Thursday 5/1/25 | Headlines, calls, discussions and good news.

Welcome to the party, pal. The Michael Duke Show. The greed and the entitlement is astounding to me. What more could you want from a low-budget radio program? This is a dumpster fire. That was just BS. Time to get a new perspective. We know just what you need, and we've got just the cure. Open wide and prepare for steaming hot. The Michael Dukes Show, streaming live across the world. Live around the world on the internet.

at michaeldukeshow.com and across the state of Alaska on this, your favorite radio station and or FM translator. Good morning, my friends, and welcome to the program. It is The Michael Duke Show. We are, of course, broadcasting live across the, well, the world, the entire world on the interwebs and across the state of Alaska. Good morning. And how are you? It is Thursday and kind of an unusual Thursday today. I had worked hard yesterday to try and get some...

to try and get some guests on, some legislators especially, because I really wanted to talk about what was going on down in Juneau. And it... Nobody wants to talk to me, man. Nobody wants. I don't know if they're just. If somebody's been listening and they're afraid that I'm going to lose my mind and take them to task and be upset about something, or if they just... There's just too many things going on down there that they, you know, that they just, they don't want to.

you know, show their hand or let the cat out of the bag or whatever. But yeah, it was, I got a whole lot of nope yesterday. I mean, really, I got a whole lot of nope. Can't do it. Sorry. Nope. Nope. And so here we are. We are 20 days, 19 days away from the end of the legislative session here. And this is the marathon sprint, I guess, to the end. Now, they must feel like they got a lot of it done because yesterday they did pass the new education bill.

And I guess I should break down today's show for you today. We're going to talk about that in a few things. But first things first, I want to tell you that I hope that today you call in and help steer the discussion. Because... Quite honestly, I'm a little frustrated talking about... You know, we've been going over this and I feel a little, I don't know what the word should be, impotent, maybe frustrated, whatever it is. I'm feeling that way. And I feel like, you know, kind of.

I'm shouting into the void a little bit here on this. Now, a lot of you agree with me. I mean, I know the chat room is mostly in agreement with what I've been saying. It doesn't seem to be making much of a difference, I guess I'll say. And so I was hoping today that maybe you would take my mind off things or you could reinforce it.

and you know agree with me or talk but i've opened up the phone lines first thing this morning because uh i'd love to i'd love to hear what you have to say And like I said, help let you help me steer the conversation. So the phone number to call today, if you're taking notes and keeping track at home and you've got to pull your phone out, now's the time to pull your phone out if you want to do that. The number to call is 319-527-3864.

527-3864 if you want to call into the show today and be part of it. We'd love to. We'd love to hear from you. We would love to hear from you. Anthony in the chat room says battle weary would be a good. Yes, I feel it. I guess that's it. I'm a little battle weary. Like, uh, you know, we've been fighting this for a long time and, uh, we're. You know, it's a frustrating thing. Special thanks to Kevin McCabe, who came on yesterday and was willing to talk with us about some of these things.

Because I got a whole lot of nope from yesterday as well. In fact, I had people who were planning on being on And then they backed out at the last minute because I think there were some things going on and maybe some family stuff and other things. But I think it was just a combination of everything that's happening out there. It's frustrating, man, isn't it? I mean, I just, I feel like, you know, I'm, I'm.

It's like one of those things where you can see the problem and maybe it's because you're from the outside looking in and you can see the problem. And everyone around you kind of looks at you like you're crazy. But as you go on and your point of view is proven to be more and more correct. And yet everybody still continues to ignore you or still continues to just, you know, pat you on the head and say, well, that's nice. That's nice.

It's amazing. It's just amazing. Yeah, so special thanks to Kevin for coming in yesterday. He's in the chat room again this morning. I don't know what to say. I really don't. I guess we can just start breaking down. I'm going to include some good news today. And I'm hoping maybe you guys want to bring something frivolous to the show. Um, you know, you guys can bring some, uh, some, some fun stuff to the show as well with your phone calls or whatever as well.

So, the education bill that we talked about at length yesterday with Kevin McCabe, it went back to the Senate. because of the unconstitutional language that was in it. And the Senate, you know, there was more discussion on the bill after they did it. Surprisingly. There was some changes because prior to this and the first vote on this, Rob Myers was the only one to was the only one to vote against the bill.

