Telling all my friends about it. They're on the app. Get in on what everyone's talking about and get the new and improved free iHeartRadio app today. iHeartRadio. Mike Porcaro. Behind the mic of your 50,000 watt blowtorch. News Radio 650, KENI. Live from Anchorage, it's your news and information blowtorch. The 24th day of March in the year of our Lord, 2025. And I hope on the other end of the line, a crash has returned from Japan. Konnichiwa, MFers.
Well, welcome home. Thanks. What day is it? It took me a while to catch up. It was weird because when we flew there, it's an 18-hour time difference. So when I flew there, I lost a day and a half, right? But when we flew back on Friday, I left Tokyo at... 4.50 on Friday afternoon. Flew for 18 hours and landed in Anchorage at 5.50 Friday afternoon. It was really weird, man.
That had to be pretty cool. And you were flying east. Yeah, yeah. I got to say, I got to give props where props are due. Hawaiian Airlines is now a partner of... Alaska. And they fly direct from Seattle. Delta and Hawaii fly direct from Seattle to Tokyo. So the flight down there, we went Anchorage, Seattle, and then jumped on Hawaiian Air and went from, on Hawaiian Air, Seattle, Honolulu, Honolulu, Japan, and on the way back, we went from Japan to Seattle on Delta.
The people that put together those international flights, it's long been documented on the show. I'm a terrible flyer. I hate it. It was a completely enjoyable experience being on those airplanes. Everything was free. It was all the booze I could fit in me.
I didn't have to pay for any of it. You got breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They encouraged you to take your shoes off because they gave you slippers. And they had, on the back of every seat in front of you, there was a movie screen. 150 free movies, podcasts.
television shows they do everything they can to make an enjoyable experience so if you can take somebody like me that absolutely despises air travel and make it a somewhat enjoyable experience you're doing a pretty good job so kudos to both Hawaiian and Delta for this services that they provide because they did a really good job. Yeah. Now that, that the nonstop is a good flight.
Long, but a good flight. Yeah. I found it far more enjoyable to travel during the day than in the middle of the night. The trip down wasn't as good. The trip down was, I think Jack and I, my son, flew for a total of 22 hours with layovers and things like that. And the way back was about 18. It was only about nine hours, 45 minutes from Tokyo to Seattle. Well, I mean, they used to have non-stops to hear. I know.
And we went everywhere. I mean, I went to, let's see, Osaka. That's where I spent the first couple days in Kobe, Kyoto, Nara, Hiroshima, Miyajima Island, Tokyo, Hameji, I believe is the name of this town we went to. there's a the coolest two things I saw was the experience we had in Hiroshima and to call it cool is not not really appropriate but interesting I guess because we went to the memorial and then went through the guided tour of the memorial museum and things like that but
And Hemeji, I think that's how you say it. The castle there was a castle that was built in 1300. But castles in Japan in that time were not what you'd think of traditionally like English castles where the royalty lived there. These were strongholds. They were for war and things like that. So during World War II, they refurbished it in 1956, I believe, in World War II. the outlying area had just been absolutely decimated from the war. So what they did was they painted the castle black.
And it ended up making it through most of the war virtually unscathed because they painted it black and they couldn't see it from the air. So they refer to it as the Miracle Castle. And it was so interesting to be there. And it was fun to go with my wife because she'd lived there for a few years. It has a basic knowledge of the language, so it made it a little bit easier. But there's a lot of, I mean, temples everywhere. We ended up on...
I forget what town we were in. We went hiking and went to all these temples, and there was this one big one we went to, and we were there with my wife, myself, my two kids, and my wife's brother, and his wife, and their two kids. So we go to this temple, and it's a long hike up these...
stairs lots of stairs it's it's about a half hour walk on the staircase maybe 45 minutes to get to the top and that's where the temple is not and you go to the temples they have all these rules you can't take pictures and that you have to be mindful and respectful to people that are there to pray and things like
that so we get about I don't know 15 minutes up and we stop at this little place where they you know you do this little ritual or whatever make a wish and do this prayer thing we did that we see this little sign off to the side that says here's an alternate route to the top
Well, instead of taking the staircase to the top, we ended up hiking up the side of the mountain because my kids thought it would be a cool experience. There were no stairs. And any stair was man-made. It was carved out of the side of the mountain. So it was about an hour-long trek. If we did find a step from one step to the other, it was about a foot and a half. So you got chicken legs the whole way up there.
So we end up in this deserted, I think it was a graveyard, a cemetery, and there's an old Japanese man standing there calling us into the cemetery. And I'm like, hey, what the hell? Let's go. So we go walking in there. and he goes 500 yen each.
I'm like, okay. So we give him the money, and he gives us each a piece of wood and a pen. And we have to write down on the wood where we're from, when our birthday is, what our full name is, and what we wish for. And then all these people gathered around in the seminary. And we all started chanting this thing over and over and then burned the wood
And that was supposed to make our wish come true. So one of my first experiences in Japan was witchcraft in a cemetery, which was completely, totally... And my wish didn't come true, by the way. Everyone else wished for, like, you know, traditional health, happiness. I wished to win the lottery on Sunday, and it didn't happen. It didn't happen, no. Bunk. So then we keep going, and we're thinking about turning around.
And I really have to use the facility. So I see a little cardboard sign that says restroom. I'm like, restroom? We're in the middle of the woods. There's bamboo and stuff everywhere. And signs everywhere that says, beware of monkeys and wild pigs. Be respectful.
We're in the middle of nowhere hiking up this mountain, just the four of us. And I see this cardboard sign that says restroom. I'm like, well, you know what? What the heck? Let's see what this is all about. Well, I ended up being some guy's backyard, right? So I go down the steps looking for this restroom. And then I found...
I found what would loosely be referred to as a restroom. You would rather eat off the floor of the men's room at the Palmer State Fairgrounds than use what... It's hard to relieve yourself.
and you're dry heaving and gagging the whole time. So we get rid of, I take care of that. We head back up and all of a sudden, a different old man had appeared in the woods and he was sitting on the back porch of this house. And he looks at my daughter and in broken English, he says, would you like to come over here and pet my cat?
i'm like okay no no okay well he's very friendly he loves sardines so he's giving us sardines we're in the middle of the woods feeding this guy's cat after the seance i had just experienced in the cemetery and this lasts for about i don't know two or three minutes and just right out of nowhere he goes all right that's it i have to leave now and he grabs his cat and goes inside the house and we finish our trek up the the side of the mountain thinking there's going to be some massive payoff to all
this it's the most hiking i've ever done in my whole life i literally thought i was going to die my wife who is an absolute barbarian at one point turns around and says do you think we should just go back down and then it became a war of attrition because my son's 22 and he just took off running up the mountain, right?
