The Anchorage Daily News asked candidates for statewide office in the Aug. 16 Alaska primary and special U.S. House elections to answer a series of issue and biographical questions to help voters understand their positions. Some questions were suggested by readers. Read all the responses here.
Lady Donna Dutchess • Party: Nonpartisan • Occupation: Vicegerent • Age: 48 • Residence: Anchorage / Fairbanks • www.ladydonna4congress.us/
Relevant experience or prior offices held
No prior elected offices held
Why are you running for office?
I am running for Congress to ensure all Alaskan families have a secure and peaceful future built upon government accountability, responsibility, and justice.
Name two big problems or challenges currently facing Alaska and how you plan to address them if elected.
1. Homelessness: People constantly ask how we can fix the homeless issue. As we can all see, the homelessness has reached a critical juncture in Alaska, with elected officials scrambling for solutions in impacted communities. This brings the question, how precisely are the State and municipalities supposed to solve homelessness, when the CFPB is absent-mindedly providing no real help to homeowners who file complaints with the CFPB. Foreclosures by banks with unethical lending business practices provide a never-ending stream of families (men, women, children) who end up homeless. I aim to address this.
2. Trafficking: The most vulnerable in our State and nation are often targeted for trafficking. Therefore, I shall focus on the trafficking of children first. Over 60% of trafficked children have been involved in the Foster industry. That means over half of the children that have been or are still in foster housing are trafficked. I aim to address this as well.
Do you believe Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 presidential election? If you believe there was fraud, where and how do you think it took place?
Yes, Mr. Biden legitimately won the 2020 presidential election, and to suggest otherwise is to invite civil war.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump violently attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2020. Do you believe President Trump should be held responsible for the events of Jan. 6?
I maintain that Mr. Trump will have to ‘fall on his sword’ regarding the events that resulted in him losing the 2020 election and the incident at the U.S. Capitol. Mr. Trump was the sitting president, with full access to all the information and scope of the current situation ongoing in our nation. Mr. Trump with his vast wealth and political connections failed to mitigate sufficiently and appropriately a course of action that would allow our nation to recover economically, healthwise, and internationally. As a result, our nation’s sovereignty is under threat.
Do you think Congress should pass legislation to limit or protect abortion access?
No. I am Pro-Life. This decision on abortions should be made at the state level by the voters. That said, it is my hope that vasectomies get as much attention and support as abortions do. Support and attention to vasectomies would eventually make Roe vs. Wade moot.
What specific actions, if any, should the U.S. government take to curb gun violence?
I support civilian training with gun education testing endorsements on government IDs to own a gun. Training civilians would curb gun violence a great deal. Testing endorsements that cover the spectrum of gun handling and safety prior to owning a weapon would help mitigate gun violence in America. If an individual does not pass the gun safety testing, then gun merchants could not sell guns to that individual, as the testing endorsement would not be on their government-issued ID. Someone who passed the testing and has been endorsed would be responsible for keeping their weapons safely locked away.
How do you think new resource development projects in Alaska should be balanced with the interests of environmental protection and climate change mitigation?
Based on my observations regarding energy sufficiency, we appear to be in a type of energy crisis in our search for clean energy. By this, I mean we appear to be unable to mitigate our energy industry effectively, while also being conscious of the environmental impacts we as consumers create. On one hand, the pressure is to maintain the status quo so that it does not impact jobs and profit. On the other hand, the pressure is to find clean ways to maintain our energy consumption without destroying the environment, while creating jobs. I support innovating clean energy technology (that has been ‘shelved’ in lieu of traditional profits), undeveloped patented technology, and the entrepreneurship of small energy research companies. I will support these types of energy innovations through government loans, subsidies, and grants. At the same time, I will target large corporations that knowingly put toxins, poisons, and carcinogenic materials into our environment.
How will you promote putting aside partisan politics to address complex issues in Congress?
