And not of iHeartMedia or its employees. Thank you for listening to NewsRadio 1050 KBNL. Amy DeVosky. The show starts now. Our lines are open at 907-522-0650. This is The Morning Drive on NewsRadio 650 KENI. Good morning. It is Wednesday, April. Second, we have made it to Reciprocal Tariff Day, Daryl. Oh, thank goodness. Reciprocal Tariff Day. So does that mean the tariffs go in a circle?
Hopefully so. Yeah, hopefully. We'll see. I was thinking of a reciprocating saw, you know, so there and back and there and back and, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I will tell you, you know, there's only a couple jokes I saw played yesterday. But none got me hook, line, and sinker, I will tell you. None, no, no. I saw a joke. People kept texting me a picture of a joke coming out of Juneau.
saying that legislators legislative staffers were going to unionize i saw that one yeah and as soon as i started reading them like this it's a joke this is not real zero chance it's real I was a good kid. I used to be really bad about practical jokes on April Fool's Day. I was really bad about it. People used to be, like, nervous around me. I've worked my way through that now. Occasionally, I'll tell just an oral one, like one of our next-door neighbors here in the mall, I...
Pulled a little bit of a joke on him because he follows national news. And I asked him if he'd heard that the organization that he was for was having 70,000 members cut. It was just announced this morning. And his eyes got really big. really big. And he's just like, what? Oh, man. And then... As he's starting to walk, well, fast walk to his office, I hollered down the hallway, April fools. And he hollered back, I hate you. And so it was quite.
hilarious. He actually didn't hate me, but literally I got him because he came back a little bit later and was just like, dude, you're the only one who's got me today. That really got me. I'm like, I'm sorry. He's like, my heart started pounding.
Yeah, I used to be good for a number of April Fool's jokes. I mean, one year, it was before your iPhones, you know, would like... you had these phones it was like back in the day you know i got my husband i got up in the middle of the night and i went out to his truck and i set the clock back an hour and then i set the clock back all the clocks back an hour in the house so everything was you know or yeah maybe no maybe i said it ahead an hour i think i did it ahead an hour everything
Ahead an hour. That's what it was. And then woke him up and then he thought he was late for work. That's brutal, but awesome. I do love that. But the worst part was I was giggling as he's, like, getting ready for work. And he's like, I'm going to be late. I'm going to be late. I'm going to be late. And so I'm, like, sitting there giggling. I didn't realize when I went out to his truck.
middle of the night to move the clock that I accidentally forgot to leave. I left the dome light on so his battery was dead. So then he comes in. He's like, my battery is in. So I had to get up and help him jump his car. So he's an hour late. He gets to work thinking he's late. He's freaking out. He gets to work and he realizes.
Like, he's early, actually. He's perfectly fine. And so I got a phone call. But you can't even do that anymore because everybody's cell phones, you know, it's like everything's auto. Between their cell phones and everything else, I mean, it's such a... 24-7 cycle nowadays that nothing works. I think my favorite one, and they brought it back up again yesterday, was the fake volcano. That still took so much effort and was just so well done. I loved it.
Yeah, I was going to say, so, you know, there was a couple. So, you know, touche to those who attempted it. Touche, touche. But, you know, there we have it. There we have it. All right. Well, I suppose we should get into some of our... announcements. We shall do it. Let's start with Matt Suburro. As I'm looking at the Mat-Su Borough, there's a couple of meetings today. We'll start with 9.30 this morning. There's an Animal Care and Regulation Board appeal hearing.
So that's going to be at 9.30 this morning. Of course, that will be in the Assembly Chambers over there at the Borough Building. At 1 p.m., there's a Taukina Sewer and Water Board of Supervisors meeting. That will be at the Taukina Public Library. At 2 o'clock, there's a Colony Road Service Area Board of Supervisors meeting. It will be at the Borough Building in room 203. And last but not least, the Willow Community Area Organization.
He's having a meeting tonight at 7 p.m. at the Willow Community Center. If you need more information on any of these meetings, all you have to do is go to matsugov.us. For the city of Wasilla, there was no publicly scheduled meetings today. There is... Only one announcement for the city of Palmer. Don't forget there's a vacant city council seat. So the mayor is taking applications. You have until noon on Thursday, April 10th to get your application in if you're interested.
will choose the applicant who will serve until October 7th when the next election is. You have to be a registered voter in the state of Alaska. You have to live in the city limits of the city of Palmer for at least one year preceding your application date. If you need more information, you can go to PalmerAK.org and write a card.
the top there's a red banner just click on it you'll be able to find it or you can also call the clerk's office at seven six one thirteen oh one then you'll be able to get more information that way as well As far as the Municipality of Anchorage goes, there's an AWWU Board of Directors meeting at noon today. That'll be at 3000 Arctic Boulevard. That's AWWU headquarters. There's also a hand-commissioned monthly meeting today at 4 p.m. That's going to be at the health department.
That's 825 L Street. It's in room 423. As far as the Anchorage Assembly goes for today, April 2nd, there's a Public Health and Safety Committee meeting at 11 a.m. That will be at the City Hall, Conference Room 155. There's also a work session on Alaska Sense. marijuana license that's going to be at 1245, same location, room 155. And then there's a special assembly meeting called for today, Wednesday, April 2nd at 2 p.m.
That's going to be at City Hall, room 155. So if you want to see the agenda or get more information, just go to muni.org, click on the Assembly tab, and from there you'll be able to find more information. I didn't see any meetings for the Kenai Peninsula Borough today. The city of Kenai, however, has their regular assembly meeting. That's going to be at 6 p.m. in the city council chambers.
located at 210 Fidalgo Avenue in Kenai. Then for the city of Saldana for today, there is a planning and zoning commission. a meeting that's going to be at 5 30 at the city council chambers as well and then last but not least
There is nothing that I see on the calendar for Homer, but we do have some preliminary election results for the municipality of Anchorage. As I'm going through the list and I'm looking here, The unofficial April results, it says right now 16.43% of voter turnout, which means they'll have a number of ballots over the next... a few days that they will incorporate. So this is not the final results. This is just what they counted yesterday. What do we have here? District 1, Daniel Volan.
is winning by about 1,000 votes over Daniel George. District 2, Jared Gerker is winning. He has about 800 votes over his nearest competitor, Kyle Walker. District 3, Cameron Perez-Verdia, is handily winning over Amy Steen. She's the next voter. She has 1,500 votes. to Cameron's 4,500. So I don't suspect that race will change. District 4. We have Erin Baldwin Day is about 1,700 votes over Don Smith. District 5, Yarra Silvers is about 1,500 votes over her nearest competitor.
District 6, Keith McCormick is handily winning that race. I mean, he's, like, up by, like, almost 7,000 votes. So he's going to win that race handily. For the school board races, Margo Bellamy looks to be retaining her seat. And also Kelly Lessons looks to be retaining her seat. So those are the big races right now for the Municipality of Anchorage. If you want to see the full results right now, again, these are just preliminary. These are just typically the ones they counted.