And so I can't let him show me up. So after all of this, the seance and the fish and the cat and the urinal and all, there's gotta be some huge payoff. We get to the top of the mountain and there was a gift shop that served ice cream. So my nieces and nephews are up there eating ice cream when we got there. So that was one full day. And then about two or three days into it, everyone got the flu. My sister-in-law got the flu. She had to go to a dock in the box in...
Osaka. Then three or four days later, I got the flu. I had one day where I was just breathing glass. And then my kids started to get sick towards the end of it. But we weren't going to let that ruin anybody's trip. So we all just kind of powered through. But yeah, we went everywhere. It was so weird you'd almost think I was in a different country.
The only English words were Toyota. Well, the problem is, too, you say one Japanese word, and they think you speak Japanese, like konichiwa, hello, and then there's origato, but the way you're supposed to say it is origato gozaimasu. That's like...
the traditional, more formal way of saying it. So you say that and they think you speak Japanese and they launch into it and then you just smile and nod a lot. Another thing I learned about Japan, their convenience stores put ours to absolute shame. You buy dinner at the 7-Eleven. It's like a grocery store. It's not like the ones here. When we went from Osaka to Tokyo, we had two or three days in between, but we don't want to lug our luggage around, so we all...
carry on backpacks with enough clothing and stuff to get us through the next couple days. So the trip ended in Tokyo. So we went to the local 7-Eleven and they shipped our luggage to our hotel in Tokyo for us. The 7-Elevens there, they're full-on, full-service. You eat dinner there. The locals line up there to get there. I mean, we make fun of gas station sushi, but it's a staple in Japan. So we had that, and then we had one.
On Miyajima Island, we went to, we stayed in a traditional Japanese hotel with bamboo floors and you got to wear like the formal, you know, the Japanese robes and stuff when they come in and they serve you your dinner and you sit on the floor and then you leave the room.
for like 40 minutes and then they come move the table to the side and put all your futons down on the floor and you sleep in that so we had a traditional Japanese dinner and breakfast I was really the only one that liked it I ate so many things on that trip that still had a face it would make your head spin
They don't take the heads off the fish. They don't head the shrimp. So I got all the food I wanted because my kids wouldn't go anywhere near them because they all had a fully functional head still attached to them. But it was...
Did you get on the bullet train? I did ride the bullet train. The only thing I did not do, much of the chagrin of my wife, is the traditional, let's go bathe with other naked Japanese men. I had to draw the line somewhere. I'm like, I'm not doing that. That's not my thing. But I did ride the bullet train.
the bullet train and the thing about that is unless you look out the window you don't realize you're on a bullet train because it's so smooth well it sounds like you had a heck it was it was one of the most amazing things i've ever experienced in my life I can't wait to go back. It was absolutely incredible. There's a lot of things they do there that are different. I learned once you figure it out.
The way that they do it, I've never done it anywhere else, but the way the trains run and public transportation is run in Japan, once you figure it out, you can go anywhere whenever you feel like it. Wow. It's amazing. Well, think of all the people. They've got to move. Tokyo is a huge city. You go to a Disney in L.A. and think it's crowded, go to Disneyland in Tokyo.
And everybody seems to be, from what I understand, very polite. Extremely polite, at least overtly. I guarantee there were a couple of times where under their breath and, you know, Japanese, they'd whisper to their friends and contemporaries, it's another ugly American making a fool.
of himself like i always forget to take my shoes off and apparently that's a no-no there's some social rules you have to follow like they frown on it when you're in a building and you're walking and eating you gotta stop and like drink your water and then put it in your backpack you can eat or drink on the train but you're not really supposed to there's all kinds of weird rules well i don't say weird but rules that that they follow that we don't like when you're walking down the road
If you're walking one way, they want everyone going this direction. If you're headed south, they want everybody headed south walking on one side of the road. And then if you're headed north, they use the other side. And you've got to kind of figure out where that is.
But, I mean, you go to, like, downtown Osaka or Tokyo at night when it's lit up, it's like Vegas on steroids. It's insane. We ended up in Kobe at some steakhouse. It was me, my daughter, and my two kids. We ended up in some seedy part of town. You're in a bad part of town where every five feet there's a guy in a tuxedo trying to get you to come into the club. You know what I mean? We ended up in one of those things. It was a real eye-opener. It was super, super cool.
All right. Let's take a break. It's 421. We'll be right back. KENI. Looking at the Alaska total traffic cameras on this Monday afternoon. Traffic's moving well around. I put a bow tie on all this stuff in Japan. And I remember what I told you about the egg salad sandwiches on that milk bread. Yeah, I thought you were crazy. I'm not going to Japan and having an egg salad sandwich.
If you ever make it to Japan, and my wife and daughter went there about five, six days before my son and I showed up, and I got the WhatsApp app. It's the only way I could contact you, but I got an eSIM, and my cell was just completely shut off as far as selling. texting i can only contact people who have that particular app but i get a little message from her dad first thing you got to do when you get here is try an egg salad sandwich i'm like son of a b pecaro was right
So it's the first thing I did. I landed, I'm not exaggerating, by our Airbnb in Osaka. It was literally 30 feet from a family mart. I had the taxi driver take me to the family mart from the airport so I could get a, and it's the first thing. I did. I bought an egg salad sandwich and lo and behold, it was one of the greatest things I've ever eaten. It's that milk bread, man. They take that milk bread and they cut the crust off. Oh gosh, it's delicious. I agree. So you were right about that.
Who knew that my favorite traditional Japanese dining experience would be an egg salad Santa from the corner of 7-Eleven? But lo and behold, that's in fact what happened. No, they make the most amazing egg salad salad. They do, and you buy them at the convenience store. Like I said, they've got a vending machine every five feet. It's like dispensaries in Anchorage or coffee shops in Seattle.
With everything in it, anything you want. Oh, yeah, you can buy clam chowder or corn soup out of those things. Buy a house, you know. Yeah, then you get these weird, I forget what they're called. It's like a credit card that you preload. that you can use all over the place. And the way they do money is very interesting as well. I mean, like 10,000 yen is like 70 bucks or something like that. So the coins there actually matter because like...
You know, a 500 yen coin piece is just, it's like four bucks. So you actually use the coins. Yeah, exactly. No, it's an interesting country. The Japanese are... Hard-working very smart extremely polite Just very nice people. Yeah, but if you're like downtown Osaka or Tokyo and work lets out, they call them salaries. I think salary men, I think is what they call them. Those guys cut loose after work.
Well, yeah, they go nuts. Yeah, absolutely. And we did do another traditional Japanese thing. I had my birthday while I was there. My son and I have the same birthday. And as a surprise, my whole family went to one of those traditional spots and rented a karaoke. Oh, my God. found out I really like Japanese beer
Yes, Japanese beer is very good as well. Yeah. So I've always said the two places I want to see are Japan and Italy, purely for the food. And the food there, the egg salad sandwich notwithstanding. I'm telling you. Completely lived up to the...
hyping their reputation I was expecting. You thought I was crazy, didn't you? Yeah. And like I said, I got my daughter three days after she got there. Dad, I can't wait till you get here and try the egg salad sandwich from the quarter 7-Eleven. All right. She was right. Ah, what can you say? All right, it's 428-522-0650 is the phone number. Crash is back, so craziness shall be the order of the day. We'll be right back. Stay with us. Call Mike and Crash now. Be a part of the show.
