asking price at some point in the upcoming years. It is becoming not uncommon to have people come in from California or elsewhere and say it really doesn't matter what the cost is, and that is driving the speculation in land pricing. And of course real estate agents want to push up the asking prices cause it helps their bottom line.

So what is a fair market value - when a bank looks at a loan on a property, the borough assessment carries a lot of weight on how much can be loaned out against the property. People tend to forget risk assessments, and in the 80's Alaska land prices tanked when the oil industry tanked for a few years - lots of speculative rising prices in the early 80's, then the banks were left with a bunch of properties in foreclosure and no buyers.

But of course that will never happen again - bubbles are a thing of the past in real estate and the stock market. Especially in Alaska, where the resource development prospects for opening up ANWR look so good and the new Alaska Gas Line is just a lock to be built.

Ed*ard Teller wrote on July 19, 2007 1:40 PM:

Cugel,

Sorry if you're confused. I might be too. I'm not sure how sour Sen. Murkowski's deal with Bob Penney is, but it stinks from here. You're right, it looks more than a bit like a bribe or pay-off. Why, I'm not at all sure. I think Penney is probably a funnel, in a different way, though, than Bill Allen and Veco were for the big oil companies, which gave Allen his marching orders. I've been critical of Penney here when he was most recently tied to Sen. Stevens, so you might not be aware of how long I've been watching this character. IMHO, he's one of the most sleazy operators in Alaska history. Compared to Penney, Pete Zamarello is a saint.

You know, many, many Alaskans know more about this than has come out. To me, the most interesting aspects of the emerging Alaska political scandals, though, are how willfully blind and obtuse the Anchorage Daily News has been about one of the biggest sets of political scandals in recent American history. It seems like every article that they print has mostly resulted from basic common-sense reporting done elsewhere, most from out of state, and a good deal of it by Laura McGann and Paiul Kiel. They're still dragging their feet.

Just the other week, the Sunday editorial of the Anchorage Daily News came up with this fluffy gem:

"[Whittier] Museum organizers apparently have a special interest in aviation and have a special surprise on hand for visitors: Two dozen photos from Sen. Ted Stevens' World War II years flying in Asia. The collection includes a charming photo of young Sen. Stevens, an Army Air Force officer, strumming a guitar."

Special surprise? Charming? Good friggin' grief! So I'm going to go down to Whittier to see a picture of St. Ted strumming a guitar sixty years ago? This was surely thought up in The Department of You Can't Make This Sh*t Up, where they have to work overtime, lately...

johnnydoughey wrote on July 19, 2007 1:55 PM:

"Word of honor, I did not know what the assessed value was," he said. "I thought it was still $120,000. . . . Who the hell would ever think it would jump like that?" Penney said.

Penny must be the only developer in the entire world who does not pay attention to property taxes and assessments...
This statement didn't come from lack of knowledge... it came from arrogance....

714Day wrote on July 19, 2007 2:09 PM:

Hold on! Do you mean many Alaskan politicians are corrupt?
No!
Alaska hasn't had this much oversight since it became a state. Serious stuff will be shaking out of those trees.

Cugel wrote on July 19, 2007 2:43 PM:

What's sad is how common this stuff is across the nation. Congress seriously had to argue about whether they ought to be able to fly around the world free on corporate jets on "fact-finding" junkets to Europe and Asia and stay at lobbyist expense in 4-star hotels and receive things like NFL playoff box-seat tickets.

The entire pretense that lobbyists are giving politicians money and property, perks and comps just out of the goodness of their hearts and it doesn't matter if our entire house and senate are bribed or not!

Anonymous wrote on July 19, 2007 3:36 PM:

Rydell ALWAYS provides ridiculous alibis for corrupt politicians.

Anonymous wrote on July 19, 2007 4:51 PM:

ADN and KTUU will let this drop. Laura Won't

ADN and KTUU are on the payroll. Always have. Always will.

It takes TPM and the FBI to clean up this cesspool. Sadly Alaska voters -mostly welfare addicts- will gladly vote all these clowns back in

Oil Curse brought every loser to Alaska twenty years ago. Now the 2nd generation love god, oil, and dirty representatives with a simple message.

As long as they get their welfare then Stevens Murkowski Young Allen and hundreds of other get to use Alaska as their own personal ATM machine.

realworld wrote on July 19, 2007 5:18 PM:

So what are the income tax implication of a sweetheart deal such as this? Doesn't the IRS consider this a disguised form of income?

Donald from Hawaii wrote on July 20, 2007 12:43 AM:

Sen. Lisa Murkowski has certainly led a charmed life. What a shame that all that toxic karma used to by that life has a rather nasty way of seeking redress.

Anonymous wrote on July 20, 2007 2:22 AM:

ADN and KTUU are pussies
TPM has brass balls and a Laura, a women, has them!!!!!!!!!!

Stephen Taufen wrote on July 20, 2007 12:38 PM:

Go back to 2004 and the "Who's Your Daddy" bumper stickers when Lisa ran against Tony Knowles. The article below adds some perspective... especially when you consider that the common thread is the SEAFOOD PROCESSORS - who filled the Winter Games coffers full so Ben Stevens could take a $750,000+ salary out; pumped money into Lisa's campaign, etc.; and who Ben slipped money back to through Ted Stevens' appropriations to the Alaska Fisheries Marketing Board ... which will all come out in greater detail as indictments occur.

TO LOOKUP:
Title: The boss's daughter
Locked in a close Senate race in Alaska, Republican incumbent Lisa Murkowski is getting a big push from the major industries tied to her powerful father, the governor.
By Joe Conason October 16, 2004
LOCATOR:
http://dir[dot]salon[dot]com/story/opinion/conason/2004/10/16/alaska/index[dot]html

Hanging Judge wrote on July 20, 2007 1:06 PM:

I'm still asking, "Where's the quo?" Laura, YOU GO GIRL!!!!!

Security code "EVERY", as in, "Every day in every way, TPM is better and better!"