Probably, frankly, they were probably the ones they counted before Election Day. That's exactly what I'm thinking, too. That's what it is. These are not the ones that they collected on Election Day. They will take the next, you know, few days to continue to tabulate ballots. So just so you know, you can go to muni.org on the main page.
click the Elections tab, and then they have another tab that says Election Results. And then you can click it. And they will update this every day or every couple days. But it will take a little bit before you get to final results. But those are the preliminary results for the Municipality of Anchorage's
election that they held yesterday. All right, we're going to go ahead and take our first break of the morning. When we come back, we will get into the headlines of the day. If you'd like to call in, be part of the show, 522-0650. Looking at your Alaska total traffic cameras on this Wednesday morning. Currently light traffic inbound on the Glen Highway. Roads look to be in real good shape out there, so no major stoppages.
Call now, 907-522-0650. Welcome back, current time, 621. Well, Daryl, I'm telling you right now, it's pretty warm in my house, 37.9. That's not pretty warm. That's beautifully warm. I mean, I'm going to give it that. Yeah, it's not bad at all. Kenai's checking in at 37, Big Lake 34, Fairbanks 32. Relatively, we're starting out relatively warm this morning. I barely above Fairbanks, 33 to 35 here in Anchorage. Man! Barely, barely, barely.
I told you, resistance is futile. Even in Fairbanks, spring is here. I mean, you wouldn't have known it this week with all the snow they had. They got snow this morning also. Yeah, but you know what? Give it two more weeks. It'll be fine, you know, because their daily temps are above freezing every day, and so it'll melt. So it'll be slush, not snow, really. Yeah, yeah, exactly. It'll be fine. It'll be fine.
I was watching the national results yesterday. I told you. What did I tell you yesterday about Florida races? Yep. You were right. I said, look, there's no doubt. I don't care what they say. It's all sensational. The Florida seats are going to go GOP. They did. Handily, handily. You know, and it's really funny watching the Wisconsin.
Supreme Court race. We explained yesterday why it became such a big race. It's not surprising at all that the Democrat won the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Not with Wisconsin, yeah. You have to think of it this way. They had a liberal Supreme Court. They just retained it. That's it. And this was a potential flip for the GOP. And so the GOP came in, but they came in very late into this race. And I mean, you didn't really hear people talking about this race nationally until last week.
Right. Well, until they realized Elon Musk was involved. Then it became a thing. Exactly. So like a week, week and a half ago, maybe, is all of a sudden you started hearing about this Wisconsin Supreme Court race. But other than that, they weren't. And why? Because Wisconsin has had a liberal Supreme Court. They expected it to be a liberal.
Supreme Court and then all of a sudden they realize wait our GOP contenders a little closer than we expected so let's like let's let's see if we can flip it so so you know what you'll see in national media is this false narrative that, oh, look, this is a referendum on Trump. No, it's not. It's just, I mean, think about it this way. Look at AOC's district. AOC's district voted overwhelmingly Trump and AOC. So wouldn't that be a mandate on AOC?
Well, this is my point. So when you look at these mixed districts where down ballot, the president may have won, but down ballot they voted for the other party. You know, nobody goes around saying, oh, this isn't, you know, they're like, oh, he won. I mean, so to me, I look at the Wisconsin Supreme Court the same way. This is not a mandate on Trump. This is basically the Democrats were able to retain a seat that they previously held.
And if you've ever followed Wisconsin politics, particularly like Madison, they are so liberal. They make liberals look... to the right most of the time. So there's no doubt, though, this is I'm sure this is why President Trump ended up pulling Stefanik as the UN secretary, because they saw the writing on the wall that they weren't going to flip the seat. And look, there's no doubt.
you're going to see the wisconsin supreme court you'll see the gerrymandering begin and you'll see them um you know start to redraw the district lines they're going to try wisconsin is going to try to pick up
They're going to try to pick up two, three congressional seats just through redistricting. They'll redraw the line so they're Democrat-heavy, and that's what they're trying to do. They're trying to take Congress through Wisconsin, and they needed the Supreme Court to uphold any redistricting. And so for the Democrats, this is like their Hail Mary to take back control of Congress.
I mean, that's what it is. So, you know, that's why this became such a high-value seat. But I will tell you, you know, the Republicans, you know, I think they came a little late to the game, but would they have won the seed anyway? I don't know that they would have. I mean, they didn't hold it previously, so I'm not sure the seed was going to be winnable. You know, that's why this race became so high-fired. You know, really...
High value. I mean, almost $100 million in a Supreme Court race in Wisconsin. That's a lot of money. A big part of their narrative right now, at least on the left, is, look, even with that billionaire... pitching in, they still lost. That billionaire's money didn't do any good, even though he was trying to influence our election. And I looked at the numbers. I went and looked at the donation numbers, and George Soros and his group put in...
as much or more than Elon Musk did. And then somehow the lady herself, and I'm still trying to figure out how she managed this, put in 22 million of her own money. And when I say her own money, I mean from her campaign, from her section. I'm trying to figure out how she managed to raise $22 million. The Republican in it against her had $11 million. Double. Less than half. Well, and that's why I say, I mean, but the narrative is going to be, oh, this is a referendum on Trump. No, it's not.
It's not a referendum on Trump at all. You know, but that will be the narrative. That's all you're going to see. Mark my words, that is all you're going to see. But, you know, like I said, it simply came down to the Republicans didn't flip the seat. That's it. They didn't flip the seat that they didn't previously hold. Okay. I still think it's a novel idea to elect our judges. The last legislature.
Yeah, right. Well, I will say you probably can't get any more liberal unless you're in Anchorage. I mean, the Anchorage race results, we'll see. Like I said, the results are not final yet. The results that we see, I'm pretty confident. the ballots that they had before election day that's what they just released um it'll take a little bit but you know
As you look, even with the school district, do you see how crappy of a job the Anchorage School Board is doing? I mean, let's be honest. I mean, if you have a choice and you can send your kids to a different school, I mean, a private school versus an ASD school, would you do it? Probably so. I'm just saying. I mean... I don't know. I look at some of these results in Anchorage and it's not getting much better.
But here we go. Anchorage voters keep electing the same people back over and over again. You elect the same people, you're going to get the same results. I think that the most... You're going to get more bike lanes. You're going to get more bike lanes. And more of training administrators, you know, ones you get to teach yourselves. But what I notice on it is, is that I...
I don't understand, as you said, the voters not seeing this. But on that school board, the same members basically have been there for six years, somewhere around there. And we look at the Anchorage school budget that is now 110. million. Somehow $10 million popped up in the last six months because it was $100 million six months ago when they were talking about our deficit for the school budget. So it is now $110 million in the hole.
That tells me that whoever's been running it for the last six years or five years or four years has failed beyond miserably. Their main job is the budget and making that stuff go. Clearly, basic accounting is not a strong suit. Yeah, math. Exactly. They probably had everyday math, you know, a common core math. But this is where we're getting, I mean, again, over and over again. And you look at the results. This is part of the reason.