News Radio 650 KENI. This is News Radio 650. KE&I Anchorage. Juneau says the city's landfill could be full in 10 years. The city and waste management are looking at three options now, including building a new landfill, burning the trash, or shipping it south.
It reduces nearly 30,000 tons of waste each year. The state of Alaska is seeking an emergency ruling to allow it to continue killing bears and wolves as part of the predator control program. It's been in place since 2023, killing nearly 200 bears and 19 wolves. To protect the western Alaska caribou herd. The Department of Fish and Game asking the state board for an emergency regulation.
And a small aircraft carrying three people has been reported overdue in Alaska. The Coast Guard is among the agencies now looking for the missing plane. Thought they've encountered dangerous winds during the flight yesterday. The Piper Super Cruiser taking off for a sightseeing tour but failing to arrive. on schedule. That's the latest. I'm Jack Cronin. 433-523-0650. That's the phone number. Glad to have you back with us. Glad to crash it back. Dale did a good job. He held down the fort.
We had some good programs while you were gone, and now you're back, so you're going to work like a dog, you know? That's just kind of the way it is. Yeah. I know you missed us. I know. You're painting such an appealing picture of my return. Yes. Well, there's an interesting story in Mushroom, Alaska. It's from a lady.
who went to this town hall meeting, at least she thought it was a town hall meeting, in Fairbanks. Her name is Sally Duncan. She says, I attended what I believe to be a town hall. Didn't she play Peter Pan? No, that's a different Duncan. Who played Peter Pan? She's in the Wheat Thins commercial. Sandy Duncan. Yeah, yeah, okay. They're kind of the same person, but different. Is this what you like to do is just interrupt me while I'm reading this?
What are you, new here? Have you never listened to this show? Of course that's what I do. Okay, Sally Duncan, not Sandy Duncan. I love Wheat Thins. I hate Mondays too. Right. You like coffee, don't you? Mmm, coffee. That was a shaker. Here's a picture of my food. All right. That's all social media stuff that annoys me. Anyways, I digress. You continue. After it all is the Mike Piccaro Show. Okay. Sally Duncan, not to be confused with Sandy Duncan, who played Peter Pan.
She says, I attended what I believe to be a town hall hosted for Senator Dan Sullivan, or Sam Dullivan, whatever, last week, based on a flyer I saw circulating. As a conservative, I was curious to hear from my senator and engage in a productive conversation with fellow constituents. However, what I walked into was not a town hall, but rather a protest against the very man I came to hear from.
It looked like a standard town hall event. It was advertised at the Noel Ween Public Library's auditorium in Fairbanks. The location and time seemed to line up, but upon arrival, the scene was anything but what I had expected. of a discussion about policy of the senator's actions that was a palpable energy of frustration and dissent. Too bad we don't have like an organ, you know, right there.
An empty chair was placed at the front, a symbol of Dan Sullivan's absence, though no one took ownership of the event. A young lady approached me holding a piece of paper with a QR code asking if I wanted to stay updated on similar events. When I asked her who was organizing the event, she replied with cryptic responses, there is a different person. that takes the responsibility each time so we don't get targeted. I couldn't help but find the irony striking.
a group of about 125 to 150 people gathered in what seemed to be a safe space for free speech, where were apparently so fearful of backlash that they couldn't even publicly claim responsibility for hosting the event. The flyer in question, which I later discovered, had been posted on the Native Movement website at their recent newsletter, described the event as an empty chair town hall.
In this instance, the event was framed in such a way as to hold Senator Sullivan accountable for declining the invitation to attend the event. Did he really decline? Was he really asked or invited? This empty chair event was a missed opportunity, a chance for people to vent their frustrations, real or imagined or made up, without offering real solutions.
far from facilitating a thoughtful exchange of ideas, seemed more like a performance aimed at making a point rather than fostering understanding. Do we get to hold them accountable for a fake town hall? Sally Duncan is from Two Rivers, Alaska. A nice town up there in Fairbanks land. So that's what's going on. And we talked about this last week.
Senator Schumer was talking about how they were sending people out to these town halls to interrupt them. And so now the Republicans have basically said, well, you know, we're not going to play that silly game with you. have decided to hold their own town halls and be mad. Now, what I find interesting about all this... is people who are in Juneau getting mad, people who are in Anchorage getting mad, in Fairbanks getting mad, and they were holding this stuff in front of the legislators.
Or at least in front of the legislative halls and stuff. And I'm thinking, well, the legislators have nothing to do with this. They can't do anything about it. I guess maybe because Sullivan was speaking there. And they're also after Nick Begich, too. Not Lisa Murkowski. They're after Sullivan and Begich. Why? Well, because... They seem to be supporting Trump.
They seem to be they are supporting Trump, but not always. Everybody has agreements and disagreements, but for the most part they're supporting Trump. Lisa Murkowski, not so much. So she's okay because she's not supporting Trump. But what happens when she does, when there's something that he does that's favorable to Alaska, which is a lot of things that are favorable to Alaska, and even Lisa Murkowski.
who I'm sure Trump isn't on our Christmas card list, she has stepped up and supported him when she believes he's doing something good for the state. That's her job. It's interesting to watch what's going on. A lot of this is from the 907 project. Remember these guys? They were out there bashing Bronson. And now they've decided they're going to continue going after Sullivan and Begich. Well, Begich just got elected. So, you know.
Good luck, and I think barring some unforeseen situation, Nick will probably win a second term and a third term, et cetera, et cetera. He's a hardworking guy, and I think he will... He will probably continue in that job. Senator Sullivan is going to be running for re-election here in 26. And for the most part... I think he's done a good job. For some people, he's too far over in the Trump camp, but I hate to break it to some people.
Trump won Alaska. It's like, yeah, hey, hello. I mean, what can you say? I look at the stuff, and I think Sally Duncan had it right. It's performance art. It's kabuki dance. It's a show. That's what they're doing. If they really want to do something meaningful, then why don't you get together with maybe a conservative group or what have you and invite the senator, really invite him, or invite Mr. Bigich to appear and have a legitimate discussion where you can get questions and answers.
from people of goodwill on both sides and go from there. But this nonsense about he was invited and he didn't show up and somebody's a doormat and somebody's a chicken, I mean, come on. You know, what is this, a junior high school play or something? Grow up. If you're looking to actually do something and have real discussions and ask real questions,
then do it as an adult. Do it as a grown-up. Don't soil yourself with this nonsense. It's not particularly funny, and it's not particularly smart. And it's going to fail. Just as the Democrats have failed this country. Take a look at your party. What have you learned? What have you done? Where have you gone? Downhill. We'll be right back. The Mike Porcaro Show with Crash on NewsRadio 650 KENI.