I will promote a ‘reality check’ as our nation’s partisan politics, that appear to be a never ending issue, have created strategic weak-points for foreign governments targeting our country. Partisan politics have become a multi-million dollar modern day gladiator sport of character assassination, and to the wealthy victor go the spoils. Meanwhile, the American citizens continue to be aggrieved as the plight of our people is marginalized, ignored, and demoralized, which creates yet another strategic weak-point for foreign governments. As a result of the political insanity gripping our nation, I can clearly observe a push for a new type of government to rule America, (e.g. socialism, communism, et cetera).
Do you believe the federal government is well positioned to continue to address the COVID-19 pandemic and other future pandemics that may emerge?
No. I have been observing and tracking the COVID-19 pandemic since it exploded world-wide in 2020. I have come to the conclusion that COVID-19 is one of two options. COVID-19 is either a plague of biblical proportions, or it is a bioweapon. Additional information would be needed for me to pin down which option it definitely is.
Should transgender athletes be allowed to compete in sports according to the gender with which they identify?
No. Athletes should not compete by gender feelings. Athletes should compete by body composition class.
The federal infrastructure bill, which was voted for by all members of Alaska’s congressional delegation, stands to bring millions in federal funding to projects in Alaska. How would you ensure Alaska maximizes the benefits of this bill?
I would ensure that Alaska streamlines the funding for the marine highway, ports, drinking water, sewage, and internet broadband infrastructure effectively and efficiently.
What should the federal government be doing to curb inflation and strengthen the U.S. economy?
Currently, BRICS is making a serious strategic move that the federal government should be actively mitigating. Every American school child was taught the basic economics of a ‘tangible’ asset economy versus a ‘non-tangible’ asset economy. The U. S. economy is ‘slingshot’ deep into a non-tangible economy, and BRICS is making economic strategic moves to use this in their favor. It is only a matter of time before our non-tangible asset economy lets go of the ‘slingshot’ and our economy starts crashing into a recession, which is already underway. For the citizens of Alaska, I highly suggest they have ‘tangible’ assets prepared in order to ride out the transitional economic wave that is coming. The moment Russia moved into Ukraine, the foreign economic strategic partners were ready to make their move against the dollar. The feds should be running their computer AI to mitigate the ‘death by 1000 cuts’ strategic motion in play against the dollar.
What should be done, if anything, to change federal immigration policies?
I support the law in this matter. There are legal means to enter the USA. Any immigration activities that skirt around the law will only continue to erode the sovereignty of this country.
What is the country’s biggest national security threat?
Cliques in our government that truly believe and act above the law are the largest national security threat we currently are facing. The taint of government negligence, corruption, irresponsible spending, and nepotism has weakened our nation and created a serious security threat. There is a military infrastructure tactical strategy where an enemy replaces “good wood” with “corrupt wood” to topple a strong nation. Based on what I am observing going on in our nation, this strategic move is in play, and many will be unprepared for the consequences when it crashes our nation.
Where do you want Alaska and the U.S. to be five years from now in regard to emissions reductions and adaptation to the effects of climate change?
I want to see Alaska and the U.S. become aware that we do not live in a vacuum. Everything we do as it pertains to our climate and environment is connected to our way of life, health, and livelihood. We can either come together for the betterment of each other and our country, or we can continue to ignore the changes in our climate which will, eventually, impact us all.
What other important issue would you like to discuss?
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has a mission statement as follows, “To fulfill President Lincoln’s promise “To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan” by serving and honoring the men and women who are America’s veterans.” Based on the conversations with veterans and doctors about the VA; they have failed their mission. The VA’s reputation is dismal in America. Veterans are marginalized, ignored, and dismissed by VA employees who are going through the motions of ‘aiding’ veterans, but in reality, just collecting their employee paychecks and benefits. It appears the VA is under the 80/20 rule, where 80% of the workload is shouldered by 20% of VA staff who do actually care. Likewise, the other 80% of VA staff is coordinating the paperwork shuffle or handing veterans off to the State of Alaska for asset assessment. Veterans should not feel that suicide is their preferred option due to the fact that the VA is negligent with their care.