Why the lefties have fought so hard to keep the election in Anchorage in April? Because you get lower voter turnout, which means it's heavily, heavily liberals that turn out, heavily union-backed candidates that turn out. They're the ones that turn out in the...
April elections and it what's that right now they're having it they have reported sixteen point four three percent but that's not going to stay that way like I said these are only the ballots they counted before election day I'm sure of it I'm still – I'm lazy and I get out and vote. I have ADD. I have a hard time focusing. I get out and vote. If I can do it, people, I just don't understand this.
Well, and again, you know, until people, you know, I've been chatting back and forth with a friend of mine this morning. And, you know, when you look at somebody like Margo Bellamy. You know, the president of the school board at one point. I don't know if she's still the president of the school board. No, she's not. She's not. Okay. So is it Andy now? Yes, Andy is the new president. Okay. So you look at somebody like Margo Bellamy, very lackluster, and you look at her performance.
Now, she didn't even have a good candidate running against her, to be honest with you. He was kind of a little bit of a wild card, but it wasn't Margot Bellamy, so I would have still voted for him over her. But that tells me... you know the reality is if people are going to keep her electing her over and over again i mean what are you going to get to change
I mean, the reality is Anchorage is probably a 60-40 town right now, 60% liberal, 40% conservative. I mean, if not for COVID, if not for COVID, I don't know that you would have had a Republican elected during that time. And then it makes you wonder, can another Republican actually win the mayor's office? Can it happen in a citywide race if you can't win a school board seat citywide? We can't win a school board seat at Conservatives you had a good candidate in Mark Anthony Cox
And you look at the results, right? And so you look at it and you say, can a conservative win a citywide race in Anchorage? I don't know that the answer is yes right now. It took something exceptional like COVID for a Republican to win. And then, obviously, that didn't work the second time around. But I don't know. Anchorage, Anchorage, to me, I will just say I'm glad I moved.
I'm glad I moved to the Valley. You know, it's so frustrating. But would you have a different result if the elections were all in November together? I think you probably would have much closer races, that's for sure. But voter suppression is, I mean, just simply by the timing of the election, you have more liberals that are motivated to turn out to vote than conservatives. And if conservatives don't turn out and vote in every local election,
This is going to be your consistent result. All right. I just had a not so brilliant but interesting idea. So we convince a. All municipalities and all elections in Alaska happen on one day, one day only. Okay, so one day election in Alaska.
And on that day is also the day you file for your PFD. So you're going to come into the election building, you're going to file for your PFDs, and then you're going to vote. Or the other way around, you're going to vote, you got your voter card, I voted, now file for your PFD. Well, look, you have the money. So Jubilee Underwood has the bill right now.
to make one day election day. What I don't agree with is she wants to make it a state holiday so it's paid. I'm not a fan of that. But she wants to, you know, Texas, there's places around the country that do this. One day is election day, and every race, it's local races, it's state races, everybody votes on the same day for everything. I don't have a problem with that. I think that makes a lot of sense, actually. And that way you get everybody involved.
PFD in there is because that's the carrot. Everybody wants that carrot in there, so okay fine, but you can only file for it. In your voting area, you know, file for your kids, everybody at once. You're going to file and make sure everybody gets their stuff filed. I got to tell you, Daryl, I think you're onto something. I think it's certainly, but the flaw in your argument.
is in two years there won't be a pft i just so funny you said that because literally that was what i was thinking is is this i think it's tragic i think it's tragic because you know here you have grubby hands little politicians that keep people taking people's money but
It would keep people's mind on the PFD and their politicians at the same time. Yes, it would. Yes, it would. I think you're on to something. All right, let's go ahead and take a quick break. If you'd like to call and be part of the show, 522-0650. Reach out to Amy now. 907-522-0650. That's 907-522-0650. It's Amy Devosky on NewsRadio 650. KENI.
Welcome back, Current Time 639. Well, Daryl, you know, I've been holding this story, and I know you've seen it in my lineup from a few days ago from Monday, but I just didn't get to it. You know, I'm looking at the Anchorage election results, and I'm like, man, I mean, it looks like District 6 did a good job there. You know, they elected Keith McCormick. There we go. That one's not going to change. Zero chance that one changes. I mean.
He's up by almost 7,000 votes. Like, it's not changing. So it looks like that's going to be a good one. I think Jared Gerger is going to win the Eagle River race. That's a good one. But I'm sad to see Daniel George. as far behind Volan as he is, because he would have been a great candidate for downtown. But we'll see. You know, like I said, these are the ballots that they counted before Election Day, I'm sure. Volan threw a lot of money at this, though. His ads were...
Everywhere. Yeah, they really were. But, you know, when you think about how far Anchorage has fallen... from not that long ago, to be honest with you, how far it's fallen. You know, I saw this article in Must Read Alaska over the weekend, and I thought, oh, my gosh, what in the world has happened to Anchorage?
Everywhere you go, it says spam filter. Some Walmarts in Anchorage have put canned ham under lock and key. At least two Walmart locations in Anchorage, the Diamond Walmart and the DeBar Walmart, are now keeping spam. spam and other staples such as canned corned beef hash and locked displays. Shoppers must now press a button and ask store employee for help if they want to buy the canned meat product. Apparently it's popular in the homeless encampments in Anchorage. I've got to be honest with you.
I'm not a spam fan, but Daryl, you've seen this when you've gone into the stores in Anchorage because we've talked about it's not just spam. I mean, it seems like this day and age, they're locking up everything. It is. So it first started with Baby Formula, okay? That was two years ago.
or maybe three years ago, right about the start of COVID, they started locking up the baby formula. So that was kind of weird. Then they started locking up like some of the hair care and makeup products. That was the next thing that got locked down. Then that and this is actually that spam and the corned beef has been locked up for about six months now. And it's cool because it's literally like this glassed in area on the shelf. You're just like, OK, now that that corned beef.
is really expensive it's not hash it's actually corned beef and most of it is um this brand that that the tongan samoan pacific islanders really like and it's really expensive like like a can of it is like $10 to $12. The small can is like $8. I know they were starting to lock up laundry detergent at one point. Oh, I forgot about that one. Yep, laundry detergent. But you were telling me now they're locking up jeans and socks. Wrangler jeans? I went to go try and get a pair of Wrangler jeans.
jeans. Nope. Those were locked up. I also needed socks and underwear. And that's where I actually got mad because I needed socks and underwear. I was on limited time and I couldn't find a person to help me. There was no button to push. You know, a lot of times they have a button you push. There was no button to push. So I'm walking around the store trying to find one of those.
incredibly hard to find blue vested people took me five minutes well actually it took me about four minutes to find them and then it took them about three or four minutes to get over there and do it but yeah socks regular white
Tube socks. Underwear. Normal pairs of underwear. And this is the men's. The women's I didn't look through, so I don't know. But the men's side, yeah. Jeans, socks, underwear. Now, I mean, it's getting to the point where I'm actually picturing it where you're going to walk up to the door. You're going to...
put in your order, and they're going to bring it to the door for you. You're not even going to be allowed in the store. Man, well, I will tell you, I'm starting to see this everywhere. You know, what does that say about society at some point? A lot of bad things. Well, you know. It's just sad. And I know people will do desperate things in desperate situations. I get that.
