Good morning. It is Monday, April 14th. If you haven't filed your taxes yet, you might want to get on that. Just saying. Just might want to get out there and do that just a little bit. It's the 14th of April. Halfway through April, Amy. I know, I know. Well, I will tell you, I'm glad to see the snow is gone.
But I will tell you, I follow this... this uh lodge up north a little bit and the pictures they posted yesterday of the snow and the winds they're like if you're driving and you need to stop in our parking lot's always open like you can stop in and we have rooms and I'm like oh my goodness like it looks like it's still very much winter up there but But today, right now, it's 37.5 degrees here in Palmer. Ha ha, gotcha beat here in Anchorage.
between 39 and 41 degrees. That wouldn't happen to be the lodge you're talking about, Sheep Mountain Lodge, would it? No, it's not. No, it's like Gun Mountain Lodge. Gun Sight, Gun Sight Mountain Lodge. Yeah, that one. That's generally, I never know the name of it because it changes, but when you said their parking lot's always open, that's been like a statement from them for like 50 years or more. So I was like, I think I know which one that is.
If I saw that level of snow that close to Willow, I would not be happy. I thought you were going to say Chattanooga up north because Fairbanks has no snow. Looking at my cameras up there, no snow in Fairbanks. It's amazing. Oh, wow. Sorry, I'm Googling something right now as we speak. That explains the googly eyes. They were all bouncing around and everything. There you go.
I have to look to see here. So I had to look to see exactly where they are. Okay, Gunsite Mountain Lodge, milepost 123 North Glen Highway. Great and helpful people. I would tell you what. They have been so helpful so many times going through, whether it's an auto part that, you know, your rig broke down 20 miles north of there or anything else. I love that lodge right there. I will tell you. Well, I was up six hours ago.
Which tells you I'm a little cranky this morning. But the video that they posted on Facebook, I mean, it's really some blowing snow that they posted six hours ago. It says if you're driving the Glen Highway. We're at milepost 123. It's snowing and blowing pretty hard, and the roads are very slick. If you need a place to pull off, parking lot is always available in lots of rooms, plus very well lit.
So I will tell you, though, this is about the time where last night, I don't know what I was thinking. So a few days ago, after the wind died down, I decided it was a good time to put out my deck chairs. So we have a porch. Oh, they've been out for quite a while. And then it got windy, so I brought them back in the house. And then I was like, eh, let's just set them out. There's only two. I mean, I have a lot more, but I just decided I'm just going to set the two out.
And so I sat him out, I don't know, two, three days ago, and then 1.30-ish in the morning. I hear this big bang. The wind blew the deck chairs all the way, because our deck goes across the whole front of our house. So it blows the deck chairs from one end to the other end, and immediately it woke me up, and I knew exactly what it was. I was like, man.
When I knew it was windy before I went to bed, why didn't I bring those chairs in? But there you have it. So I was up for the next, you know, four and a half hours. So there you have it. That's pretty good, though. The deck chair sliding across there. Yeah, that wind, we didn't get like you guys got, of course, out there in the valley. But I had 15 mile per hour here in Anchorage over in Spenard, which.
That's pretty sizable. I mean, my house was breathing, let's just put it that way. Well, I don't know what it was last night, but it was, I mean, we have wind here quite a bit, and oftentimes the deck chairs just move a little bit. This went from one end to the other end. Called the Titanic slide, huh? Good Lord, with some gusto behind it. And so, yeah, yeah, that's, I was going to say, but I think I'm the only one in the house that woke up. But what does that tell you?
But there you go. The dog didn't even bark, so he was not having it. Bruce was literally like, yeah, I've heard that before. I know, I know, I know. But there we have it. So we had a little wind last night, but it seems like the weather is starting to turn. For the first day, Daryl, yesterday I had about 20 seagulls over my house. Oh, you beat me to it. I was going to tell you that this morning.
Not only seagulls, but the geese are here also. In the parking lot, I can hear them as I walked across, honk, honk, and the other ones. Spring is here. I mean, tourists are going to be here. I'm waiting. I haven't seen the sandhill cranes yet. It's not unusual about 4 o'clock in the morning for me to start hearing sandhill cranes in my front yard. Haven't heard them yet.
But, you know, now I never would have noticed seagulls before, except for you always mention when the seagulls come or when the seagulls leave. You know, the change of seasons. And yesterday was the first day that... You know, I drove into the driveway and I look up and there's like 15, 20 seagulls just flying over my house. And I was like, oh, look at there. Look at there. It's official. It's official. There we go. Resistance is futile. Spring is here. It is here.
All right. Well, I suppose I should do some public announcements. Yeah, it's currently April 14th. It's Monday. Starting with the Matu Borough, at 5 p.m. tonight, the Library Citizens Advisory Committee has a meeting. They meet in the Assembly Chambers over there in Palmer, the big white building. At 6 p.m., the Central Mat-Su Fire Service Area Board of Supervisors has their meeting. They'll be meeting at Station 61, which is on Swanson Avenue.
The West Lakes Fire Service Area Board of Supervisals also has a meeting tonight at 6 p.m. They will meet at West Lakes Fire Department Station 7-3. That's over there on the Parks Highway. The Big Lake Road Service Area Board of Supervisors has a meeting tonight. It will start at 6.30 tonight at the Big Lake Lions Club.
Also tonight at 7 p.m., the Lazy Mountain Road Service Area Board of Supervisors has their meeting. They will be meeting at Lazy Mountain Bible Church, building number 2. So that will be at 7 p.m. If you need more information on the meetings in the Matsu borough, just go to matsugov.us, and you'll be able to find all the information right there on their calendar. Pretty straightforward.
For the city of Wasilla today, there's a regular city council meeting that starts at 6. It's noticed from 6 to 9 p.m. at Wasilla City Hall in the council chambers, which of course is located at 290 East Turning Avenue. Just a reminder, if you're interested in filing for the vacant seat on the assembly, You'll want to get your application into the clerk's office. You can drop that off Monday through Friday through April 18th.
So, again, 5 p.m. is when the clerk's office closes. If you need more information, just go to cityofwesela.gov, scroll down to the announcements, and you'll see a little banner that says, you know, city council vacancy, just click on it and it'll bring you to the application. As far as the municipality of Anchorage goes,
I'm skipping Palmer because there was nothing in Palmer today. As far as the Municipality of Anchorage goes, there is a Cemetery Advisory Board meeting today at 5 p.m. at the Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery Director's Office, which is located at 535. The Planning and Zoning Commission also has a work session tonight. That's going to be at 5.30. Now, interesting, they have their 6.30 meeting canceled. So the way it's publicly noticed, I would assume, it means the work session is still going.
but they're canceling their meeting, which is kind of odd. So if you're somebody who is planning on attending this meeting, I would probably call just to make sure. Because typically when they cancel one meeting, they usually cancel them both. But on their public announcement, they've only canceled the 6.30 meeting. I would assume the work session is still going, but I would check before I go.
