Alaska Legislator Resigns from State Senate, Takes Job in Obama Administration

By Anne Sutton | The Associated Press

JUNEAU, Alaska – Alaska Sen. Kim Elton, a key figure in the abuse of power investigation of Gov. Sarah Palin, announced Monday that he was leaving his legislative seat for a job in the Obama administration.

The Juneau Democrat will serve as the Director of Alaska Affairs for the Department of Interior in Washington, D.C., starting March 16.

Ending weeks of speculation about the pending appointment, Elton announced his resignation on the Senate floor, then left the room to his colleagues’ applause …

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GOP Governors Clash Over Cash

By CHARLES MAHTESIAN | Politico

While Barack Obama’s stimulus package faced nearly unanimous Republican congressional opposition, it also exposed an unmistakable fault line among the 22 GOP governors, several of whom took high-profile positions in support of the $787 billion plan.

The governors’ rift was ostensibly about the economic recovery plan, but there was another high-stakes conflict behind the scenes, marked by two competing visions of a new Republican Party represented by two governors who may face off in the 2012 GOP presidential primary.

On the one side is South Carolina’s Mark Sanford, the chairman of the Republican Governors Association, who refers to the spending package as “a tremendous mistake.”

“The spending plan will prove to be an absolute disaster,” Sanford said in an interview. “The bottom line is that it’s horrible.”

On the other is Florida’s Charlie Crist, the popular first-term governor who appeared on stage with Obama last week to urge passage of the stimulus.

“I support the stimulus plan because, number one, we need it,” Crist told Politico. “Florida sends an awful lot of tax dollars to D.C. and we ought to get some of it back.” …

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