But, you know, the level of theft that has been going on in these stores, I mean, there comes a point where, I mean, you see it in California, where the level of theft was so high, like, stores just closed down. Walgreens, number one example, Walgreens closed. Almost 300 stores, man. Yeah, yeah. I just looked at it, but I was very surprised because it's been a long time. You know, when I go to Walmart, it's out here in the Valley, so I typically don't go.
You know, sometimes the Eagle River Walmart. Sometimes I'll go there, too. I like Eagle River Walmart. Yeah. But I was just, like, taken back with. Spam being locked up. It was very surprising to me. Let's just put it that way. Surrealistic. Well, yes, spam. Exactly. Processed canned meat locked up. And like I said, and then socks, underwear. I'm just.
And they don't lock up a lot of the... I guess some of the... cough medicine now that i think about it in the pharmacy department some of the cough medicine is either locked up or you get a little ticket now yeah and you know they started that back when they were having lots of issues with people using pseudofed and making methamphetamines yeah remember when they were like
Oh, yeah, they killed that. That was the Breaking Bad era. That was the Breaking Bad era. I don't even know how it works. But I remember all of a sudden Sudafed, whenever you had a cold, you had to get the ticket and go up to the counter and get your Sudafed and show your ID and all this kind of stuff. And you can only buy so many. I mean, I don't think I ever bought more than one thing as Sudafed, but I remember them saying that there was limits on it.
So, you know, look, times have changed, but here we are in Anchorage now. You're locking up your spam. I will say that's one measure of maybe your community is going in the wrong direction. I'm just throwing it out there. If only Monty Python. and we're still around. Could you imagine the change to Spamalot?
Right, right, no doubt. All right, let's go ahead and take a quick break. When we come back, I'm going to give you an update from Juneau. What in the world is going on in Juneau? Well, you're not going to really be surprised. Let's take a quick break. We'll be right back. Looking at your Alaska total traffic cameras on this Wednesday morning. Currently light traffic inbound on the Glen Highway. Now back to the boss.
Amy Devosky. Call 907-522-0650 and be a part of the show on NewsRadio 650. KENI. Well... Daryl, one of my friends texted me and said it's not just jeans, socks, and underwear or spam that's getting locked up in Anchorage. They're also locking up baking stuff, including vanilla. Oh, I know why the vanilla. True vanilla extract is like 40% alcohol. Oh, really? A good vanilla extract is extreme high alcohol. See, I don't know anything. Like, these things, how did I not realize that this whole time?
I just thought it's so expensive. You go to buy vanilla. Vanilla is expensive. Oh, yeah. Vanilla is ungodly expensive, especially if you get a good Mexican or any of the really good vanillas out there. But it's, yeah. Now, vanilla extract is very low. Mexican vanilla. I'm trying to come up with.
the joke but probably everything i'm thinking in my mind is not appropriate i i would agree i i stay away from those jokes myself um not a lot of vanilla mexicans i mean i mean but there's but there's but literally the the um alcohol content of that vanilla of the extract is so high. So, yeah, it's one of those. But I don't know how you could drink it because it's so strong. Look, people ate Tide Pods.
Do not underestimate the stupidity of human nature. And they drink Listerine and some of these scopes. I'm telling you. You're right. I'm telling you. All right. Well, we do have breaking news. I'll get to that here right now. I'll just read you the headline. It's popping up on Fox News on the TV. It's popping up everywhere. CNBC has the article right now. Judge dismisses criminal case against New York.
mayor Eric Adams a federal judge dismissed the criminal corruption case against New York mayor Eric Adams the case is been dismissed with prejudice which means they can't bring it back So Kathy Hochul's got to find another way to go after it. Done, done, done. On Wednesday.
Federal Court Judge Dale Ho tossed the case with prejudice, which permanently bars the Department of Justice from resurrecting the five-count indictment against Adams in the U.S. District Court of Manhattan. You know, when you start looking into this case, this is one of those... cases like really you're gonna charge somebody with corruption because they got an upgrade on an airline it was the same charge trump they literally
Give me a break. And none of this came out until after he started criticizing the Biden immigration policies. Bingo. You know, I mean, come on. Give me a break. I'm not saying the guy's a saint by any stretch of the imagination. He's got so many things wrong. These cases, they just don't pass the red face test, much like actions in Juneau. Well, I will tell you, rules for thee, but not for me. That seems like the mantra in Juneau.
Suzanne has the article out. Visitors to Alaska's capital must now go through a TSA style metal detector or pack down. When you go into the Capitol building, the Alaska Capitol, it's no longer an open door policy. The Legislative Council, chaired by Representative Sarah Hannon, Democrat from Juneau, voted 9 to 4 to enact restrictions on public access to the Capitol. Effectively, all visitors will be required to pass through metal detectors or be subject to pat-down.
Here's a quote from Representative Kevin McCabe. It's a real shame to see this historic treasure now bow to liberal agenda that prioritizes control over community. Alaskans deserve a capital that remains truly theirs, not gated off by... unnecessary barriers," end quote.
The new policy adopted on Seward's Day, March 31st, is indicative of the Democrats' party takeover of the legislature. The matter was considered but not approved in an earlier meeting of the Legislative Council in 2024. What was the difference? The difference was actual Republicans controlled the legislative council before. Representative Kathy Tilton said, quote,
Unfortunately, on a 9-4 vote, the Legislative Council approved a new screening policy for visitors. Visitors are defined as individuals who come through the main entrance and do not have electronic access to the building. The policy stipulates... Visitors will be screened from 7.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. Monday through Friday and must submit to screening through a magnometer.
or a physical pat-down, no doubt this will have a chilling effect, especially for large groups wishing to talk to their legislators." Well, here's the difference. This is why I say rules for thee, not for me. I 100% know multiple legislators and staffers and, frankly, people in the administration who carry guns in the Capitol. With Alaska.
So, exactly. And I have no problem with it, frankly. I have zero issue with it. I have no problem with it. None whatsoever. Whatsoever. No issue with it whatsoever. You know, so I don't have a problem with it. The reality is, though, when we start talking about rules for thee and not for me, This is where you have a problem, legislators. When you start saying the public has a different standard than you do, I hate using the word fair, but the equity, as you like to use it, it is not equitable.
Right? It's not at all. Rules for thee, but not for me. That's where I have a problem. And I have always pushed back against citizens not being able to carry. I didn't care if people carried in the assembly chambers. That's fine. All day long. You know what? If I got one. You should be able to have one too. That's all I'm saying. You know, when it comes down to it.
You know, at the end of the day, law-abiding citizens should be able to protect themselves. And when you create more gun-free zones, what you're creating is soft targets for bad guys who are not going to follow the rules and they're going to do what they want to do anyway. That's the reality. Gun-free zones only benefit bad guys, in my opinion. Why? Because if you have good guys that are lawful caring,
that have the ability to protect, that have been trained to do so, I'm kind of saying I would want more of those to be armed than not. Just me. So I have zero issues with legislators carrying guns. But I think the public should be able to, too. I have no problem with that whatsoever.