And he's going to talk to us about Alaska and kind of where we're going. Where's the ship of state headed? And I think it's kind of an important subject to talk about. We've had Senator Kronk on before, and he's just a really great guy. In fact, Crash, remember when we had the senator on last time, we talked about his plan to disinternate.
engage people if they wished from the permanent fund dividend. Yeah, it's one of those things that makes way too much sense for the legislature to even entertain. Yeah, which they should do. I mean, here's an opportunity. It's a voluntary deal, you know? Give me my money. Well, and if you think about it, too, if the legislature wasn't so short-sighted, everybody that opts out of the PFD plan, that's money that goes right back into the pocket of the crooks there in Juneau in perpetuity.
They would get, if I said yes, give me the payout, whatever that may be, 40, 50 grand, whatever the case may be there. They pay me off and we go our separate ways. We never have to speak of this again. And I think a lot of people who are paying attention would opt.
out of the pft program if it meant a forty thousand dollar payout because if you do the math you're thinking of you know we'll go we'll low ball it a thousand dollars a year okay because that seems to be the number they're shooting for every year they throw it in those bogus energy bonuses and all that other crap that they window dress it up with to make it seem like they're and those things seem to come during election years
But say $1,000 a year. That's $1,000 a year for 40 years. In 40 years, this program is not going to be around. It's not going to be here. So if you're one of those people that says, well, I don't want to opt out of it. I want that money saved for future generations. It's not going to be around. going to last through this generation. So it doesn't make any sense to me on both sides of the fence for this not to happen. They pay everybody out. They get the money, all of it moving forward.
And one of the reasons why things like this often fail, if you remember years ago, and I've mentioned this before, remember years ago, the first time they put it on a ballot to legalize marijuana, right? The way that the thing was worded, there was a lot of tertiary language involved.
in the proposal. It wasn't just... pot's legal it was pot's going to be legal and there's going to be restitution for anybody who's ever been arrested for a marijuana offense and there's going to be this thing and there's going to be that thing and there's going to be this thing if this is and that's why it failed if this if this is going to be that just
make it just that x number of dollars for every eligible alaskan when we start getting into the weeds about well i deserve more because i've lived here longer and all that kind of stuff then that's not going to fly you don't get all locked up in the minutiae of the whole thing
$45,000, $50,000, whatever the number is, for every eligible Alaskan that wants it. Signed, sealed, delivered, boom, we never have to talk about it again. Because it has been the elephant in the room since Walker vetoed that money. It's the predominant thing that they talk about. to talk about in juno and not only does it we get shafted every single year it precludes them from doing the real work they need to be doing while they're there because they're talking about this all the time
When I say talking about this, I don't mean talking about a fair resolution for everybody to this. I mean talking about how they can screw us out of more money every year. It just makes too much sense, and that's why I doubt it's ever going to happen. Well, now there's a move. We had Senator Kaufman on Friday, and there's a move maybe to look at putting everything into one fund, which means the Constitutional Budget Reserve, where the legislature can kind of dip into that.
They need a three-quarters majority to do that, but yet they can use that money. But they were thinking about putting everything into the corpus, which means that it's locked away. And nobody can touch it. Now the thing that I worry about is someday, someday, I know there's going to be a try to raid that permanent fund.
With a vote of the people you've got to have a vote of the people to do it And I think what needs to happen here is people need to Say you know you have you have only so much money And you have to live on that. But yet we have legislators down there that talk about, quote, revenue enhancements. And you know what that is. It's a tax. And that's because they can't stop spending. The governor has come up with some really good ideas, and they don't get anywhere.
because of these coalitions that go into place where you've got Republicans that suddenly wake up in the morning and go, wait, I'm on the wrong team. I'm a Democrat. And then they run across the aisle. But he wanted to have essentially a spending cap. And he wanted to make sure that the taxes had to be voted on by the people. And he wanted to have all these things. And he wanted to enshrine the permanent fund and the Constitution.
I mean, all of these things would make sense. But the reason why they're not happening is because, guess what? The power is taken away from the legislators. They don't like that. And, you know, I mean... When you look at some of the decisions that they make, and I'm not speaking for all of them certainly, but it seems like the leadership down there is in that category, you have to wonder.
about for whom do they work? You know, what sort of decision making is going on? There isn't the money, but yet you're talking about large increases for schools. You're talking about... a compensation package, a defined benefits package for workers. You're talking about just huge amounts of money, and where is it coming from? Well, it's not there. So if it's not there, guess where it is? It's in your pocket, Crash, and they want it.
They want to take your hard work, and they want you to pay for it. That's what's going on, and that's what they're trying to do. You've got a lot of tax and spend people down there. And, you know, the Republicans up here have sat on their hands and haven't really engaged the way they should. You know, yeah, we got Trump elected. Okay, fine. Well, that's Trump. That's wonderful. But what did you do for the state? You've got two coalitions in Juneau run by Democrats. That's what you've got.
You've got basically a bunch of Democrats running the city. So you wonder why things aren't going? in the right direction, why things are failing, why decisions that are made are poor, why Alaska isn't moving forward while our education system is failing. While a lot of other things we do fail, it's because of our legislative leadership. You know, I'm sure there are people out there that would violently disagree with me. You'd be wrong.
Just take a look. They can't even solve the permanent fund dividend problem, which is a math problem. That they can't solve. Not because they can't solve it. I'm not saying these people are not intelligent. There's a lot of intelligent people there. They don't want to solve it. That's the problem. They don't want to. They know what's going to happen if they do solve it. They lose power. And it's just as simple as that.
But we've got close. We've got to start electing men and women that are going to be working for us, that aren't going to be changing party affiliations. And jumping over to the other side of the aisle because somebody promises them a big office or they think they can get more power. Or because they might say, well, there's more opportunity for advancement. I've heard that before in the other caucus. Advancement? Is that what you're looking for? Or are you looking to work for your constituents?
See, I'm not looking for you to have advancement. I'm looking for you to do the work of your constituent. I'm looking for you to work for your districts. That's the advancement you're going to get. You know what your advancement is? You're going to get reelected. That's your advancement. All right. 456, coming up, Senator Mike Cronk. After five, stay with us. Well, I finally did it. I opened a 401k.
What? Why? Just wait for the inheritance. We've definitely got a rich uncle somewhere. We're one call away from the winner's circle at the Derby, dinners with multiple forks, a vacation home in the country, using summer as a verb. You don't actually think that. When it comes to financial stability, don't get left behind. Get tools and tips for saving at feedthepig.org.