But when it went back to the Senate for the language change because of the... I guess to explain, the language change had to do with the Rob Yont Amendment, which would have funded some reading comprehension. But that funding had contingency language on it that said it would only be available if the legislature passed this new revenue bill, this new tax bill. on out-of-state online businesses, i.e. Amazon and others, to pay this new state tax.

And the way they had it worded was basically it turned the funds that would have come from that tax into dedicated funds. It literally was a difference between the word shall and may. And they had the word chal in there, and that would have been unconstitutional because we don't allow for dedicated funds, although we do allow for designated funds. I mean, that's a whole show in and of itself. This idea that somehow dedicated funds are wrong, but designated funds are just fine.

even though we treat designated funds as if they were dedicated. I mean, you can't make this stuff up, right? So the bill went back to the Senate. And to have that language changed. And in the meanwhile, it seemed like all of a sudden. Because the House had read deep into this and discovered some of these things and said, well, wait a second. They had some issues. Initially, Kevin had said on.

Tuesday that in the chat room, while he was talking with everybody in the chat room during our first discussion on the bill, he had said he thought that the House would overwhelmingly vote for it. And and then yesterday he said, based on this new thing, he felt like there was a chance that it might fail.

because they had discovered some of the different changes and the implications of the contingency language and some other things, which made me think, well, why didn't the senators, why was there only one vote against it anyway? So when it went back to the Senate, they voted for it. And this time, Mike Showers and Shelley Hughes both voted against it. They joined Rob Myers in voting against it. And their main concern... according to reporting in the ADN, was that they...

We're not happy about the, you know, they supported, they both supported the funding of the reading initiatives and the CTE funding, the career and technical ed funding. So again, it all came back to... You know, now that this contingency, now that maybe they hadn't seen the linkage between that before. I don't know. Maybe they didn't understand it before, but now they voted again. So now you've got three of 20. So 17 passed it. And then the measure went back to the house.

And after very little debate on the floor. The House then passed the bill 31 to 8. I'm no math major, and I know I graduated from Lathrop High School, so you'll have to not hold that against me. It barely shows my competence, I'm sure. But eight plus three, those were all the no votes. OK, and the governor's override. Now, that means one. It's absolutely veto proof from vetoing the bill itself because there's two thresholds. One is the veto threshold for the bill.

which is 40 out of 60. It's a two-thirds vote, right? But there is an opportunity for the governor to take a second bite at the apple. And that is on the line item on actually vetoing just the funding out of the bill because the bill could pass. He could not veto the bill, but he could veto all or a portion of the funding for said bill, as he did in the past when he vetoed half the increase for education.

And that requires a three quarters vote or 45 out of 60. Again, I'm no math major, but 60 minus 11. to override even a funding veto. That's 49 for those of you who went to West Valley. 49. And 45 is the threshold for overriding. Now, that leaves us in an interestingly precarious position, meaning there would have to be another five.

Right. Because all they have to have is 45 or more. And they're 49 is where it currently sits. They would have to have five legislators change their mind and change their vote. Now, we already know that in the Senate that... Rob Yunt, James Kaufman, and Mike Kronk had all publicly said on Monday, that they would vote to veto the governor's override of the bill. Now, again, we could be splitting hairs here.

And they could be saying, well, yes, I will vote to override the bill. But if he overrides the funding, will they override that veto? I don't know. But we're five short from overriding all this funding and... It's just mind boggling. Still no contingencies for no policy measures. for open enrollment. It's not fully backed. Apparently, they wanted to create a legislative task force.

They wanted to study the study to see if an open enrollment. I mean, open enrollment is already happening. This literally was just them wanting to codify. actions that are already taking place around the state. But they didn't want to put it into law, and so now they want it to be pushed off.

Yesterday, near the end of the show, I got a text from the Alaska study industry that said, we here at the Alaska study industry have great faith and respect for our esteemed legislature, knowing they will give us the green light. so we can study our various options. It's money well spent and we will gladly spend it all. Which is, I just looked at that and I just went, what? This is something that's already happening.

And again, we were just trying to dress things up and make sure that, you know, and just codify it. Now they have to study. The study should somehow discover that open enrollment is horrendously bad for children, and now they'll stop what's already being done and has been done around the state for a long time. And I guess from a... From a political, I'm out of time. I guess from a political standpoint, I have questions on the viability of what's going on.