But what I do have a problem with is rules for thee, but not for me. The second door rule. That's my problem. Oh, no. You go through that door. We're going to go through this door. Exactly. Exactly. To me, it's... to me your privilege is showing democrats your privilege is showing all right we're gonna go ahead and take a quick break we'll be right back
The opinions expressed on this show are those of the host and not of iHeart Media or its employees. Thank you for listening to News Radio 650 KENI. Welcome back to live, local, and insightful Morning Drive Radio. on News Radio 650-KENI. Welcome back to Hour 2 of the Amy Domboski Show, broadcasting live and local every weekday morning from 6 to 8 a.m. right here on 650 a.m. If you'd like to stream us, you can do that two different ways. You can go to our website, 650keni.iheart.com.
Or you can, of course, download the iHeartMedia app. If you download the iHeartMedia app, not only can you stream us live on the app, but you can also listen to our podcasts there as well and find lots of other great content. Oh, absolutely. In fact, you know, it was so fast that I just literally loaded the iHeartMedia app while we were talking. Now I've got to shut it off because it's talking itself, so I don't want to hear. Swipe up. Is that it? Swipe up? I don't know.
Nope, not working. I can hear it in the background. And it's the Amy Demboski show that you're hearing. That was incredible because I have presets on my phone set so that all I have to do is turn on the unit. And it automatically fires off whatever my current favorite preset is. And then I can pick like Discovery by Amy. And that aren't by Amy. Discovery by Lucy. That's who it is. And listen to her podcast. She does great podcasts. All kinds of local things going on.
try the presets on your iHeartMedia app. Love it, love it. Well, you know, some things change. Some things never change. They stay the same. You know, obviously with technology, it's always changing. So lots of great things we can benefit from there. Some things never change. Juno, for example. Same game. Different ear. Ouch. But it's constantly over. My eyes rolled back in my head so hard when you said that. It actually hurt. Oh, my gosh. On the TV right now, Jasmine Crockett.
She's an idiot, man. This chick, she's a moron. Look, I think AOC is not the brightest bulb in the drawer. Let's just be honest with that. But I listened to Jasmine Crockett. I heard an audio clip of her the other day talking about the Second Amendment. How did she pass? How did she go to law school?
She is a complete idiot. DEI. Right. She's a moron. But, you know, Democrats keep highlighting your best and brightest because all it's doing is making your numbers go lower and turning people to the GOP. I digress. Let's get back to Juno, shall we? So I saw this article at the ADN last night. And this is what happens in Juno every single year. Ever since Bill Walker vetoed the PFD, the same argument happens every single year.
Every single year, right? They want to spend more of your PFD. The argument becomes how much of your money are they going to give you? That's what it's all about, really. There's an article entitled in the ADN by Sean McGuire. It says, Alaska budget process stumbles in House Finance Committee.
Right here, progress on the budget slowed in the Alaska Legislature's House Finance Committee with sharp divides over the size of school funding boost and the annual permanent fund dividend. Now remember... on the floor they made it so you can't talk about the permanent fund the same time that they're debating the bsa increase why because it doesn't say specifically that's how they're paying for it that's how they're paying for it make no mistake about it
The reason they're banning that speech to be linked together is because they think you're stupid. And they don't want the obvious to be said out loud, but that's exactly what they're doing. The legislature, it says, is facing a $680 million deficit over two fiscal years based on status quo spending.
That includes roughly a $1,400 dividend and $175 million in additional school funding. Members of the Senate Majority Leadership have expressed support for both of those appropriations this year, but Democrat-dominated. house majority has backed a larger education outline that's over 275 million dollars in additional spending every year
which would widen the deficit, obviously. Caucus leadership has also signaled support for a smaller $1,000 dividend. Now, mind you, if the dividend were to be their full statutory dividend this year, It would be almost $3,900 this year, Daryl. Almost $3,900. But, you know, we kind of got a clue about this when Senator Myers called in last week to give us kind of a rundown of the numbers. But this is exactly what they're doing, right? So some House minority Republicans want...
funding boost and PFD decided before the budget leaves the Finance Committee. That's probably pretty reasonable if you're going to increase spending. by 275 million dollars annually on one line item you probably should tell people how you're going to pay for it uh yeah right this is kind of this is kind of you know common sense here
Speaker Bryce Edgeman said the caucus's slim majority was creating, quote, some very challenging dynamics. Yeah, they have a one-member majority because traitor Chuck Kopp and Louis Stutes went over to the Democrat side in caucus. with them.
So again, the very slim majority, but they have to agree on how they're going to do it. So as we start talking about it, it says with $1,000 dividend, the House's draft budget for the fiscal year, that starts in July 1 would be around $167 million deficit, according to the Legislative Finance Division.
Without deep cuts or new revenue measures, House Republicans are asking how the budget will be balanced. Common sense. Look, here's the thing. Legislators are lazy, so they're going to do two things. They're going to cut your PFD. and then they're going to go into the Constitutional Budget Reserve. That's it. That's their plan, right? And then they will drain the CBR until it's gone.
They will drain your PFD until it's gone. They will continue to increase spending. And then they will come and they will do one of two things. Daryl, I hit on this the other day. They're going to start by raising taxes. Look, they're going to raise taxes on oil and gas.
They're going to institute a statewide sales tax. They're going to have an online tax for everything you buy online. They're going to try to reintroduce an income tax. This is what they do because they're lazy and they're not original. They can't think outside the box. They don't know how to balance a damn budget.
I mean, that's the basic, that's where we're at, right? And then, when all those other revenue measures have failed, they will attempt to break into the corpus of the PFD. And then what will they do? They will spend it until it's gone, and then we will have another disaster on our hands. These people don't know how to balance a damn budget. They're lazy. They're lazy.
So they go to the PFD and they go to the CBR. That's what they do every year. The second side of this, though, the second side of this, Amy, is they wait to do the budget. until the end of session so right now you're listening to school districts all across the state saying you have to lay off teachers we don't know what our bsa we don't know what our money is the budget needs to be done as soon as they walk through that door well we don't have any any you know um
points to hold him to, you know, to politic with. I don't care. Good. You don't have any points. Good. You hit the nail on the head. This is all about politics, right? So this is how it works in Juneau. The operating budget starts in the House. The capital budget starts in the Senate. Both bodies work on their assigned budget, and then they swap. and then they go through the budget that they've been given, and then they make changes to it, and then they have to concur on the budget.
They never concur, hardly ever. And so then it goes to a conference committee, which six members, three from each body, get together and they hash out, this is our compromise between the two bodies. And then they send it back to their respective houses.
so to speak, and then they vote on it. But the reason, look, and you see these turduckens. When the Republicans were in charge last year, what happened in the Senate? The Senate basically held everything and gave it to them at the very last minute. It's an all or nothing. Take it or leave it. Right? That's what they tried to do. And that's what you see. Look, this is all about politics. But I said this in the beginning of the year.
i said it last year this is how it's going to happen as soon as we see the democrats take take control they're going to pass some ridiculous spending measure It will make it through. They are going to cut your PFD. They're going to try to break into the CBR. And what's going to end up happening is the power really is going to be with the governor.