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All right, 507, 40 degrees in Anchorage. Homer, Sildatna, Homer, and Talkeetna. Wow. 32 in Fairbanks, minus 2 in Prudhoe Bay, Seattle's at 49, New York's at 49, 59 in Akaroa, New Zealand, Pensacola, Florida, 67, Tampa, Florida, 75, and Tifton, Georgia, 65, some of the places that actually listen. to this radio show. There we go. All right. We're still awaiting Senator Kronk's call. Crash? Yes, he has not called yet. Okay. All right. Well, he might be stuck.
in a hearing, which is something that always happens around this time of the day. The hearing might run a little long or what have you. And so he'll call when he's free. you know that's the way it works the guy's on the job and so when he has a an opportunity to break free he will You just got back from flying for many, many hours, and you did well, and you liked the airlines that you flew on. I did. And they did a super job. Now, here's an interesting lady.
That ended up on a flight. She was going from Seattle to Pittsburgh. I've done that. She ended up in the middle seat. with a fellow whose appearance she said was questionable, or as they say in England, dodgy. To my left, she said there was a heavyset woman She said the heavyset woman wasn't bad. She took up a little more personal space than I liked, but snored. The fellow with the questionable appearance, however, was a total nightmare.
Can you imagine if you were sitting next to this guy? She said, believe it or not, aside from his awful smell and the fact that he probably hadn't bathed in quite some time, he was actually pulling the hair out of his beard. And what do you think he was doing? He was eating it. What? He was eating it. Yes. Now, you have a beard. I do. And...
You know, people sometimes like to stroke the beard or scratch it or whatever. You know, I mean, it's on your face. You do it if you want. It's your face. But I've never in my life seen anybody pull hair out of their beard and eat it. Well, everything involved with that just seems wrong. Because doesn't pulling the beard hair out of your face, doesn't that hurt? I would think it would hurt a lot. Yeah.
I mean, airline food's not the greatest thing in the world, but I think it's a better alternative. I'd rather eat that lukewarm breakfast sandwich they gave me on my flight to my own beard. LAUGHTER Maybe it's filling. I don't know. I don't know. Maybe, now this might sound disgusting, but what the heck, I'm talking to you. Maybe there was food on it. Yeah, I mean, maybe he ate something earlier to save the flavor. You know, you always talk about chest pizza.
Yeah, yeah. You fall asleep on the couch eating a piece of pizza. You wake up, it's right there on your chest, and you just eat it off your chest. I mean, I guess that makes sense. If I'm willing to participate in the ritual known as chest pizza, maybe I'll have a beard fry. Yeah, there you go. Right. You know, sometimes people put their gum under the table for later behind their ear. Maybe it's beard gum. Well, I've never heard of that. I would assume that there's no law against it.
Well, there certainly should be. What would you say? You can't bathe your mule in a tub in Arkansas on a Sunday. You're not allowed to. But you can eat your beard here. Begs the question, can you eat another man's beard hair? I don't know. That's what you'd like. Does consent have to be involved? I think so. Mike, if you and I were ever trapped in an elevator and we were starving, I would let you eat my beard.
Okay, well, that's awfully kind of you. I know. I think starvation might be a better alternative. Probably be a more palatable option, I would think. Yes, I think so. I think so. Well, since we're on this kind of silly kick, Rosie O'Donnell, she moved to Ireland. She actually did. She's one of the celebrities that said, I'm going to move, and then she did.
Well, good for her and good for the rest of America. Exactly. And so she wrote a note to the Prime Minister of Ireland, Prime Minister Martin, apologizing for President Trump. Because the Prime Minister... That's her job now, apologizing for the President of the United States.
OK, I guess. Well, she said that Trump has been after her. She said he's been doing it for two decades and I'm still not used to it every time he does. OK, so let's flip the script a little bit by that rationale. Hasn't she. also been after him oh yes so that's that's so hypocritical what a Karen moment I mean come on and if your name's Karen I meant no offense to that but you know what I mean
Yes. He's picking on me after I've been picking on him. And you know what? The celebrity moving out of state. threat looming over all of our heads on a daily basis. How the hell do we get through our day? How can I be expected to sleep at night when George Clooney may or may not move to Canada? They say it like it's some huge threat. Like if my guy loses, I'm moving. Who cares?
Yeah, go ahead. I don't care whether you're here or there. It's no big threat to the rest of us who actually live in the real world that some entitled weenie Hollywood celebrity is going to move to some foreign land. Do they say that? What is the purpose for saying that during an election cycle? Are they worried or are they hoping that their threat of moving to Swahili or if that is such a place, something like that? No, that's a language.
Okay, want to move to wherever they speak, Swahili. They threaten me with that, so when I go to the polls, I'm going to go, oh my God, I can't vote for this guy because Anthony Edwards from ER might move to a different nation. Who cares? Get over yourself. Bye.
Rosie started making comments about Trump on The View. Remember, she was on The View. Yeah, that's where we as a nation get most of our ridiculous information. Right, in 2006. Now, during the Prime Minister Martin's trip... to the White House on March 12th, a reporter asked Trump, why in the world would you let Trump He said, why in the world would you let Rosie O'Donnell move to Ireland? I think she's going to lower your happiness.
Yeah, all of a sudden in one fell swoop, she's drug down each and every property value in that whole place. Well, before Martin could answer, Trump chimed in. He said, that's true. I like that question. Do you know you have Rosie O'Donnell? Do you know who she is? You're better off not knowing, he said. I find the back and forth between the two of them absolutely entertaining. Not only because he wins. Yes. Well, she's mad because she said, he's used me as a punchline and bullied me.
Can you think of any other public figure that has been bullied and used by a punchline by the Hollywood elite more than Donald Trump? Oh, I know. Come on. What a weenie. Well, what he said that apparently really, you know, kind of did it all. Trump was asked about having called women disparaging names like fat pigs and snob. And he said, no, only Rosie. Only Rosie. That was right before he got elected the first time, I believe. I know. I don't know her at all. I can't.
Neither confirm nor deny she is those things that he said she was. He would probably know better than I, but isn't she a comedian? Isn't that how she got started? She's a comedian, yeah. Yeah, yeah, toughen up a little bit. Sack up, Rosie.
You know, she's got a pretty quick tongue and pretty wicked tongue. Right. She's not a shrinking violet, for goodness sake. No, not at all. So for her to say, I've been bullied by this guy, so I can't take being a punchline anymore. She can do a pretty good job.
of defending herself and going after people. Yeah, and most of the people in Hollywood have been doing that for the last 10 years going after him. Thicken your skin up a little bit. Now, don't get me wrong. I mean, my life is neither better nor worse.
in relation to wherever the hell Rosie O'Donnell wants to live. I don't really care. I don't give a rip. And I think any rational human being wouldn't care either. But I just always find it funny when the Hollywood people use that as some sort of threat. Yeah, well, go away. Yeah, bye. It's not like I'm going to wake up every morning and miss the life work of one Rosie O'Donnell. Come on. It's like if you moved or I moved, who would care? Who would care?