From a if you're taking the metrics on the political scale versus, you know, if you just set aside what's good for the children and what's good for the budget and everything else. I've got questions on that. And maybe we'll get into that here in just a minute. But again, if you want to drag me off this topic and point me in another direction. Here's how you do it. 319 527-3864. 319-527-3864. The Michael Duke Show continues. Common Sense, Liberty Base, Free Thicket Radio.

broadcasting live through a series of tubes. Allowing all of these entities to provide streaming stuff going on the internet. Well, it's kind of hard to explain. Sorry. Streaming live every week. on Facebook Live and MichaelDukesShow.com. I picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue, right? That's a quote from a movie. Nobody clip that and send that to the newspaper.

That's Frank Drebin. I picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue. No, that's not Frank. That's because Frank Drebin is the... is the cop the cop thing still leslie nielsen that was airplane that was airplane anyway Let me go back here. Kevin says, welcome to the party, pal. When I said I was frustrated and everything else. Terry said, Kevin, I have never been to such a miserable party. Kim says it's a dead horse, but it must be said. Yeah, it's true.

Uh, one time about a week ago, says Henry, must read, had 900 likes. I know. They just, you know. They're a bigger, I guess they're a bigger platform than me. I don't know if Facebook just doesn't treat me right or whatever, but you know, it is what it is.

i'd love to have more likes i only have eight likes this morning you know that's the the problem nobody wants everybody wants to hang out nobody wants to interact and help grow the show that's a guilt trip by the way i'm just guilt tripping you um Just going through here. Good morning, good morning, good morning. Good morning. Everybody's good. Everybody's good morning each other. Terry says, Yunt is the biggest disappointment elected in November. It's interesting. It's really...

It's interesting because when you talk to him, it seems like he's. 100% all in on your team, but I think he sees things a little bit differently. And he does things that I would have never done and never... It's interesting. It's interesting.

How will Shower vote on the veto? He said that they will they would not vote. They would not veto. They would not override the governor's veto. He said that on Monday when he first voted for the bill, he said that the governor over read overrode it. He would not vote for overriding it. So there's that. Um... Barbara Henney just randomly said May 16th. I don't know if that was an answer to something else. Um, it's my birthday. Is your birthday today? Happy birthday, Bill. Happy birthday to you.

We need to get you an auto like button says Kevin. I mean, you know. Yeah, it'd be nice if the first time you logged in, and if you logged in three days in a row, that it would automatically like it every time you jumped in from there. Where did they get the money to study the study, said Chris. I don't know. I mean, I don't know. You know, I have no idea. Oh, May the 16th is Bill's birthday. Don't everybody wish Bill a happy birthday. All right. Don't do it. Mayday. Mayday. Yes, it is Mayday.

I hope these school boards are happy with the help of the legislature. They stole more of the poor's PFD. Of course they're happy. You should be happy too. Yeah. And we don't even know yet what the employee costs are going to be. Naresh was on yesterday. He's one of Mike Schauer's chief. workers, right? He works in Mike Shower's office. He said he first thought it was going to be $100 million increase. Now it looks like it'll be closer to a $300 million increase in costs for employees.

We'll be lucky if we got anything left. Public enema number one. Oh, wait, sorry. Enemy. Public enemy number one, which makes more sense. On the other hand, he's a little bit of a pain in the Michael Duke show. Okay. You guys aren't helping me out here. I'm trying not to get, I'm trying not to get, I'm trying not to get irritated and agitated about this whole thing.

And I was asking you guys to kind of distract me. And you guys are like, no, this is exactly what we want to talk about. Apparently, this is exactly. So I said I was going to talk a little bit here, and we're going to focus on this here for a second. But my question is, why... I don't want to poo-poo bipartisanship. But when you have a team that's sole motivation and it seems like everything that they do. is aimed at painting you into a political corner.

Which is why they kept bringing this education bill back up, even though the original one had no chance of passing and everything else. And we were asking why. And we figured, well, it's all a political maneuver to try and lay this at the feet of Republicans. Why would you vote for a bill that didn't have all the things in it that you need?

Like all the policies that the governor, who is ostensibly the highest elected Republican in the state, has said, these are what I want. Now, the governor's office hasn't said whether or not he'll veto. And I'm sure there's a lot of political calculation going on on his end. He can count as well as I can. But why would the why would the Republic? I mean, two questions. One, why would the Republicans?