The governor is going to line item veto. He's going to bring spending down. All he has to have is a small... amount it's like 16 or something it's not a very large amount of legislators that stand with him to uphold his vetoes and it's done like the game is not going to change we know exactly how this is going to play out
We know exactly how it's going to play out. The only thing that's being debated right now is really between the House Democrats and the Senate Democrats, let's be honest, how much that PFD is going to be. There is a caveat in here. If they're going to go to the CBR, they basically need two-thirds of legislators to agree.
to get into the CBR, the Constitutional Budget Reserve. So what they will do is they will go to some of the weakening Republicans. They'll go to Delaina Johnson. They'll go to Julie Colon. They'll go to Justin Ruffridge, right? They're going to go to Bjorkman. They're going to go to the weak-kneed Republicans that have left-leaning tendencies.
And then they'll say, okay, what will it take for us to get your vote for the CBR draw? That's what they're doing right now. Everybody knows it. I'm not even saying the quiet part out loud. I'm saying the obvious. This is what they're doing right now. They're trying to see how many of these Republicans they can pick off because they've got to get to that specific threshold to get to a constitutional budget reserve draw.
That's what they're doing. I mean, that's what they're going to do. They're effectively deficit spending, but they're covering their tails because they're pulling out of savings and they're cutting your PFD. That's how they're pretending they have a balanced budget. But if you're passing a budget that is exceeding the revenues you're bringing in, that's a deficit budget.
I don't care if you're pulling from savings to make it look like it's, look, you're spending more than you're taking in. You're spending in the red. But that's what the game is in Juneau right now. It's how many of these squishy Republicans can they pull off to get their CBR vote.
That's what's going on right now in Juneau. So when you start to see these numbers, don't think for one second that all these legislators have your back and they're making rational, responsible decisions. They're not. They're lazy. They're going to take your PFD, and they're going to spend from savings in order to increase spending, right?
Common sense would tell you, hmm, if my revenues don't exceed my expenditures, let me say it differently. If my expenditures exceed my revenues, what's the first thing you would do in your budget? you would cut your expenditures. Or you'd find a way to bring in more revenue, right? That's what you do. You say, I got to go get a second job, whatever. Wait, you don't take the allowance of the kids? You don't take the money for the kids? Wait. What legislators always do.
When their expenditures exceed their revenues, rather than first go to cuts, let's bring down, look, are there things that we're doing we shouldn't be doing? Are there areas we could save money? Instead of going there, the first thing they always go to is, where can we find more money? PFD. That's the first place they go because they're lazy. Where's the second place they go? They go to the CBR.
Right? The Constitutional Budget Reserve. That's where they're going to go. They're going to go to savings. And then once that isn't enough, or if they don't have the votes for the CBR draw, that's when they start talking about new revenue measures. Oil taxes, online taxes, sales taxes. That's where they'll... Again, exactly. Look, there is no depth they will not go to try to take more money out of your pocket. And there is not the political will to actually do cuts. That's the reality.
So, you know, I got to tell you, this is playing out exactly how we said it was going to play out before. This is the game that is played every single year. We know what's going on. We see it. And again. Now the debate is really between the Democrats and the weak-kneed Republicans to see how much your PFD is going to be, right? Because it's all a trade-off about their CBR vote.
That's what it's all about. That's what it's always about. And so now the pressure really, frankly, should be on those squishy Republicans. See which one of them's cave, because I can tell you it's probably pretty obvious to me which ones are going to cave. Pretty obvious. All right, we're going to take a quick break. If you'd like to call in, be part of the show, 522-0650.
Looking at your Alaska total traffic cameras on this Wednesday morning. Currently light traffic. You're listening to live, local, and always insightful Morning Drive Radio with Amy Demboski on NewsRadio 650 KENI. Get on the show now by calling 907-522-0650. Welcome back, 724. We're starting to get calls stacking up, so we will go straight to the phones. Ken is with us. Good morning, sir.
Hey, good morning, Amy. You know, we have some other unspoken things. There's all the matching funds that they go for, like that group funding that was only designed to go get renewable started. you see them trying to redo renewables. Now, Kai Haaland put that, and when you see the language around that, it's very fascistic. I don't know the term for that.
But it's got all these state mandates and all these requirements and all the things they're going to tell your co-ops to do. If wind and solar were a great idea, the co-ops would do it because they could present it before the RCA as a rate case and explain themselves. But you're going to have to do it by force is what they're going to do. And no Alaskan wants that. Well, they've got maybe a little faction of...
Crazy people out there might have it. But then in the Finance Committee hearing yesterday, it was a golden example of what you're talking about. They've lost their minds down there, the Democrats mainly. But Josephson is the chairman of the House Finance Committee. let's see, Shragi came up with this idea, we need hundreds of thousands of dollars to build some more cabins, you know, because tourism brings in revenue. And when you say that word revenue down there,
People wet their chairs. Give me some revenue. Give me, give me, give me, give me. Yeah, that's what they did. And so, Ms. Allard? But it was a golden moment in legislative history. She says, well, I'd like to ask, what is the revenue? Oh, you want to build these? Tell us the revenue. See, they just spout this garbage.
They have no numbers behind it. It's all ideologically bent for their special little projects in light of we are broke. Say if they really did want to find benefits. Say that's a noble cause, you believed in it, and you didn't believe it was going to make a superlative class of...
government workers over the private sector who will never see those kind of benefits or pay or retirement benefits or anything like that say all that say you want it and you think it's the right thing to do they're not even acting like it but all the other garbage spending they have in all the matching funds for
This stuff like Curtis Thayer wants. And, you know, and you think about the renewables again. They want a big old wheat farm over there on the side of the Sioux City Mountain. It's going to kill eagles, swans, and geese. And they're going to need the Sioux City Access Road to do it. They're going to need that. high voltage DC line underneath the inlet to do it. And that's the money they don't want to talk about. It's not even mentioned on the air. It's not mentioned in news stories or anything.
Hundreds of millions of dollars that is on the front of the budget before they ever get playing around with the cabins they want for their imagined revenue. So it's really dysfunctional, and it's almost... Well, it's crazy town. It really is. They just don't know how to look at it. I love that Ms. Allard actually asked an intelligent question in there. Not that she doesn't do it anymore, but they went dead silent for 10 seconds, Amy.