Lastly, for the Municipality of Anchorage, the Eagle River Chugiwark Parks and Rec Board of Supervisors has a meeting tonight at 630. They meet at the Eagle River Town Center, which is the big building with a library in it just down the hallway there to the left. So, again, that meeting is going to be at 630 tonight.
I don't see anything on the calendar for the Anchorage Assembly, but just a heads up, they did not get through all their business last week. It took them three hours to debate a pot shop license. So they didn't get through all their business items, so they scheduled a special meeting for this Wednesday at 1 o'clock.
City Hall Conference Room 155. So if you're one that follows the Anchorage Assembly, they will be having a special meeting this week. And it's just because all the stuff that they didn't get on their calendar last week is getting... pushed forward to this week. If you want more information including their agenda, just go to muni.org, click on the Assembly tab, and it will bring you into their home landing page.
As far as the Kenai Peninsula Borough goes, they only have one thing on their calendar today, and that's a Planning Commission meeting from 730 to 930 tonight. It'll be at the Borough Administration Building, which is located at 144 North Binkley Street. If you need more information, just go to kpb.us. That stands for Kenai Peninsula Borough. So kpb.us, and you'll be able to find it there.
We're going to skip on down to Homer because City of Kenai and Soldata didn't have any announcements. But Homer has one for today. They do have a city council meeting today. It's going to start at 5 p.m. That's their committee meeting of the whole, followed by their regular city council meeting at 6 p.m. If you need more information, just go to cityofhomer-ak.gov. Of course, there's three ways you can attend. You can attend in person.
at their city council chambers located at 491 East Pioneer Avenue in Homer. You can attend by Zoom or by phone. So if you need the links for either phone or Zoom, just go to cityofhomer-ak.gov. That does it for our public announcements for this morning. If you'd like to call in, if you have an announcement, something fun that's going on, or...
If you would like to plug an event or a meeting, we're always happy to do that. All you have to do is give us a call, 522-0650. We're going to go ahead and take our first break of the morning. We'll be right back. total traffic cameras on a monday morning currently light traffic inbound on the glenn highway i'm not seeing any majors amy dim Welcome back. Current Time 620 on this Monday morning. Well, Daryl and I just had to see. I brought up Gunsite Mountain Lodge earlier.
Because I was talking about their Facebook post and the snow and the wind that they posted about six hours ago. And Daryl brought something up that I was unaware of. And I always thought I'd talk to you about this before, but it's the Hawk Watch. Up there between Sheep Mountain Lodge and basically 20 miles above Gunsite Lodge.
All along the Glen Highway, there's lots of pullouts there on the Matanuska River. And just about any one of those in that range, you can pull off and watch and see some of the most. cool birds in the world, and they're birds of prey. It's one of the largest migrations of birds of prey. And it comes right through that little cut through the mountains there in the valley. And like I said, you can see peregrine falcons, gyre falcons. I mean, just...
This is crazy. I never realized this. It says right here, March 10th through May 15th. It says, let's see. I'm looking up the air. It's offering sightings by, it says right here, of raptors migrating across snow-covered mountains by day and northern lights by night, blah, blah, blah. The Hawk Watch is the northernmost count site in the world, located 120 miles northeast of Anchorage. It also boasts large concentrations of...
Harlan subspecies of red-tailed hawk and many eagles. So far, they've been counting 3,094 hours. Total migrants counted 21,411. That's pretty impressive. And like I said, it's just so impressive the way they come up there and they pop up on the air currents and literally it'll just like float in front of you. I mean, like I said, I know I sound like I'm geeking out on it, but...
It's a great day trip with the family to go up north of there. The whole area up there is beautiful. Like I said, Gunsite Lodge and Sheet Mountain Lodge, both wonderful people can stop in there, grab something to eat. Great food, too. Great food. Absolutely. And so, like I said, it's just if you haven't been up there.
And your family likes birds at all. This place is so cool. Now, it's not like fast action. There are going to be like a thousand birds flying past you. But it's one of those take your picnic with you, go up there, hang out. Enjoy. Very cool. Well, let's learn something new every day. I appreciate the little tidbit, Daryl. Thank you for sharing. All right. Let's go to Jim. He is calling in this morning. Good morning, sir.
I suppose you're going to take your little dog to chat up there, though, right? Would not be wise. Right, right. Don't bring your chihuahua. Don't walk your dog. Oh, what I was going to do just briefly, they were talking about measles and autism the other day on the TV. and different programs, I guess, I don't know, but they don't say a thing about 10 million carriers of everything we think of coming from all over the world.
Because they're suggesting we should get vaccinated. Well, there's a lot of vaccinations to handle all the different diseases or the problems you have from carriers from all over the world. And then autism. They didn't mention or they just wash over the fact that a child was born and then I guess one to two years old and maybe three and now. realize how much noise, ambient noise and language and different words and different language and different people talking from all over the whole place.
And I'm sure a three-year-old might get a little confused. I'm sure it could grow out of it, but it doesn't help with the amount of racket you get on just being in your house, walking down the street or going to the store. And so it would help. You keep your kid away from all that noise while you instruct him on some of the stuff he needs to know. I believe they've overrated autism. I think they just need something to hang on to. And kids do have that problem, but not as serious, I think.
they make out to be and that's all i wanted to say and of course don't take your dog up to Wherever that was, all the legal supplies. Exactly. Gunsight Mountain Lodge. Don't take your dog or your little kitty cat. Those small creatures would be wild. Yeah, thanks for the call, Jim. I appreciate that. Well, you know, talking about measles, you may have seen the story a couple weeks ago. Second child with measles dies in Texas, according to state health officials.
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, a growing outbreak that has infected hundreds of people and vast majority of unvaccinated communities in Texas. The school-aged child who tested positive for measles was hospitalized in Lubbock and passed away last Thursday. It says the child's doctors described as measles pulmonary failure. the child was not vaccinated and had no reported underlying conditions according to the article in
Oh, where did I pull this from? ABC News. You know, but the reality is, you know, this is what was so mind-boggling to everybody, especially during COVID, because we saw... Towards the end of COVID when Joe Biden came in office and all of a sudden we started having surges. of illegals coming across the border. We all know they weren't.
You know, they freaked out, and they tried to say if people, U.S. citizens weren't vaccinated, you should lose your job, you should be segregated from society, all these things. Yet they were facilitating the flow of hundreds of thousands, millions of illegals coming across the border that you know damn well aren't vaccinated. And we said this for a long time. I mean, it wasn't really COVID I was worried about. It was everything else. It was like this stuff, you know, like measles.