And it seems like all the smaller government Republicans voted against it in the end. The 11 people. I would count most of the people who voted against it as what I would consider to be smaller government Republicans. But why would they vote for a bill that did not have all the pieces that the governor has said, I need these pieces in the bill? I mean, is there a political quid pro quo going on here where they're like, if I vote for it, then they won't come after me during the election cycle?

I mean, is that part of it? You know, but more importantly to me in this respect. Why, oh why, would you vote to put something like this on the book? in a permanent way. And we talked about this yesterday. So again, I don't want to beat a dead horse, but I mean, it's important for people to understand the difference between funding. inside the formula and funding outside the formula. We already know that this year, the fiscal year 25 to 26, this new budget that they're working on,

is in deficit, a tremendous amount of deficit. And we still don't even know the full extent of it yet because we're still waiting on the new negotiations for the employee benefits, right? And it's been rumored we had Naresh from Mike Schauer's office jump in the chat room yesterday or day before. and say, hey, remember when I was talking about the new employee benefits could cost us $100 million or more? I hate to tell you I was wrong. It looks like it might be closer to $300 million more.

Now, that's on an ongoing basis. That's annual. So whatever our deficit is, you can just add another $200 million to it. And now, because they voted for this inside of the formula. It's going to add another 178 million. It's going to add another 178 million. Every year from now until the heat death of the universe.

that just adds, it's multiplicative. It just keeps going and going and going and going and going. I guess that's not multiplicative. That's just, anyway, it just goes on and on and on. Are they just tired? Are they just tired of we don't want to talk about this anymore? Because it's not over. This is not the end of this debate.

You, you, you want, what was the first, the first, doggone it, too many windows. Uh, what was the first, uh, what was the first thing that, uh, that, uh, uh, that was said about this? The where's my I quote, you know, oh, here it is. Nikiski Republican Jesse Bjorkman. He said the quiet part out loud. We've secured a short-term solution, maybe. But our long-term needs still need to be addressed.

said Bjorkman in the ADN. And until we're able to come up with a bigger solution that provides the resources that students vitally need in order to have an effective and appropriate education, we'll be spending a lot more time until we come up with that solution. Which means... Next year, we're back at it for more. Because they didn't get their $1,808 or 1963 or whatever maddening number they've come up with. This is just, you give them an inch and they will take even more. You blink.

This is what happened when people came off the full PFD, right? They came off the full PFD stance and they went to the 50-50 and those on the other side said, oh, well, if you're at 50, well, now we're at 75-25. We'll meet you over here. And they were like, no, no, we compromised and came off a full PFD to 50. And I said, no, no. Compromise means you meet us over here at 7525.

This is, I mean, it's not over. This doesn't even end the debate. They're going to continue to use this as a bludgeon against all of us in the upcoming election because we still didn't get enough. Damn, I mean, we could just empty the treasury into the education system and it wouldn't be enough. Never enough.

All right, let's go over to the phones and see what you have to say. I got one line on hold. Maybe they're going to drag me off this topic. We'll see what goes on here. Good morning. Who's this? So where are you calling from? Good morning, it's the bunny lady outside of Ninolchik. Hello, bunny lady. What's going on? Hello, darling. Okay. Um, a hint of criticism. Your voice is already like sporting goods, but when you do the intro...

Into the Charlie Kirk show you like drop down to sub-level basement You don't sound so much like a serious man. You sound more like a closet monster coming to devour your children and small pets. Okay? You don't have a Gorka voice. And thank God, because you don't stretch your valves like a fat lady in, you know, spandex.

But still, if you can find another intro, I would appreciate it. You don't like it when I get down into the Charlie Kirk show. You don't like that. You don't like the register, huh? No, I don't. Spandex is a privilege, not a right. Does it scare you, or is it... My animals cower in terror. It really needs to stop. Seriously. Okay, now, here's part two.

And by the way, in a way, you're helping with one of my bucket lists. I want to thank you. I've always wanted to go from, like, white horse to dead horse to see what killed the horse. Now I know. Thank you. You're welcome. Wait, what? I said, you're welcome. I'm always here to help. That's all I'm here for.