Well, what is revenue? You said it. You said revenue. What is it? Of course, of course. Eyeballs rolling around. And Joseph gaslighted her. That's what he did. Of course, of course. Well, you know, that's where I keep going back to this. As they have conversations about their budgets, like as they're talking about increasing spending,
They're going to stop you from talking about how they're going to pay for it because they don't have an answer. Well, they know. They don't want to say it out loud. They're going to take it from the PFD. They're going to break into the CBR. And then when that's not enough, they're going to come at you with new taxes. I mean, that's really what we're talking about. And, you know, like it's obvious to all of us, but, you know, when you start doing budgets, I mean, the most.
annoying thing to me is when people want to increase spending and they don't have a way to pay for it. And this is why I say they're being disingenuous, because they know exactly what they're going to do. I mean, like I ranted in my last segment, I know exactly what they're going to do. And I always mix it up. I always say two-thirds to get into the CBR. It's a three-quarter vote. So it's three-fourths. It's a much higher threshold. So effectively, the Democrats are going to need to pull off.
about nine different Republicans to pull them into this. But that's where we are. This is the game that is played every single year in Juneau, and it's incredibly, it's insulting our intelligence to say it's nothing other than what it is. All right. Thank you for the call, Ken. I appreciate it. All right. Going to my friend Todd. Good morning, sir. Hey, good morning, Amy. For the record, I like spam.
I want to put that out there. I'm a big fan of spam fried rice, fried spam and eggs in the morning. Good to know. Good to know. Good to know. You don't have to lock it up around me. Actually, I'll pay for it when I go up to the store. Hey, you know, Amy, I'm going to speak today. It's before 8 o'clock. So this is like odd as the observer of Alaska politics for the last 37 years.
Yeah, love it. So that nobody's confused about which hat I'm wearing. But I want to say that, you know, and you remember this because you worked in the governor's office, but... Governor Dunleavy did Doge before Doge was cool. Do you remember that? Yeah, it's called Donna Ardwin. Yeah. Yeah. And what was the response from the legislature?
They set aside his budget and they worked from Governor Walker's budget. Right. They completely ignored it. They lost their minds. They lost their minds. Completely ignored it. How many constitutional amendments has the governor proposed to create a fiscal, you know, a long-term fiscal plan? How many years did he propose them? Since the first year.
Since the first year. For years. For years, right? And what did the legislature do with those? Ignored them. Nothing. How many special sessions did Governor Dunleavy call? for the legislature to create a long-term fiscal solution. And, oh, by the way, they did. They got to a point where Senator Schauer agreed with Senator Keel. Like, that's, I mean, like...
That's incredible, right? Matthew, Republican, Juneau, Democrat actually come together and agree on something. That tells you. Agree on a, that's right. Yeah, yeah. They agreed on a plan. And what did the legislature do with that? Ignored it. Okay. So we have a long history, not only of just history in Alaska, of the legislature spending too much and then ignoring, kicking the can down the road.
As a person who observes Alaska politics, I know that there are legislators out there that really are unhappy that the governor balanced his budget with savings. which, oh, by the way, includes a full statutory PFD. So everybody gets a statutory PFD. Yes, some of the money has to come from savings, but... At what point is the legislature going to stop kicking the can down the road and actually address our fiscal situation?
Well, you know, they'll do it when they run out of money that they can tap into and spend. That's when they'll have to do it. But, again, then what are they going to go to immediately? They're going to say, we just need to raise more revenue. We need more taxes. That's what they'll say because they're lazy. Well, I, some, yeah, as, well,
You can't agree with me. I'm not asking you to agree with me. That's an Amy comment. Yeah, well, not all of them are lazy, but here is the one piece that people need to understand. When the PFD is gone, then you're going to get a real tax, not a hidden tax. So for those people who think, oh, I don't mind losing my PFD for government services, that's not the end.
It can't be. They can't control their spending. I mean, you're exactly right. It's not the end. And look, the reality is, if you think about it, your full statutory PFD is almost $3,900 this year. And right now, the Democrats in the... legislature are bickering between whether it's going to be a $1,400 PFD or a $1,000 PFD when it should be almost a $3,900 PFD. I mean, that's the reality. So they've already taken, you know, over $2,000 from every man, woman, and child
directly out of your pocket you didn't feel it because you didn't have to write the check they just held it back but my point is when that is gone and I agree with you completely you know they're not going to control their spending because their behavior has demonstrated they never can
their spending it's never going to be enough and that's why I say once the CBR is gone once you take the PFD and that's gone the next thing they're going to go to is taxes it's going to be taxes on businesses it's going to be sales taxes it's going to be income tax we're going to have a head tax again i mean just wait i mean that's that's where they always go yeah yeah definitely unless we unless we grow the economy unless we produce more wealth
and local communities generate more wealth, so just put it that way, so they have a larger tax base, then yes, that is the future. And so I guess I'm just saying that hopefully the legislature will address some of these ideas and plans that people have come up with that will put us on a sustainable path. The bad news is that next year will be even worse, Amy.
Yeah, no doubt about it. I mean, at least you still have hope. I'm looking at the point where I'm like, these people are never going to change, frankly. I think they're lazy. I think going into savings... And frankly, taking the PFD is lazy. I think you need to do the hard work. You actually have to reduce the size of government. You actually have to create an economic opportunity for the private sector to grow the economy, to bring revenue into the state, whether it's through oil and tax.
oil and gas, you know, resource development or whatever, you have to do something different because this lazy way of just taxing people. And frankly, it's not going to grow the Alaska economy. Todd, I'm really late for a break, but thank you so much for calling in this morning. I appreciate it. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. Call now 907-522-0650. You know, sometimes it's just...
Sometimes the truth just needs to be said out loud. And I still believe, and I will continue to say this, that if you are spending more than you are taking in, you don't have a balanced budget. I'm just going to say it. That's just math, Amy. You're actually stating math. I don't know why this is difficult, right? But again, they're able to cover up for deficit spending because they're pulling from savings or and.
They're pulling from your PFD, right? That's what they're doing. Their choices they're making and how they spend money. And, you know, this is, again, I don't know what to tell you. I mean, if you're not going to do the hard work and actually cut, I was there when the governor proposed his first budget. And he was significantly going to trim the fat. And the legislature refused to even acknowledge it.
They basically set it aside, and they worked from Governor Walker's budget. They had no appetite to do it. They were not going to do it. I think about a third of the House was new that year. It was just... They weren't going to do it. And every year since, they haven't done it. At the end of the day, the governor can reduce the budget, but he can't increase the budget, right? So, again, you start having these conversations about legislators and, you know,
I'd love for one of them to call in and argue with me and tell me they're not taking the easy way out. That's exactly what they're doing. And for me, the word that comes to mind is lazy. That's what comes to mind. I mean, if you're not doing the hard work and you're not saying, okay, I have five programs. I want to increase spending in this one program here. So what are you going to take away from in order to increase the spending in that program?
Instead of dealing with programs, instead of dealing with the actual structural budget, they're taking the money from your PFD. There comes a point where that would be no more, right? I'm even seeing narratives in here that the 75-25 split that they said we were going to get.