And these kinds of diseases that the U.S. has largely eradicated over the past 40 years, 50 years. And then you have all these people coming from all these other countries. I remember being a military brat and having to go overseas. You'd always have to get all kinds of shots before you went to these foreign countries, you know? All the extra shots. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. I mean, it was like a smorgasbord. I mean, anybody who's been in the military knows, you know, there's just.
Especially you're going into some of these subtropical places, you know, and you would you were just You know I had two older brothers, so I always wanted to keep up with them So I was always tough like you never cried you always like Who could not make a face? Who could just, like, be tough and take it? Crying later when they can't see you. Yeah, but I remember the whole, you know, variety of shots we had to get. Because we lived in, like, the Philippines.
We lived in Japan. So, I mean, there was a lot of weird stuff that we ended up having to get inoculated for. But, you know, measles is one of those things we had largely eradicated in our country. And then you turn around and you see these outbreaks that are happening across the border. And I mean across the U.S. border, like coming in, especially in border states. I don't think it's a coincidence. You want to know what's really interesting about this? I was doing a little bit of looking around.
And the news here always makes it sound like, oh, my gosh, it's just America that's having this resurgence of measles. You know, Texas, you unvaccinated, unwashed heathens down there. So I'm looking actually on a world... Don't yell at me. It's the World Health Organization site. I won't yell at you. It's the Pan-American one. We'll leave that up to somebody else. It's the Pan-American one.
And right now, well, this was a month and a half ago, there were confirmed cases of measles in Argentina, Canada, Mexico, and the United States. None of this is surprising. Look, you've had this open-door policy over the last, it's really escalated, I'd say, over the last five years. where they're trying to effectively erase borders and reestablish, let's just say it, They're trying to reestablish a global society. And really, you know...
Limit whiteness, let's be honest. I mean, limit Western influence. Let's put it that way. So does it surprise you at all? No, it doesn't surprise me at all. Not even in the littlest. it doesn't surprise me at all i mean you look at what's happening i was watching i was watching a mom talk about in ireland talk about her daughter going to school and her daughter was like in elementary school say let's just say second grade
I don't remember which grade it was, but it was very young. It could have even been kindergarten. But she was very young. It was like in a very early grade. And the Irish mom was talking about Her daughter being so frustrated because she can't talk to any of the kids in her classroom because none of them speak English. So, you know, here she is. She's like the only Irish kid in her class.
And her daughter, you know, in the classroom, they speak English. But out on the playground and everywhere else, they speak their home language. And none of it's English. And so her daughter can't relate, you know. And so it seems. It seems like it's an issue that is not just to the U.S. and border states, but it seems like you hear this story. Switzerland, you hear this story in multiple places in Europe where...
The natural population of that country has been overwhelmed and now has become the minority population in their own towns, in their own cities, in their own communities. And I'm just telling you, the world has changed. And I don't think when you've gotten to this tipping point, I don't believe unless you take aggressive action, it will go back. I think it's changed probably significantly for probably a very long time.
It's all a plan, though. It's all a plan. Of course it is. Of course it is. All right, let's go ahead and take a quick break. We're expecting a phone call from Representative Kevin McCabe, so he'll give us an update about Juneau. There's some big news that hit on Friday. So we'll get his perspective on that and so much more. Stay with us. Welcome back, Current Time 635. Joining us for our Monday with McCabe is Representative Kevin McCabe. Good morning, sir.
Good morning, Amy. How are you this morning? I am good. I couldn't wait to talk to you this morning because I feel like there might have been some shenanigans that happened on the floor in the house on Friday. You think? Thursday night and Friday. Oh, my gosh. Well, for those that maybe haven't been tracking, can you kind of just summarize for us what happened at the end of last week in the Alaska house?
Sure. Well, it kind of started on Thursday. You know, there was supposed to be a finance committee meeting and got delayed and delayed and delayed and delayed. And then finally in the evening, they... they had the meeting it was delayed to the call of the chair and he finally called the meeting and they rolled out this committee substitute which they had designed the democrats had designed and Inside of it, they overdrew the public school trust.
fund by 9%, and they also put a $25.75 PFD in there. So a huge PFD cut, and then they got into our school trust. Now, remember, these are the people that voted in for a $1,000 BSA increase. and yet they were willing to... overdraw the public school trust fund, which is incredibly crazy and might even be illegal. I don't think the legislature has the authority to do that.
Anyways, our finance team, I can't say enough good about Will Stapp and Delena Johnson and Frank Tomaszewski. They were all over it. entertaining in a horrifying way if you want to watch it. Our folks stood up and said, this is not right. So then as the meeting kind of rolled on, it became apparent that the Democrats had to go to the Folk Fest, which is called the Dope Fest, essentially. and they were all trying to get out of there really fast. So they pulled that committee substitute.
the motion to adopt that substitute. Calvin Schrage pulled his motion and then they reintroduced the other substitute, which... had the full PFD in it and passed it out of finance and bolted out of there like their hair was on fire. Well, Andy doesn't have any hair, but like me, I can say that because I don't either.
But anyways, they bolted out of there. So Friday morning, and that night we have, I have written confirmation that they were not going to offer any amendments on Friday, that it was going to wait, the amendments were going to wait until Monday. So Friday morning we show up and the speaker says, well, we have one amendment. And we blew a gasket because there wasn't supposed to be any amendment. So we had allowed three of our people who had previous commitments. Will Stapp was...
getting a major military award in Fairbanks from Senator Sullivan and Senator Murkowski. So he had been excused for a while, and we had two other excuses. So we were down three people. and the amendment they offered was to take the budget that they had just passed to us, and the finance co-chair, Representative Josephson, offered the amendment. This is the budget that they had just passed to us. And they offered an amendment to strip the PFD again, 2575.
And on the floor, an amendment only takes the majority of those present. So we had three people down. So what effectively happened is it allowed the two Bush Democrats, who would normally be full PFD people, for the amendment, or to vote against the amendment and still be okay in their district. So really, really sneaky. You know, they had told us in writing that there was going to be no amendments, and we protested, and Bryce didn't care. The Speaker didn't care.
Oh, man. That's so shady. I mean, especially when they're telling you guys, no, we're not going to look. Look, I saw Tomaszewski, you know, basically Very professionally blow a gasket at the Finance Committee hearing. When he says, wait a second, you're giving us the CS literally 30 minutes ago, and you're telling us you're not going to take any amendments on it. And, you know, Josephson, a typical lawyer fashion, will not say yes to the answer. He's just like...