I just think that that's a funny thing. Ryan Reynolds is on a talk show, and he said, I think it was Fallon, he's from Canada, and he said, stop telling everyone you're going to move to Canada. We don't want you there. No. It's kind of like, you know. The Canadians have enough trouble. Yeah, that's true. But I don't know. That's just such a dumb thing to threaten the American public with. Exactly. All right. It's 517.
5-2-2-0-6-50. We will be right back. The Mike Percaro Show with Crash on News Radio 650. KENI. Looking at your Alaska total traffic cameras. Expecting mostly clear to partly cloudy skies. Daily highs continuing to remain fairly mild for spring with those tipters warming. Upper 30s. All right, 522-0650. Got a note from Mike Kronk's office, Senator Kronk's office, that he should be calling in. Apparently he was delayed in a hearing.
And we certainly understand all of that. So the senator should be calling in here momentito, which I think is a Japanese word. Maybe not. Yes, it is a Japanese word. It means where's the restroom? That's all you thought about. Okay, well, now he's calling me, so... Well, that's not how it works. I know. Yes, Senator, would you call a different number, please? This is riveting. Okay. Let's play some music while we're doing this.
I think we got it squared away. He should be calling you soon here. Okay. Thank you for playing the theme to Momentito. Yeah, there's no problem. Oh, hang on. Phone's ringing. There it is. I bet that's Senator Cronk. All right. 523, we're going to have to do some sort of housekeeping here, and I'm going to leave it to you to fix it. How's that? Were you talking about commercials? Yeah.
Well, without getting too far into the weeds, you're good until 45. Okay. Sounds good. All right. Senator Mike Kronk, how are you? Sorry for the delay. All right. Good to have you with us. How are you doing? Very good. Very good. Okay. Well, first of all, what's going on down in Juneau? Well, I think... the realization that we don't have a lot of money for this budget that's being proposed. So I think we're having some conversations about how and what we are going to cut.
in the final budget. So, you know, I think that's going to be the discussion for the next 60 days of how we pay for everything. Well, I think that's obviously... Kind of like, gee, I'd like that, that, and that. You get to the checkout counter and you go, hmm, I don't have enough money for all this stuff. I've got to put some stuff back. I guess that's kind of where we are. What does that do in your estimation to the... the budget for schools.
I still think there's going to be, you know, I think there's, you know, personally, you know, I represent like nine schoolers. There's definitely a need. So I'll be honest. I personally don't think the $1,000. number that's in the HB69 is going to work, I would... I'll be betting my bottom dollar that a 680 number is probably the number that's going to be the number. Try not to be a predictor, but knowing the numbers and budget.
stuff i would say if people are building a budget around the number it would be a 680 amount not a thousand dollar amount okay well then that says that and what about the defined benefits program is that dead or is that going somewhere i'll tell you it's happening I haven't heard a single word about it in a few weeks, right, and maybe because the focus has been on education, but there is literally, there is no money. I mean, I cannot see any.
piece of legislation that has a fiscal note uh surviving any anything um i'll be honest with you i mean it's just it's i just don't think it's gonna happen so All right. Well, it sounds like the day of reckoning has happened and the cold light of reality hits and says, hey. You only got so much money and no more. So I think that's where we are. I guess you guys will have to figure it out. But let me ask you, you've got some ideas as to where Alaska should be and what we should be doing.
I'd love to hear your views here and your vision. Yeah, I mean, I'm a firm believer in building our state, right? I mean, and, you know, everything I personally do, I say this all the time, everything I'm doing now, isn't for the, you know, just tomorrow, it's for the next 10 years, 20 years, 50 years, right? I mean, I'm looking at our kids and our grandkids and, you know, we need to, you know, obviously we have a great opportunity now.
with the current administration or the Trump administration of opening up our resource development. Obviously... No one wants to develop our resources carelessly. You know, we do it the best in the world. And I think people should be focusing. on how well and how, you know, we do it and how we want to protect our environment at the same time. Yet, you know, we do these projects to create jobs and obviously brings in revenue to the state.
But we do have a really big state that does cost money to run and function. And I think, you know, we need to realize that. But we also, there has to be efficiencies in all aspects of government. I, you know, I'm a firm believer in. I don't think anybody said, hey, more government's better for people, right? So I'm a firm believer in less government, but being efficient at what we do, right? And I'm not sure anybody really knows what that efficiency is.
To be honest with you, I mean, we don't want to – I mean, everybody wants services, but we can't be everything for everybody at the same time. So – I think our goal should be focusing on creating opportunity and jobs, and that's through resource development. But building a strong private sector also and not so dependent on the government sector. Well, I think you're right, and I think...
Part of that comes down to resource development. We're a resource province. And for folks who don't think that's true, look at what we have. We've got mining. We've got fishing. We've got oil. We've got natural. We've got natural gas. We've got timber. I mean, the state is rich. beyond anyone's belief. And we need to be doing that. Obviously, we need to be doing it right. We need to be doing it so that we don't destroy our own environment. And I think we've done a good job so far.
Oh, I believe that, too. And people that are in charge of that, I think, have the same expectation. I mean, I don't ever want to lower that expectation. I want to make sure if we're developing our resources, we're doing it by the best standards. in the world and being the cleanest. But we have to have the infrastructure
you know, to actually develop these resources, you know, and that means, you know, hey, we have to build a road here. Let's build a road. You know, we have to add some rail here. Let's build, you know, extend the railroad. We have the resources, you know, and... I don't want to look back, but I wish 50, 60 years ago we would have actually had a focus and a vision for Alaska for 2000.
not only 2025, but 2050. Where was our vision for what we're doing? Unfortunately, we have to create that vision now. I know people are saying it's too late, it's not too late, and it's never too late. You know, we have kids and grandkids, you know, great-grandkids down the road that we want to have stay here and live here. So it's time to start creating that future that we should have built years ago. So I just don't think there's...
ever a time to stop having a vision for Alaska. So Mike, do you see the political will to do that? I mean, obviously anybody who looks at this state realizes we've got a lot. I think it's fairly obvious to people that we need to do something, but you've articulated it. And I've heard it from Senator Collins. I've heard it from Senator Schauer. I've heard it from, you know, your caucus. But is the will there on the other side? You know, it is a good question.
I always have to hope that people are here for the right reasons and not personal gain. You know, and because I always, you know, everybody throws out this word, well, there's power. I'm like, I don't believe there's power in what I do. I believe in the people that elected you and the people in the state, right? So I don't look at my position as some powerful position. You're a senator. You can do this.