And you're doing a very fine job of it, young man. Okay. Now the other thing. Since you bought this station, I get it. You killed Flea Market. You killed my wonderful music on the weekends. But... My Dennis Prager is coming back on the 3rd of June. May I have him back? Uh, we did not pick up Dennis Prager because I was uncertain as to when he'd returned. So I had to make other commitments. So no, Dennis Prager will not be coming back. It's June 3rd. We have him back.

No, no, I made year-long commitments for other shows. So I couldn't because we didn't have any idea at the time, back in January, when Dennis Prager would be coming back. So I made... I made multi-year commitments to other programs, so I'm locked in. I won't be bringing Prager on. Ah, cause you are the only stations I pick up. Yeah.

Well, I appreciate it. Thanks for calling in. And don't forget, I do know that Prager does stream all his stuff on audio and everything else. I don't have internet. I have to go outside just to talk to you, bud. Oh, okay. Well. I apologize. I wish I could make everybody happy, but unfortunately, that's not what's happening. But I appreciate the call. Thank you for joining us this morning and sounding off. You did distract me for a few minutes, and I appreciate that. You will thank you so much

She doesn't like my Charlie Kirk. She doesn't like my Charlie Kirk voice. And now it's time for the Charlie Kirk show. I mean, you know, that's not bad, right? In a world. Oh, man. I don't know. Wherever she is, she's got phenomenal. I mean, she may not have internet, but she's got phenomenal phone service because she was. She was super sharp. My camera is freaking out this morning. She was like super clear and crisp in her audio. Who is she? Who is she doing? All right.

She derailed me. It's funny because she did. I was on a train of thought and now she's derailed me and made me laugh. about other stuff. And so I guess we'll come up to the break and maybe I'll regroup and come back or maybe somebody else will call and derail me this morning, which is fine. I have no problem with that. whatsoever. Because I just get more agitated when we talk about this stuff sometimes. Let's...

Let's return here in just a moment. Don't go anywhere. Don't forget, you can always join us on Facebook if you'd like to be part of the conversation. Facebook.com slash MichaelDukeShow slash live if you want to join us in the... Join us in the chat room. It's fun. We got like 70 people between Facebook, YouTube, and Rumble in here just hanging out. Come on in. The weather's fine. We'll be back right after this. If you missed the show, you can listen to it on your time with Duke's On Demand.

Free. Like America used to be. Streaming live every weekday morning on Facebook Live and MichaelDukesShow.com. Ah. Jeez. I killed her flea market. I killed her weekend music on KGTL. Like, you know, I did. I'm a bad, bad man, guys. I'm a bad man. Yeah, no, I got Rotel and Velveeta when I was at Costco the other day. Man, it's going to be great. Harold says, congrats to the legislature for finally passing an education bill.

Yeah. I mean, it's only added another 200 million to the budget in perpetuity for the rest of the, and weren't you the one that was saying that we shouldn't be adding education? Shouldn't we be adding funding to the formula? We should be getting into the classroom. But I mean, you know, that's one of those things.

Anthony just said, I'm just taking a moment to enjoy imagining hordes or rabbits, horses or rabbits running and cowering in fear in this lady's house whenever my bumper audio plays across the day. They'd scatter as a predator response. Yeah, I mean, you know, I had no idea that that was, I had no idea that my voice could be used as a weapon. A weapon. This bill was a steaming pile of leverage.

It's now hoped that HB 57 has enough policy in it to help it get a tax bill over the line. At the same time, the tax bill is being leveraged to get... some to vote for the steaming pile of HB 57. It's the double leverage maneuver that helped me push the no boat harder. Yeah, I mean, that's exactly it. They're trying to get the Republicans to capitulate on the tax side.

by giving them some policy and making them vote for both. And that's a good point, Kevin, which I hadn't gotten to yet, but I was thinking the same thing. And this is why I feel like in some ways... They kind of bamboozled yunt in this. They kind of they kind of drew him in. They kind of, you know, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. You just you support this bill and we'll support your your reading education thing. It kind of bam. And maybe he went in eyes wide open. I don't know.

But now he's supporting their policies in that regard. This unicorn bill that Willikowski talked about. Who was it that I was reading? I read a piece the other day. Who was it? Oh, it was Phil Izon. Phil Izon has got a newsletter. And he's like, you know, Bill Wilikowski is obviously not an economist.

and uh not a financial guy and he goes and i am i'm a financial guy and there is no such thing as a zero you know the tax he goes through this whole thing about the tax and how it's not a unicorn and people will pay and everything else and it's just like That's exactly what it is. We're all going to pay at some point. We're all going to pay for these taxes.