Yeah, you know, he just wouldn't answer the question. But, you know... Tomaszewski kept going. He's like, wait a sec. I mean, that's what really caught my attention. I'm like, hang on, what's going on here? And it was clear, you know, I... It didn't pass the red face test when I saw... the House majority press conference where Edgman was blaming the minority for not being able to pass a budget when
Clearly, the Democrats control the House right now. So this whole thing just seems shady to me. So they passed this out of finance in a whirlwind in the last minutes. of the Finance Committee Thursday night. They say we're not going to take any amendments on Friday. Then they wait until, you know, there's three people that are absent that had pre-excused arranged absences and then they take it up.
just to get past that threshold. I mean, it seems very shady to me. Right. Yeah, it is hugely shady. And, you know, it's their budget. And, you know, people keep asking me, well, you know, if the budget is so overdrawn, why are you trying to put a full PFD in there? And I'm doing the full PFD because I think that provides a de facto spending cap. I mean, Governor Hammond was exactly right.
You know, the militant ring of Alaskans needs to stand up and say, we want our dividend because that will prevent you from adding to the budget. You know, so they are continually saying that... that we need to cut the budget and that they can't give a full PFD. At the same time, they're adding money. I think the Democrats added $41 million to the budget. It's just amazing. They continue to add for all these fancy programs and these unfunded programs, and yet...
and yet they won't give Alaskans their full PFD. So it's very, very frustrating to many of us. So I think that we need to go back to a full PFD and provide a... spending cap for the Democrats because they can't do it themselves, apparently. Clearly not. You know, as we're watching what's happening in Juneau, look, none of this is surprising to me, but what
What does, it's kind of falling into place. Like, we know $1,000 to PFD. I mean, not $1,000. I'm sorry. I back up. $1,000 increase to the base student allocation. The governor has already made clear indications that's not going to survive his veto pen because we can't afford it. There needs to be some policy changes in there. Just throwing money at education without accountability isn't going to change our educational outcomes.
Look, we all knew that they wanted to cut the PFD. There's no way that they were going to support a full PFD. Like, between the House and the Senate, it would have shocked me if we would have actually seen a full PFD. You know, whether it was this trick that they played on Friday or whether it would be in conference committee, somehow they would have gotten it down because...
Frankly, that's what they've been doing year after year. Like they can't control themselves since the moment Walker vetoed part of the PFD. I mean, their goal has been to take it all, I think. 100%, 100%. And, you know, you just brought up a really good point. One of the things that we are angling for is to have... enough room in the conference committee to adjust the PFD. So if you look at the BSA, the BSA is a classic example. So there's a reason that that came out at $1,000.
from the Senate and $1,000 from the House. Now there's no room in the conference committee. It's going to be $1,000 unless the governor... vetoes it. Where if it had come out of the Senate at $500, now there's some room between the top and the bottom for the conference committee. Because when you're in conference committee, you cannot increase the top end, nor decrease the bottom end. You have to find Some middle ground, right?
So we're doing the same thing with the PFD. The maximum amount of PFD we can get will increase the sort of negotiating space between the Senate and the House when we go to conference committee. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Well, I got to tell you, you know, this is the time where the legislature gets very interesting. And day to day, sometimes it's hard to keep up with all the things, the moving pieces and the negotiations that are happening.
But we do appreciate so much you taking your time. I know you're fixing to fly back into Juneau right now. I tried to get on last night. I tried to get on that last night's flight on standby, and I'm kind of glad I didn't because the power was out right after they landed, and they parked on the tarmac and sat in the plane for more than an hour or so. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh.
Well, we hope you have a safe flight down there, and thank you for calling in and keeping us up to date. Just before we leave here, is there anything else that we should be keeping our eye on this week in Juneau? No, well, this week, of course, we're all kind of everybody's bolting for Easter on Friday, so we're going to try to get the budget done, which means Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday will be really long days on the floor.
It's going to be interesting for sure. I have several amendments that try to trim the budget in various places where I've seen them increase it. And then, you know, there are some safety, public safety things, like the state trooper post in Telkeetna that I'm going to try to get back in, that the Democrats strip that out, you know.
It'll be interesting. You know, Josephson put $4 million into Fairbanks hockey advertising and stripped $1.2 million for the Calkeet and the Trooper post out, and I kind of don't understand. how hockey is more important than troopers, but maybe he'll be able to explain it to me. Yeah, yeah. You and me both don't understand that one. I mean, well, we will be watching, sitting on the edge of our seat with popcorn as you guys debate the budget this week. So may the force be with you, my friends.
All right, Amy. Thanks a lot. All right. Thank you. You too, sir. All right, that's Representative Kevin McCabe. I want to thank him for calling in. As you can hear, he's at the airport right now, so I want to thank him for taking time this morning to call in a little early. so we can get an update from Juneau. We're going to go ahead and take a quick break. When we come back, we will take your calls, 522-0650. Look at your left. Now.
Welcome back, Current Time 651. I want to thank Representative McCabe for calling in, giving us a rundown, first-person account of what happened last week in the legislature. So just to recap.
You know, here's the thing. The drama that happened in the finance committee Thursday night, and it was late thursday night because you know my representative was called into our district you know i talked to her afterwards let's just put it that way i talked to her afterwards and uh she had been watching it late into the night and
The drama that happened is they had two people in the Democrat caucus that are full PFD supporters, and they refused to vote to cut the PFD. I mean, that's really what happened. And so they introduced a committee substitute to cut the PFD. And their members said no, so they couldn't get it out of committee. And so they ended up, you know, going back to the original budget that had a full PFD in it.
And then the Speaker, Speaker Edgman, says to the Republicans, oh, no, we're not going to take any amendments. We won't take this up until Monday, knowing they had three people that had excused absences. And so then what do they do? They immediately bring it to the floor. They put forward an amendment to cut your PFD by $1,900. So that means instead of getting almost, you know.
You know, instead of getting a full PFD, you're going to get a $1,400 PFD. That's basically where we're sitting right now. But this is before the Senate's even touched the operating budget. So, you know, it ain't done until it's done in Juneau. So you've got to wait. I mean, that's what I said. But they've been saying with the PFD, the number that's been bantered around between the Democrats. has been between $1,000 and $1,400 PFD. That's where the debate is right now.
and right now they still have $1,000 BSA increase in their budget, which is totally unaffordable. If they keep that in there, just remember, year over year, not only is the $1,000 BSA in the formula, It's going to grow with inflation the way they've structured it, which means, I mean, I'm telling you right now. Less than five years, probably three years, your PFD will be gone. Gone, gone. Gone, gone, gone, gone. No more. Because this is where they've been going. We went from 100% PFD.
Right? It's still in statute. The formula is still in statute. They're just ignoring it. Then we went to 75%. The people can have 75% of their PFD. Then we went to a 50-50 split. And now where they want to go to is a $25.75. And where you actually, if they drop it to a $1,000 PFT, it's even less than that. It's down to like a 16% PFT. Which is ridiculous. This is incrementalism that the Democrats are so good at.
It's with everything. It's desensitize you, take a little bit, little bit, little bit, little bit, little bit, and then you just get to the point where you just throw in the towel. You're like, well, we know they're going to take it anyway. I mean, that's where we are. All right, let's run to the phones here, and Ken is with us. Good morning, sir. Hey, I believe I read that Representative Jimmy is going to call for a reconsideration vote. I hope so. I read that. I hope so. Nellie, Jimmy.