I wish more people would come. I honestly don't care if my name's ever attached to anything that gets done. As long as it gets done, I will hand off any piece of legislation that's good to somebody else. Because I don't care. The bottom line is, if it's good for Alaska, I want it to get done, right? So is the will there? I'm always going to be optimistic to hope it's there, or do we want to continue what we're doing for political reasons to have that control?
of people in the process, right? And so I'm always hoping that one day we break this process. It's like break the process of this is the way we've always done it. that doesn't mean we have to continue doing it. We change, we adapt, we're humans. And I believe it's time for the legislature to change and adapt and start doing things better and more efficient.
actually doing things for Alaska, for the future of Alaska. Because what we're doing now is not a good, in my opinion, is not a good process. And we're really not accomplishing anything. I've been here for four years. Yeah, we pass the budget every year, and yeah, we pass legislation, but what have we really, truly done to move Alaska forward? I can't answer that because I don't know if we've really actually done anything to do that, right? Yeah.
You make a good point. I guess the other thing is, you know, from your constituents, and I know you've addressed this many times, the permanent fund dividend. The first thing I hear from our listeners is, well, yeah, they're down there. The first thing that the legislators want to do is cut the PFD and spend it on something else.
There's an interest here. This is our money because these are our resources, and we expect that the legislature understands that and does something to take care of that. And you know it hasn't happened. And you had a great plan. Nobody took you up on it, unfortunately. Yeah. I mean, and I hate...
I hate saying this because the writing is on the wall, right? I mean, we went from a high of 2.2 million barrels of oil a day to down to 470,000 barrels of oil a day. And there's a possibility in the mid... 2030s, we could possibly get up to another million barrels of oil a day, but my fear is that we will just continue doing what we're doing without truly...
you know, fixing what needs to be fixed. So we're at a sustainable level. We have a spending cap in place where we know, hey, our budget has to fit in here. And we can... You know, we can pay a PFD, and right now the way the money is and the budget is, unfortunately the place the money comes from is the PFD, and we're just fighting for what's left of it at this point.
Because I don't want to be the person that has to sign on that dot and line and say, guess what, Les, because you get a zero PFD this year. That's not something I want to be doing because I know... A lot of my constituents and a lot of people across Alaska, and I don't say they depend on the PFD, but they use it for really good things that helps them get through a winter or the family buys something they need to buy.
I think that's a really good thing that we have up here. You know, we are resource rich. We don't own the subsurface rights, and that's the sacrifice Alaskans have. So I'm going to do everything we can, you know, like others, to make sure we're paying something. What is something if it gets down to $200 or zero? It's not a good situation right now, and I would like to stabilize that somehow. Again, doing something different than what we've always done.
Yeah, and I guess, Mike, that's the key, doing something different. And, you know, maybe the something different means maybe we have, you know, some different people joining you down there. That's always a possibility, right?
Yeah, you always hope for it. And again, I personally don't try to badmouth anybody. Sure. We have definitely... political differences philosophical differences doesn't mean we're bad human beings but um you have to have a you know a will to change things and and that's what What scares me the most is I don't know if there's a will to change things or to continue this year by year by year by year.
thing you know without without a vision in place you know i would much rather have a vision where we're every year we're working on getting closer and closer to solving some of these issues you know we could solve one issue at a time I've been here for my fifth year, and we haven't solved, in my estimation, a single thing that's very important to Alaska. No, exactly. And you come from a huge district.
I mean, you've got like a state to cover. You've got California, yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's huge. And what are you getting from your constituents? I mean, what do they feel? What's on their mind? You know, it's a really interesting district because it's very rural, obviously. But then I have, you know, when I got in the Senate, Senate District R has West Fairbanks.
And West Burbank is, you know, just fact, it's more a Democrat-leaning university district. There's good people, but they're not of the same mindset as the more rural people, and they're more of Hayes. you can take my PFD and spend it on education or on the university and stuff. And, you know, I tell them that's fine and dandy, but I have the rest of my constituents that, you know, know the PFD is important to them and stuff. So it's a really...
I don't want to say I have to thread the needle because I'm going to always do what's best for Alaska first. If someday I get unelected because I think I've done the right thing, so be it. I'll live with that, but I'm always going to put Alaska first and what's best for overall the entire state of Alaska before politics. Well, we need more people like that for sure.
Mike, it's always good to talk to you. You bring an interesting perspective. So I've had a number of members of the caucus on the show, and I've got to say the one thing that I've found is that you're all looking... to do something for your constituents and for the state. And it's very refreshing. And I really like what I'm seeing out of the minority caucus. I think you guys are doing a really great job.
And I just wanted to make that observation because last year there wasn't a caucus. So it's nice to see one. I know I've been, you know, some people are disappointed I didn't join a majority caucus. But I'm a firm believer in everybody having a say, right? And, you know, no matter what. Every Senate district is about 40,000 people. I believe in everybody having a say.
So I think it's healthy if you have a majority minority. And I do believe in the Senate. We are working much better together than in the House. You know, we know. We have tough decisions to make, and we're going to have to make those together. And I really appreciate the people in the Senate, you know, including us in those discussions because... none of these decisions are going to be easy to make on your own or as a group. So I can honestly say I'm really thankful for that.
All right. Senator, good to have you with us. We look forward to our next time we chat, and if something pops up that you'd like to come on the show about, you know where we are, and we'd love to hear from you. All right. I might have a piece of legislation that might be really interesting, dropping that here this week or next. So I'll stay in touch with you. Sounds good. Sounds good. Thank you, Senator. Senator Mike Crump. We'll be right back.
Joe Buck and John Smoltz welcoming you back to the City Center Convenience Mart. Uh-oh. She's looking at being with those tipters warming, upper 30s and lower 40s. For Alaska's weather source, I'm a meteorologist. Eric Morrison. Now, back to the Mike Picardo Show. It's Crash on News Radio 650 KENO. Well, we're back. It is 544.
522-0650. That is the telephone number. And it's kind of interesting, Crash, you know, Mike Kronk talking about what's going on. Did you get the definite impression that... A lot of the things the legislature wants they're probably not going to be able to afford. Yes.
And then they're going to try to take it from us. That's just what's going to happen. One thing I was unclear when he said the thousand dollar PFT is not going to work. He said, I don't think that'll work. What was the number he threw out? Oh, he didn't throw out. Okay, good. I thought I heard the number 600 in there, and I'm thinking, no way.
No, that number was about the BSA. Gotcha. Okay. The $1,000 number for the school. Gotcha. Okay. I got confused between the two. Yeah. No, that's what he was talking about. Okay. Got it. Got it. Yeah, I know. I mean, it's interesting that they've got money, but it's a question of, I guess, who's speaking for the money? And we'll know pretty quickly whether or not the people that are down there are speaking for us or speaking for something else. Because...
You know, the PFD, you know, I love it when some of the legislators say, well, $1,000 is traditional. $1,000 today isn't worth what $1,000 was worth 40 years ago. No, and it's supposed to be in line with how healthy the formula. And it was a five-year rolling average or three. I can't remember. Right, five-year rolling average.