Nope, that's not even going to be possible this year. I told you, it's incrementalism. It starts with, oh, we're just going to take 25% of your PFD. Then it moves to 50%. Then last year it's 75%. They're never going to be happy until it's... all gone and they're taking it for government spending because they choose not to do the hard work and actually look at each program
each department, each expenditure of the state. And rather than prioritize spending, what they're doing is they're simply spending more and they're taking out a savings to do it. That's what they're doing. And it's incredibly frustrating to see. But here is where we are. That's where we are with the Alaska legislature. You know, I saw an op-ed by Mike Schauer in the... adn yesterday and another a truth teller here and we're going to go right back to it
Because he's absolutely right. Now, I may not read this whole op-ed, because I tend to get a little ADD, and I can't stand long articles. Yeah, well, Mike Schauer's opinion piece says, stop self-sabotaging Alaska's opportunity of a lifetime. He is saying the obvious that we all know. I don't care what legislators out there whether I like you or not. There's no way you're going to convince me some of your actions are not self-sabotaging.
So Mike Schauer goes on to say, in the halls of the Alaska State Legislature, a recent resolution has sparked debate. not for its substance but for its intent seemingly a gesture of goodwill towards canada it's actually a deliberate jab at president donald trump this is no grand geopolitical strategy it's simply a poke in the eye
Most legislators have little background or global experience to wade into strategic battles beyond our state's borders. As someone who has served all over the world in the military and as an airline pilot, including alongside our Canadian comrades in arms, I can say with certainty, Alaskans and Canadians don't need a resolution to affirm their mutual respect for each other. The only message this resolution sends is one of political shade. It's a game the Alaska Senate should refuse to play.
This distraction comes at a pivotal moment. President Trump, from day one, has signaled a commitment to unleashing Alaska's vast energy and resource potential, a stark contrast to the Biden administration, which issued 70 executive orders stifling our state's development. Where the Biden administration treated Alaska like a colonial...
outpost Trump sees our oil gas timber mineral and other rich resources as a national asset his reversal on policies that smothered Alaska offers a lifeline to a state looking to stand on its own We have relied on oil and gas and industry which helped build Alaska to keep us afloat.
It is always volatile. Most of the money from our budget we spend every year comes from federal government. It's not free money because most of us pay income taxes. And then he goes on to say Alaska gets a lot more money from the federal government than we put because we're so small. We have a small population by size compared to our land mass, which is more than twice the size of the next largest state.
We have a lot of our far-flung infrastructure to maintain. So with few people, there's no realistic way for us to pay for this without help if we continue to support every corner of Alaska. So as he goes on... and he talks about
He talks about school districts, and then he talks about the real hope for Alaska lies in reclaiming our land and resources in order to maximize their potential for all, including the public and private sector. With Trump's backing, we can manage more of our own territory, timber, fish, minerals, and energy.
That's the envy of most of the world, freeing us from federal dependency. We all want to protect our pristine lands for future generations, but we must also have sustainable development to fund the future. Projects like these take years, and with oil prices...
shaky the next few years may be bumpy but six to ten years from now as pipelines mines energy projects and more come online Alaska can boom our potential is vast but it demands leaders who see beyond political stunts to a self-reliant future He's absolutely right. He is absolutely right. Look, because right now what is happening in Juneau, what he's talking about is House Joint Resolution 11.
the one that passed last week, that I don't care how anybody spends it, it is absolutely being viewed by your constituents and the rest of the world as a poke in the eye to the president. I get... this political strategy i i don't care how much you try to will it Any other way, that's how it's viewed. Well, perception is 99% of everything. That's how it's viewed. So, you know, what's interesting to me is I'm waiting to see the Valley legislators come out and do a town hall in the Valley.
Because what I'm hearing is, you know, they're kind of ignoring their constituents on this one. Do not pat your constituents on the head and be like, oh, we know better. You just don't understand. Don't do that. If you do that, I'm telling you, you're making a very, very strategic mistake. You know, look, it's okay to say this was my strategy.
You know, whether we agree or not, at least come clean and say this was my strategy. I didn't like it, but I was trying to make it less worse. Okay, I hear you. I wouldn't have taken that route, but I hear you. But don't treat your constituents like they're dumb.
And you know better. Because I'm telling you, I get calls every single day. I know what they're saying. And people are not happy. They want you to stand with Trump. And Mike Schauer is absolutely right. This is an opportunity of a lifetime. Don't screw it up.
We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. Looking at your Alaska total traffic cameras on this Wednesday morning. Currently light traffic around the Anchorage Bowl. Welcome back to live, local, and insightful Morning Drive Radio on NewsRadio 650K. All right, Daryl. I can't say I always agree with President Donald Trump. Here's an example.
Trump admin, this is a Daily Caller article from last night. Trump administration gives D.C. health bureaucrats a choice. Move to Alaska or resign. Mr. President, we don't want them. We don't have swamp up here. We have mustard. They wouldn't like it. Some leaders of the many sprawling agencies and centers that make up the Department of Health and Human Services have been given a choice. Move out of D.C. or resign. HHS began.
executing 10,000 layoffs as part of a massive restructuring of the department's convoluted organization chart on Tuesday, according to several news reports. Tom Nagay, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Resources at HHS, began sending layoff notices in the early morning, immediately placing thousands of employees on administrative leave. But some bureaucrats in leadership roles
including senior executives, service members, were offered a deal. They could be retained in government service but would have to relocate to an Indian Health Service post. For instance, FDA Center for Tobacco Products Brian King was offered a position at the Indian Health Service office, it said. Some leaders of the NIH's 27 institutes and centers were likewise offered transfers. One of them, in Alaska, were given until Wednesday to respond, according to
to the Associated Press. Other Indian Health Service offices are found in cities hundreds of miles from D.C., including Albuquerque, New Mexico, Bemidji, Minnesota, Billings, Montana. Look, I have no problem with this. This is like a Cash Patel moment where he's saying, let's get all the FBI agents, like let's get a lot of them out of D.C. and get them out to our outlying communities that actually need you.
goes solve crimes and do jobs. Like, I have no problem. Look, I believe you should probably dissolve the D.C. circuit. I think it's, you know, I think it's swamp-esque at best. And I think a lot of these government agencies that are centered in D.C., frankly, have become like lobbying entities. They need to be dissolved and they need to actually be put to work to do the things that their organizations were intended to do.
That's just my opinion. But, you know, what am I going to say? But when I saw the headline, you know, move out of D.C., move to Alaska, resign. That's pretty funny. But I'm just saying, Mr. President, we don't really want him. So, you know, that's okay. You can keep the swamp-esque. You know, put it somewhere else. Montana's fine. Fine with me. I like Montana, too. Yeah, yeah. Fine with me. Fine with me. No doubt about it. Oh, my gosh. What are you going to do? I mean, the headlines.
You've got to laugh about that. That's kind of funny. It's a little bit funny. I thought it was an April Fool's joke, to be honest. Oh, dang. You look. The winning continues. The winning continues. All right, well, that does it for Daryl and I today. Up next, Clay Travis and Buck Sexton, followed by Sean Hannity at 11. And, of course, the great Mike Paccaro is live and local every weekday afternoon from 4 to 6 p.m.
Darrell and I will be back with you tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. Until then, stay safe. God bless.