She's one of the rural Democrats that supports a full PFD, so we'll see if she does. Yeah. You know, if you... I listened to the Finance Committee hearings. Kevin's actually being quite kind to the swamp they've got down there because when you listen to the piles and piles and piles they have, he picked one of many, many, many, many, many things that most of us would be. And you do know, have you ever looked up the... As a foolish or contemptible person,
These people have contempt for Alaskans because it didn't end with the, it doesn't end with the PFD. They threaten, if you don't give them their way, taxes. Oh, yeah. In taxes. Well, and here's the thing. here's the thing we know this is what we know We know they're going to take the full PFC because that's their goal. We also know on top of that, they want to have, look, listen to Pat Higgins.
Right? Anchorage School Board. He wants an income tax. He wants a sales tax. When you listen to these people, they will never stop. They don't know how to control themselves when it comes to spending. You think your PFD is the end of it? Not a chance. Because they can't control spending. Well, they want to tax the private sector and they want to tax... Our golden goose, the people that are actually feeding the state. And, you know, to make it all worse,
For the general population, we have a lot of listeners that have heard this before, but there are people that haven't heard this. Think about the math of that. You've got a couple hundred thousand people. to try to fix their bloat on. And it just can't happen. And worst of all, our entire legislative process has been stolen because we had to sit there and listen to Kai Haaland, who is a globalist.
renewable portfolio standard activist before he got elected. And as he still is, I don't know if he relinquished all his efforts before. as a staffer saying a kill point. And then they got their buddies coming in as invited testimony as if they were, they call this word, I hate this word, I hate this word so bad, stakeholders. That's not in any Alaskan or the Constitution that we have to worry about.
But they bring this group of NGOs in, these mutts come in, and act like they've got something. They've got a voice at all. I've got to tell you. In front of all citizens. I'm hearing you. I'm hearing you. I'm hearing you. hard break here so again i gotta cut you off just simply because i'm gonna hit my hard break but no i mean you're not wrong we're gonna 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 NewsRadio. to live local and inside I'm in Palmer, Daryl's in Anchorage, between the two of us. I don't know, maybe that... Maybe it takes two of us to make one show go, but somehow Daryl we get it done
I think you do all the heavy listening, and I just kind of answer the phone. I think you do more than answer the phones. We always appreciate you listening. You can listen to us live and local every weekday morning from 6 to 8 a.m. right here on 650 a.m. to stream us you can stream us online at 650keni.iheart.com or you can download the iheart media app if you do that either on the app or on our website you can also find our podcast
You know, Daryl, as I was thinking about this, this caught my attention when I was reading Suzanne's article about what happened in Juneau on Friday. The math just didn't add up to me because we've been told that the full PFD actually... Should be between $3,800 and $3,900. Let's just use the, you know, say $3,800. for ease of math. So if they cut your PFD all the way down to $1,400, that's a whole lot more than $1,900 per person.
We're talking $2,100 more. Actually, more than like, yeah, about that. I mean, that's a lot of money. I mean, you're supposed to have. A $3,800 PFT by statute. Let's just round numbers. E is a state. and they cut every man, woman, and child's PFD down to 1,400. That's significant. I mean, that is significant. I mean, what we're talking about, of money. I mean, imagine a family of four. I mean, it's a lot of money. Darrell's pulling out his calculator.
So, I mean, that's a lot of money. It's crazy when we talk about it. Alright, Carl is with us. Let's go to the phones. Good morning, sir. Good morning, Andy. Thank you. You know, I've been listening to this argument about the PFD, and I really don't understand what the argument is about. It was a promise. In other words, it's an interstate statute, as I understand it, that every person in Alaska would get that money. But I could compare it to the electric bill, gas, or sewer and water.
You're not going to tell these utility companies, well, we're only going to pay you 75% this year or 50% of next year or 25% the following year. Right. Guess what? If you did that. you would not have any electricity, gas, or certain water. Right. You're exactly right. And when I was doing my math, I wrote down $3,500 instead of $3,800. But the reality is you're talking about $2,400 cut to your PFD per person.
Per person. Carl, we're talking about a family of four that's $9,600 in one year that they're taking out of your pocket. mean and as you said it's in statute it's the law they just choose not to follow it Well, they should cut the legislative salary to 75%, or 50 to 25. You know, Daryl was telling me that during the break. You know, I think Daryl had a great idea, because here's the thing. I think if they don't pass a balanced budget, which means...
You know, that they're spending from savings instead of actually balancing a budget. I think there should be a corresponding per diem cut per day unless they can actually pass a balanced budget. Yeah, I can't take credit for it. That was Daryl's idea. But I think, I mean, the whole point of this is Alaskans have to live within our means, and we follow the law. I mean it's crazy to me.
They don't have the courage to actually change the PFD statute, right, because they don't want to be the ones that look like they're actually taking it out of law. So they don't want to change the statute, so they just choose to ignore the statute. To me, it's disgraceful. And I think personally the money would be way more beneficial to Alaskans circulating in the economy than it is going to the NEA. That's just my thought.
That's a great concept for moving the capital out of Juneau to the road system. Yeah, I agree with you completely. Carl, a man of wisdom always. Thank you for calling in this morning, sir. Thank you, Amy. All right. Have a good day. Well, you know, Nellie Jimmy is one of the votes. So in the Democrats, as they talk about the PFD, there were two holdouts, both of them from rural Alaska in the Democrat caucus.
and representative neil foster was one representative nelly jimmy was the other because in rural alaska a lot of people still really support a full PFD. You know, there is not a ton of economic opportunity in some of these villages and some of these places in rural Alaska. Life out there is very expensive. Go buy a gallon of milk out there and you'll see. I mean, fuel costs.
Heating costs. I mean, look at Fairbanks. I mean, we don't even get to rural Alaska. Look at Fairbanks. How expensive it is to heat your homes in February in Fairbanks. Willie Keppel has a great article in Must Read Alaska. This is... An op-ed, and he says, Nellie Jimmy has it wrong. The permanent fund dividend belongs to all of us. I'm not going to read you the whole thing, but I'm going to give you some of the highlights from this particular.
From this particular op-ed, Willie Capel is a longtime trapper and fur trader in western Alaska, and he writes this op-ed in Must Read. He says, let me just say it straight. Representative Nellie Jimmy's vote to cut the PFD was wrong. I don't doubt her heart is probably in the right place, but when she stood on the house floor and gave an emotional and theatrical speech,
about the hardship in her village at Chooksook Bay, high fuel prices, tough living, and real struggles of rural native families, she forgot one thing. The Permanent Fund Dividend belongs to all of us, not just some of us. The dividend is not a handout. It is not welfare. It is not, quote, free money, end quote. It is your share, your slice of the oil and gas that comes out of Alaska's ground.