Yeah, five-year rolling average. That's what it's supposed to be. And you're right. $1,000 when they started the program back in the day was a lot more money than it is now. Yeah, I mean, and, you know, a couple of years we had low, you know, $300 PFC. Yeah, nobody complained about it because that was the deal. That was the agreement we made. It's funny that we're expected to adhere to the agreement, yet they're not. Right. And for those people that are new to the state,
The PFD announcement back in October of every year was an event, and it was on television, and people would always guess, oh, what's the PFD going to be? Remember that? And then there would be the announcement of the number. And it would be a big deal because you won the lottery.
Yeah, and people would tune into local television to find it. And that all kind of came to a screeching halt when Walker vetoed half of the money that year and ran off to China and put that poor little girl on TV by herself to announce the fact that we were all getting half of what we were told we were going to get. Yes, that was the beginning and the end. Yeah, absolutely. And unfortunately, and I've known Bill a long time, and I like Bill.
But unfortunately, that's the legacy. You know, that's the legacy that he left us with. And it's unfortunate. Because he's a decent guy. That was not one of the better decisions, in my opinion. Let's go to Michelle. Hi, Michelle. Hey, Mike. I just wanted to follow up regarding the proposed BSA. which would be making every student be approximately $20,000. I just want to let people know how outrageous that is. I sent my kids to private school.
It's less than $1,100 a month per child for them to go to private school. Every single kid in the government schools could go to private school for less or about half. what they're wanting for the BSA. That is outrageous. The private schools, at least the ones that mine go to, are college preparatory schools.
which means they have a vested interest in getting these kids the highest scores possible. They have sports, they have art, they have extracurricular activities, and you're getting all of that for... about half of what the public schools want. And people need to understand and realize that when you take out the private sector and when you take out school choice, the prices go way, way up because they're creating their own little industrial complex.
a public school industrial complex where a lot of that money goes to administration and stupid projects like the 20%. DEI increase that they want to do. They're not cutting that, okay? But they're going to threaten people with cutting sports. and, you know, other activities like that so that they can get their way. But I just want people to understand and realize that you can send your kid to private school for half of the cost.
And everybody would be able to do that if people would vote for school choice. Well, yeah, school choice would be a wonderful thing. I don't see the legislature doing it because there's a lot of people in the legislature that really enjoy getting the union money. And, you know, I mean, that's their choice. But that would be something that would be nice if that were an initiative. I don't know if we could do that since we're dealing with money. Right. Well, there are states that do give vouchers.
So you have money, the money follows the child. In our case... You know, Alaska is turning increasingly blue. They do not want to let that control go for two reasons, money and then also ideology. There's a reason why... White women, you know, are the party of Democrats right now. It's because a lot of them do go through public school, they go through college, and they're indoctrinated basically for, you know, 18, 24, 26 years.
They've all been indoctrinated to be leftists. So anyways, they don't want to give that control away to the parents, and that's why they're trying to take away... Even homeschooling. They're trying to take away charter schools. They're trying to take the control away from the parents and put it in.
the government's hands which by the way if anybody knows or wants to follow up that's what the communists do they take away all the stuff from the parents and and put it in the hands of the government so i just want people to be aware of that Well, I think it's something that we should be aware of. The question is, we don't have the political will, I don't believe, unless we make some changes in the legislature.
I understand. I'm doing my part. I wish everybody else would do their part. I know. Come out winners. I appreciate it. Well, your kids are lucky. They've got a mom who is interested in seeing them succeed. And we need to do that. These are our kids. You get one shot to help them. That's it. Thank you, Mike. You bet. All right, 522-0650. There's a really good article in Must Read Alaska today from our good friend Bob Griffin.
And he basically makes a comparison between Alaska and Mississippi. And we've had him on the show before, and he's done this, in the percentage of state budgets that go to K-12 education. And basically what he says is there's a huge difference between Alaska and Mississippi in state government spending. In fiscal year 2023, Alaska spent $21,485 per capita for state government.
That was by far the highest in the country, 44% higher than the second highest state and 2.7 times Mississippi state spending per capita of $8,000. $58. That doesn't include the fact that Alaska is also number one in the nation in federal spending, receiving $8,628 per person, while Mississippi receives $6,880, even though Mississippi has a lot. larger population than Alaska.
The cost of living isn't really a good explanation of our enormous budget differential. Alaska's got the 13th highest cost of living and the lowest cost of living in any state that touches the Pacific Ocean. As far as K-12 spending, Alaska ranked... the second most adequately funded education system in the United States in K-12 funding adequacy, scoring 95 out of a possible 100, according to a recent study from Rutgers University.
Mississippi scored 23 out of 100. We scored 95 out of 100. And was ranked 40th in the U.S. in K-12 funding adequacy. Now, despite all of these differences, Student outcomes are pretty stunning in favor of Mississippi. Despite having nearly double the poverty rate of Alaska, Mississippi was the first in the nation in fourth grade. NAEP reading scores for low-income fourth graders, while Alaska scored, where do you think, Crash, 50th. Bottom. So here's Mississippi.
with 23 out of 100 in terms of funding adequacy, we're 95 out of 100 in terms of funding adequacy, double the poverty rate, they get less money, and their number... They're up there, you know, number one in the nation in fourth grade reading scores, and we're number 50th. Now tell me, you tell me, tell me, Lucy, what's going on, you know? So strong educational outcomes.
according to our friend Bob Griffin, aren't predetermined by funding or poverty rates. Mississippi has put that actual policy reform in place. It's making a difference. It's time for Alaska to do something different. You know, what's that expression? You do the same thing over and over and over again, and you're expecting a different result, and that's just insanity. Now, it's not only insanity, but it is fiscal suicide, what we're doing.
We're spending enormous amounts of money and getting 50th. That's where we are, the bottom. And you've got people actually running for the school board on their record? They should be running from their record, not on their record. This is what we're doing? And all you hear down in Juneau is we need more money? Well... What are you doing with the money you have? What if I gave you the money that Mississippi gets? Now what can you do?
Why don't we find out what Mississippi is doing and maybe we can integrate some of that in what we're doing. And maybe our results will be better because it's not about the money. It's about the curriculum. It's about how you let the teachers teach. We've got some great teachers. Let them alone. Let them teach. Incent them. If you've got a great teacher, then pay that great teacher. Let's not glorify the herd. We are in a meritocracy. That's how people succeed.
You just told me where you're going to be. 50th. All right. We'll see everybody tomorrow. Have a good evening. 0% APR financing for 60 months at $16.67 per month per $1,000 financed through GMC Financial Services. Well-qualified buyers only. Inventory current and time of media release. See dealer for full disclosure or call 907-215-2120. Offer expires March 31st, 2025. It's your gateway to adventure.
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