But anyway, it was a way for them to put Yunt into their pocket on this bill to get him to support the tax bill by leveraging it. And now they're doing the same thing and leveraging it both ways. It's just. It's just super interesting. Interesting. They didn't pass the education. They didn't. Oh, that's actually very clear. Thank you, Fat Ray. That's a good one. They didn't pass an education bill. They passed a spending bill. No one will learn anything as a result.

oh uh it's gonna be it's gonna be interesting um Rob says when that tax bill was on the floor, they said it was to reduce the deficit and raise the PFD, but it hasn't even passed the House and we're already finding places to spend it. Again, I don't understand why Rob would partner up with the Democrats on this, even if it was a critical piece that he wanted to get past. I just don't know. I just don't know.

Republicans have had a majority, so don't be blaming the Democrats for the GOP failure to stick to their so-called GOP doctrine of right-size-effective government. You're right, 100%. You and I have said this many times. This is, I mean, Democrats at least are honest about what they're doing in that regard. I mean, that's just, they are at least honest in that area. 100%.

Okay, I see that Willie is on the line. Willie Keppel from Bethel is calling in. So we're going to talk to him here in a second. We're about 30 seconds out. Speaking of... payroll taxes. Chris just said payroll taxes. They can't stop spending. We're going to talk a little bit about Some of the this new ballot measure that mandated paid vacation and everything. Oh, it's causing problems across the country.

We're going to talk about that as well. Um, and we will, uh, we'll, we'll see where that goes. Meanwhile, we'll start off with Willie's call. Here we go. The Michael Duke show, COVID sense, Liberty base, free thinking radio. The Michael Duke Show. Not your daddy. Ooh, not your daddy's talk radio. Whew, I was scared for a second. Thought we were going down. Okay, we are continuing on here. And the phone lines are open at 319-527-3864.

And Willie is calling in from Quintahawk out in the bush, probably here to give us some perspective that we don't have here in the more urban areas of the state. Let's see what Willie has to say. Good morning, Willie. How are you doing, my friend? I'm doing great. Good morning, Alaska. I was standing here on my porch this morning. And looking at gray sky, about 40 degrees, everything's finally starting to melt off.

And I thought I'd give you a perspective we haven't gone into for about a year, and that's the annual walrus hunt. And not many people in the interior think about that. We thrive on it out here. Some people thrive on it. Us white boys don't. We don't get anywhere close to it. My native village here definitely is 100% tuned into walrus and seals this time of the year. But before we go there, I just wanted to... say in some of the last two days of articles how the PFD

is suddenly a moving target again. It went from Bert Stedman and Lyman Hoffman a week and a half ago when they had the override. Both of them before that have been preaching. They're sticking to this 75-25 PFD, by golly. It's Lyman Hoffman's legacy. He's retiring this year. He's not going to be the one responsible for it. The demise of the PFD, even though he's been there 39 years right now, and he's 100% part of the demise of the PFD sitting on Senate finance for the last two plus decades.

along with Burt. But the big shift is to put the blame. I see... Piersley in here is writing this week. I was reading some of his stuff, and he's going, well, it's going to be the governor that goes down with the demise of the PFD. No, it's not. Yesterday, Hoffman... is quoted as going, I really hope to keep the PFD to the thousand dollar level. Well, let me think about that. That's about an 83-17 split and then followed right along behind that.

believe it was Andrew gray I may be wrong on this to represent mr. gray if I'm wrong re-correct me here, but I believe it was Gray, that says $500 is an affordable PFD this year. Both Gray and Zach Fields have said that. $500, $400 to $500 is an affordable PFD. Well, that's the new slang for we're going to take it all anyway. It don't matter. But when you read some of the stuff that's being put out by...

Some people I consider to be 10 times smarter than 99% of the legislators down there and not some of the staffers that have been there forever and really understand the budgets and know how to get deep into it. They're going...

Time they pass this new contract for the union, it's going to be a $300 million hit. They haven't even added on to their... minimum 500 million dollar deficit they're dealing so now they're moving to that 750 to 850 million dollar deficit with this budget And they're also below $68 a barrel, which this budget is being based on right now.