It is put in a fund that was voted on by the people and meant to be shared equally by every resident, native and non-native, rich and poor, young and old. That is what dividend means. Quote, an individual share of something distributed. End quote. Simple as that. Now, Jimmy says she cut the PFD to help her people, but guess what? That vote did not just hurt folks in urban Alaska. It hurt Gusics and rural folks, too.
Do you think a single mom in Palmer is not struggling to keep the lights on? Do you think the guy walking... Working three part-time jobs in Saldana does not need that money just as bad. What about the veterans living off-grid, hauling water and burning wood with no access to Indian Health Service clinics, no tribal cooperation dividends, and no subsistence, right?
They do not get power cost equalization. They do not get free health care. They sure do not get marine mammal hunting rights, but they get a PFD. when it is not gutted in the state capitol. He's right. And, you know, this is the discussion, and this is what people like Kathy Giesel and others make you want to feel like, that somehow... You're greedy. Somehow you're on welfare because you're saying to the state, hold up to the bargain.
you gave us you took away our oil and gas and our mineral rights our subsurface rights from the land that we own so if I strike if I strike oil On my property, I don't own that oil. Pursuant to the state constitution and the laws of Alaska, we all, as all Alaskans, own that resource collectively. So it's very different if you strike oil on your property in Alaska versus if you strike oil on your property in Texas. And because of that collective ownership, that's why you get the PFD.
And, you know, I think Willie Keppel did a really good job. pointing this out. This isn't a native, non-native issue. This isn't an urban versus rural issue. This is an issue that every Alaskan is equal and every Alaskan by law is entitled to a slice of the jointly owned collective resources that fund effectively the PFD. And the fact that, look, we'll see what happens, but the fact that
Nellie Jimmy, who has purported to be a full PFD-er. I'm making up words now. The fact that she's purported to be a full PFD-er. And then she turns around and she did vote. She was one of the 20 votes that voted to cut the PFD. I think it's going to be a problem when she goes home. And rightfully so, these legislators that campaign one way and go to Juneau and vote a different way should feel... some of the pressure from their constituents because they lied.
So will she have a case of regret? Will she vote for reconsideration on this amendment? We'll see. But like I said, I have zero expectations that our full PFD is going to, you know, we're going to see it at $3,800. My expectation is, you know, like I said, the Democrats are in control right now. And why are the Democrats in control? Not because we elected more Democrats.
to the legislature. We actually elected more Republicans to the legislature than Democrats. But you have people like Chuck Kopp and Louise Stutes in the House. that are caucusing with the Democrats that gave Democrats control. And then you have people like Bert Stedman, Gary Stevens, Kelly Merrick. you know, Bjorkman, you have these type of people in the Senate that have turned around and given the control of the Senate to the Democrats as well.
I mean, I was just going to say, I mean, it comes at this point. You know, I don't know how else to say it. This is the reason I stay involved in the Republican Party. Because you wouldn't believe some of the frustrations and annoyances it is when you go to some of these meetings. I literally read an email. from a Republican district chair that is represented by one of these turncoats.
defending them, saying, oh, they deserve it to be at the table. No, they deserve to change their party affiliation to Democrats because they're not loyal to Republican values at all, in my opinion. But this is it. If Republicans don't get involved in their own party and push out the Murkowski... this is the kind of crap we're going to keep getting 100% agree. And just so you know, Jimmy also is basically the deciding vote on why the budget passed out of the Finance Committee.
It was a 6-5 vote, 6 to pass it, 5 saying nay, keep it in the committee. And she was one of the 6 that voted. Because otherwise it would have been 6 against passing it. It would have still been in the finance committee. So she went on that one also.
It's incredibly frustrating, and I know it is. You know, I have people that will come to our district committee meetings, and they'll say, why am I even? Look, this is Amy's theory of why you should be involved, even if you're mad, even if you're frustrated, even if you're annoyed. It's because you have two choices in life. You can either lay down and take it, or you can step up and fight back.
I choose to do the latter. I choose to do the latter. And I think the best way to change some of the political dynamics that are happening is you get into the belly of the beast. I believe change from within will be more.
It is just as important as pressure from outside. You have to get in. You have to be able to push out these weak-kneed Republicans that are giving power to the Democrats. Look, the entire time Dunleavy has been... governor he has been having to deal with this split he has not had a Republican Senate and a Republican House the entire time even though we've elected more Republicans and Democrats the entire time he's still not had a Republican Senate
This is what it is, because we're dealing with people like Gary Stevens and Bert Stedman, right? Once those two do it, then you have Eagle River. What the hell are you thinking? You elected Kelly Merrick again, and you knew what you were getting. I just got to step back and say, you know, there comes a point.
And if we don't start cleaning house, we're going to get the same kind of results. All right, let's go ahead and take a quick break. We'll be right back. Looking at your Alaska total traffic cameras on this Monday morning. Traffic's moving fairly well around Anchorage Bowl. Steady traffic inbound on the Glen Highway. I'm not seeing any. 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 for a time. 724 on this Monday morning. Let's go to the phones and Dr. Farr is with us. Good morning. Hey, good morning. I have a whole list of things. One, SB 121 and SB 122 are two bills that are introduced to make sure that the insurance companies pay us at the 75th percentile.
It's not as good as the 80th percentile, but believe me, insurance companies are not paying us anything right now, and it's very, you know, minimally. And so it's very important to get these bills passed so those of us in private practice will be able to survive. So again, it's SB 121 and SB 122, and people can get online and get their senators and representatives to support these two bills. The second thing is there was...
An 85 million person study find an increased risk of stroke, heart attack, Coronary artery disease and arrhythmias following the COVID-19 vaccine, 40% increased risk of hospitalization two months afterwards. And these are stroke was up 240%, heart attack 286%, coronary artery disease 240%. 144%, and arrhythmia is 199%, and yet it's still on our state recommendation of vaccines. That's crazy. It is absolutely crazy, especially since...
You know, after a couple of months, it increases the risk of hospitalization so much. So in 1986, when I graduated from residency, there were only six vaccines. and the OPV that were recommended for children. Just six. Now in 2025, there's over 30 that are recommended from conception until the first year of age. And a lot of them are the COVID vaccines or vaccines that we don't really know that much about. And now the risk of autism has gone up to about 1 in 30.
So I think this schedule needs to be modified. I think we need to look at what vaccines or what other environmental problems are causing this. Is it food? Is it additives? I don't know what's causing it, but we've got a big problem in this country, and I'm really glad that hopefully the government will be able to look into this and tell us. what is causing the problem so we can modify this.
and modify a diet. And the one thing that I was really proud of Trump for doing was his Make American Showers Great Again bill that he passed through executive order that actually allowed us to have shower heads. where we can actually rinse the soap and shampoo out of her head. It was great.
No, I think that's great. Well, and, you know, I will tell you this. I generally am not one who just trusts the government, but I will say I like the fact that Robert Kennedy Jr. is there because he has been one that has been a critical thinker and has been one who's asked a lot of questions around vaccinations and the autism rates. And I think that's what we need. I think if we're going to be intellectually honest and curious, I think we need people that question. Yeah.
I do too. And like in Europe, I mean, there's something we're doing right in this country because Europe had 127,350 measles cases and 38 deaths. We have 600 in our country. So, I mean, we're doing a good job there. And actually, if you get exposed to measles and get the measles vaccine immediately, there's a 74%. chance that it will cover you and prevent you from getting it. So I do think that there are some vaccines that are useful, but maybe we need to move that from 12 months
to 24 months to decrease the risk of autism, or maybe it's an additive insertion of the vaccines that's causing the problem. I don't know, but I really think we do need to look into that. That being said, I think there are some vaccines that are still valuable.
Sure, sure. Well, and that's what I say. I think there's nothing wrong. If you have nothing to hide, there's nothing wrong with having honest conversations about the pros and cons, especially when it comes to medical treatment. That's exactly right. Idaho, actually, the Senate just passed a medical freedom bill there, so nobody can be injected involuntarily with any type of vaccine or biological or genetic substance.
It's going to be interesting to see. Apparently it's been proposed in multiple other legislatures, so we'll have to see. I wish we would. We do have a little bit more protection up here than they do in some places, but I really think that we should get something like that passed up here too. So the other thing that I wanted to talk about was volcano preparedness. I think it's very important for people to make sure they have a mask in their car.
maybe an extra air filter for their car, and make sure that they don't go out when the ash is falling. And the state of Alaska actually has a website that talks about other things that you can do. I also wanted to make mention of the fact that it's really important now to get our Cook Inlet gas. exploration going while we've got this brief opportunity under the Trump administration so we don't run out of fuel here in, you know, south-central Alaska.
I think the gas line may go through. I don't know, but the problem is that's going to take years to build. And so it's important that we actually develop something here in Alaska, in south central Alaska, to allow our homes to stay warm. in the interim. I agree. I couldn't agree more. And then one more thing. Our phones are finally working again. It's been a real battle. So people can give our office call at 562-4045 if they want appointments now, and we are an Aetna preferred provider.
Well, Dr. Farr, as always, lots of information packed into a phone call. Thank you so much for the call this morning. I appreciate it. Okay. Thank you. All right. Take care. That's Dr. Ilona Farr. We're going to take a quick break. We will be back with more of your calls, 522-0650. Amy Demboski, 6 to 8, mornings on NewsRadio 6. 522-0650. Welcome back. Current time is 737. If you'd like to call in, be part of the show. 522-0650.
You know, Daryl, as we look at all the stories that come out of Juneau, I think nothing is surprising me this year. I mean, there's going to be the back and forth, everything that's going to happen. But the outcome is going to be the same. Everybody is eyeing, and you just have to realize, everybody is eyeing 2026. This is all about the governor's race. It's about the 2026 races and setting people up so they can potentially either have something to campaign against.
or campaign for right so in this particular case when you have people on the Senate Finance Committee that are literally saying We can't afford $1,000 BSA. They know when they walk into the conversation and they're a billion dollars upside down. and i'm just throwing out a number but i mean the reality is they know their budget is is a deficit spending budget when they know that
They know the governor has already indicated he will not support a $1,000 BSA, especially if there's no policy reforms associated with it. The only reason... they're going to do it, is because they know the governor's going to veto it down, but then they can run against Republicans in 2026 and say, oh, look, those mean Republicans hate children. Right. And really, the BSA funding, in my opinion, this day and age really has nothing to do with educational outcomes.
It doesn't. Money does not equate to success when it comes to education spending for our kids because if that was the case, we'd be the best in the nation because we spend almost the most in the nation. We'd be the best in the nation and we'd have literally shining gold-plated kids.
Yeah, and when you look at the outcomes we have, like when you look at our charter schools, for example, and you see the studies that come out that show Alaska has some of the best charter schools in the country, we're getting some of the best outcomes. If anyone had a working brain in Juneau, the first thing they'd say is, wow, we are exceeding the national average. Not only that, we're leading the nation.
We're doing something right here in our education and charter schools. We should duplicate that. But they don't do that. Why don't they do that? Because the NEA looks at it as loss of power. This is all, look. The NEA, the teachers' union, does not exist. to ensure that kids get a great education. That's not what they're there for. They're there to advocate for their members. Hard stuff. That's what the NEA is there for.
I'll just say it. And some are going to say, oh, Amy, that's just not right. Look, they don't care about your kids. They care about their membership. Their goal is to advocate for their membership. Their goal is not to fight for policy reforms that potentially... are going to drive kids to outside of standard brick-and-mortar schools. That's not their goal. They want more membership. They want to get as much for their membership as possible. They want to retain as much control as possible.
That's the reality we're dealing with. So I don't care how many t-shirts you put on that say kids over cuts or whatever the stupid slogan is this year. The reality is some of us are not stupid enough to buy your button. Don't care what your button says. We recognize the more money we put into education, the worse results are actually coming out. So it tells me money is not the problem. This isn't complicated. It's not complicated.
And the other side of that coin is also that the administrators in a lot of these schools and in the state there So we're not meeting national standards or we're not. succeeding in what we're teaching the kids. So what do they do? Instead of making it better, reteaching them. They lower the standards. Of course. We're going to make a 40 a passing grade instead of a 60. That right there tells you. That right there tells you it's not about the kids. It's not about making sure they're competitive.
You have to be competitive this day and age on a global level, not just a local level, not a state level, not a national level. Our kids are competing on a global level, right? When we start talking about AI and we start talking about technology and we start talking about, frankly, warfare, and we start talking about making sure your kids Don't get wiped out in a nuclear holocaust. Look, it takes science, technology, engineering.
to make sure that not only are we competitive, that we can actually survive going generation after generation. That's the world we live in. We live in a very dangerous world. And if we don't recognize that, we fall behind to countries like India. We fall behind to countries like China. We fall behind to countries potentially like Iran.
to Russia I mean the reality is this is do or die you actually if you dumb down your population enough you're you're doing future generations i usually don't get on this philosophical bend but i gotta tell you this like I look at this legislative session, and what have I expected this whole entire legislative session since we started? Number one, they're going to cut your PFD. You're probably going to see between $1,000 and a $1,400 PFD, right?
$1,400 if you're lucky, even though your full PFD should really be like $3,800. Because they're going to make you feel grateful that they gave you some of your money. Right? That's how they treat you. They treat you like you're on welfare, like that it gets a handout, and that you didn't work for that money, and that you didn't give up some of your property rights for that money. That's how they treat you.
Oh, but what they're actually doing is they're taking money out of your pocket and they're putting into the pocket of special interest. We knew all along they were going to do this, and that's what they're doing. So they're going to pass a massive BSA increase that we can't afford, that's not sustainable, and they're going to make the governor veto it. Why? Because he can actually do math. Right? And he knows this is not sustainable. Number two, they're not going to do any policy reforms. Why?
because they know they have the votes and they don't have to. And the NEA doesn't want it. Because the one thing the NEA doesn't want is accountability. So they're not going to have any policy reforms in there, right? The other thing they're going to want... is they're going to want to go back to a defined benefit retirement system for public employees. And the reality is,
The last system is billions of dollars in the red. We can't even afford the last system. Forget about going back to it. It's ridiculous. So they go in knowing they're already in a deficit. They pile on massive amounts of spending, which if this goes into place, there's no mathematical way out of it other than them taking your full PFD in soon years to come. and increase in taxes. And as Kevin McCabe pointed out so eloquently, the reality is
Was it Kevin or was it Ken? I think it was Ken, actually. Ken pointed out earlier, the reality is we only have a population of maybe out of our state of 730,000 people, just say half of them are kids, right? So they're not paying taxes, an income tax. Then you take out people that are potentially in the tax brackets that won't pay any taxes. By the time you get down to it, you have maybe 200,000 people.
that are going to actually be able to pay in on the income tax and all this other stuff. So the reality is they are creating, they're piling on to an unsustainable fiscal model. We all know this. And that's why I say it all comes down to the governor's race in 2026 and these legislative races. This is what they're doing. This is the political gamesmanship that is happening right now. It's not about the kids.
It's not about educational outcomes. They have the votes. They're going to force it through. This is what they believe is a political checkmate. So this is the result I expect. Now the really only question there is, is will there be enough Republicans that stand to uphold the governor's vetoes? That's really the only question. Out of all of this drama that happens, and we will cover it, but out of all this drama that happens, we already know what the end game is going to be.
The end game is going to be up to the governor and about the 16 or so legislators he needs to stand with him to uphold his veto. Right? Do I believe the votes are there to uphold the governor's veto? Absolutely. Yes, I do. But this is going to be the narrative, and what are you going to see over and over again? As we heard from Senator Shelley Hughes last week, ASD is coming out saying,
Oh, if you don't give us this huge, massive raise in the base student allocation, we're going to have to lay off 300 and some odd teachers. Or people, what they're not telling you is they have an $87 million slush fund. That could easily cover the cost of all of this. Right? Easily. So they're not telling you that. But instead, they're setting up the Republicans to look like the bad guy.
That's what they're doing. That's the political game that's being played in Juneau this year. So when you start seeing kids over cut, And you start to think, oh, the Republicans are killing education. It's all Bravo Sierra. That's what it is. It's political gamesmanship. All right, we're going to take a quick break. If you'd like to call in, we have one final segment left, 522-0650. Looking at your Alaska total traffic cameras on this Monday morning. Traffic's moving fairly well.
Sightful Morning Drive Radio on NewsRadio 650. Welcome back. Current time is 7.51. We're going to go to the phones, and I believe this is Gary. Good morning, sir. Good morning, Amy. My question is this. advocated for the children to protest about this issue that's going on. Was it the administrators or the teachers?
I don't know. That's a good question. That's a good question. You know, here's the thing. When I see people walk out, again, I'm protesting that you're not going to give me a massive raise. It's really not a cut to education if we're being honest about the actual reality of it. It is not a cut. to education, what they're advocating for is $1,000 per student formula driven raise.
They're saying, if you don't give me this massive raise, then we're going to have to cut. What that tells me is you're not living within your budget. You know, Amy, I'm surprised. that parents haven't created a class action lawsuit because the NEA is destroying the children's future and they're using the children like diapers. for them walking out over their issues. They're not teaching. They're socializing the children. Well, I have to tell you, like...
You know, what we are seeing is an indoctrination factory. And I just get annoyed when I see people processing something that's stupid. Like when I see signs that say gays for Palestine, you're an idiot. All right? You know, when I start seeing people walking out, blaming the legislature for local cuts, again. You don't understand the basics as the school board manages your budget. And if we're talking about Anchorage,
Explain to me why they aren't using some of their $87 million in their slush fund to retain these positions they say are so crucial. This isn't the legislature's fault. This is the Anchorage School District's fault. And it comes down to reality. I mean, you can't change the facts. The facts are the facts. Look, the numbers don't lie. I always say follow the money.
And when we talk about these huge NEA increases, these huge budget increases, I want to know what is it going to do, number one, to improve educational outcomes. Number two, what is it going to do to improve teachers' ability to have smaller class sizes, you know, or help students attain their academic goals? What is it going to do?
Instead, I get the sneaking suspicion it's going to go to a bloated bureaucracy, and it's not going to find its way into the classroom. That's my suspicion, because history data tells us. year over year when we put more and more money into educational spending. we're not getting better outcomes. So if we're ranking towards the bottom in the nation, but we're spending almost the most in the nation, clearly that tells you money's not the issue.
I mean, that's clearly it. But to your point, Gary, I mean, look, I don't know when, you know, parents are busy working. They're busy doing their things. You know, do they know that ASD has an $87 million slush fund, as Senator Hughes pointed out to us last week?
But, you know, we talk about it. I think it's important to have these conversations. And, again, when we get down to the brass tacks of it, what are we talking about? We're talking about the ASD and a lot of other school districts around the state whining. That they're not going to be able to afford their own educational process unless they get a massive raise? That tells me you're doing a crappy job budgeting.
Oh, my word. All right, I have to switch topics because a big news headline popped last night. Or this morning, I would say. I'm seeing it last night, too. But anti-Israel Colombia protester Mohammed Khalil can be deported. This coming from the New York Post. New York Post is reporting. that a judge has said that the federal government has absolutely made their case that he could be deported. So there you go. Win one for the goodbyes.
Not today, Felicia. See ya. Put him on a plane. You want to come to this country. You want to advocate for terrorists. You want to incite violence. You want to incite protesters. You're going back home. Later. Later. See ya. You know, another one I saw. Space Force commander relieved of duty for comments on J.D. Vance. This one's coming out of the Western Journal. The commander of Space Force based in Greenland has been relieved of her duties.
The comments she made about the vice president, Space Force Colonel Susanna Myers was in charge of the base in Greenland, and she said that their values don't represent those of the comments. president probably not a wise thing to say about your your you know the chain of command that's above you I'm just saying if you don't keep your politics to yourself when you're in the military do your job you're not a political commentator so that is
I gotta tell you good on them. It's time you got a clean house. You got a clean house, and I'm glad to with the President of El Salvador today. It's going to make for some interesting news headlines. All right, that does it for Daryl and I today. We will be back with you tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. Until then, stay safe. God bless.