And they're not even meeting that right now. This budget, they should stop right now today and reorganize and go, you know, we really need to plan this budget on about a $60 barrel of oil. And then they might actually be semi-close so that we don't have to have a CS next year, your supplemental budget. You know, this year they're claiming it's only 200 million. No, it's way more than that time. It's all over said and done. But they're going to have a huge CS next year guaranteed.

But anyway, that's just my thoughts on this. I'm just totally frustrated with this whole circus going down. If you're going to pass a new tax, which Yuntz proposed, then it doesn't get designated or even aimed at an increase in spending. These new taxes are supposed to get us to the point that we're... trying to close the gap on the deficit budgets were already running.

And this is where they're all... screwed up as far as i'm concerned you know well yeah let's move on to something that really does get me happier thinking because i love it when the boys go out and start hunting walruses out here well they're hunting whales too But walrus and seals are the big ticket items right now.

The river opened up here just a couple of days ago, so they can go all the way from the upper boat park area, which is just above our place, and we're about two and a half miles from the ocean, and they can go all the way out now. If you've never seen an 18-foot Lund, Their gear, a couple of 15-gallon drums with gas because you never know how far you're going to go out. You never know if you're going to get lodged in the ice and have to sit there.

and ride an ice blow forever until you can get out and where you're going to end up having to run from. So having lots of gas is an absolute necessity. But then when they shoot a walrus to add a 2,000-pound animal into an 18-foot lunge with all the hunting gear and then come back through whatever kind of weather. Yeah, no, that sounds like a massive undertaking, to say the least. It is a huge, massive undertaking. And when they finally get back in, I said, the village pretty much...

We're a big enough village that it kind of runs in family groups. We're like 750, but the smaller villages, less than 200, it's just that's like one family. But here it kind of runs in family groups, about four different family groups. And it ends up with, you know, a family group going down pretty much, and they pack off an entire walrus really fast.

And I don't know, I've always said that, you know, if the tariff shut down everything and you can't buy nothing in your supermarket, well, I guarantee you the Alaska native out here is going to be alive, well, and healthy. And the rest of us, including me, all of us old Gusics, Gusick is white, Dunabuck is black people. Um, yeah, we're going to be starving because.

Um, out here, the culture likes spoiled boots and you know, it fermented, you know, some call it spoiled, but Fermented walrus flipper is something to kill for if you're a native out here. And for me, that's something to run the opposite direction. And that's why they're going to survive. And all of us.

The rest of us are going to starve to death because they're right now, they're prepping and they're filling the freezers and these walruses will all be history. They'll be ate up and gone. There won't be hardly a thing left. of the walrus before. by the time hunting season rolls around this fall. So right now geese and walrus and seals, you know.

Well, that's like lutefisk. I mean, who wants to eat lutefisk or some of these other things that are kind of fermented? I mean, yeah, you're right. It's an acquired taste, but I guess if you're hungry enough, you'll eat almost... All right, Willie. Well, hey, I appreciate you calling in. Thanks for joining us today and giving us something else to think about and talk about. Appreciate you calling in. Stay warm out there. Thanks for being part of it today.

Thanks for having me. All right. I appreciate it. 319-527-3864. 319-527-3864. I've had seal, never had walrus. And, yeah, I mean, it's an interesting, I mean, there's some definitely some interesting things that. You know, maybe that's a bucket list thing I'd like to try sometime, you know, one day. I mean, there's acquired meals all over the place. You know, lutefisk is one. Haggis is the other one. That's the Scottish.

the sheep's stomach that's stuffed with meat and awful and other pieces and parts. And I mean, there's a, yeah, there's some things out there that you'd just be like, do I really want to eat that? Do I really, really want to eat that? Tripe is another one, although I have had, anyway, it's when you're hungry enough, you'll eat anything, right? That's what it's going to come down to. You'll eat anything.

All right. When we come back, we've got more. I've got one more call here, but I'm only got 45 seconds. So we'll see if the caller will hang out. We'll see if the caller will hang out till over the top of the hour because I only got about 45 seconds here before we have to run out the hour. And so we'll see if we can talk to them on the other side. If you want to call in today, it's kind of open line. I've been talking about some things, but I've been asking if you want to help me.

You want to help me avoid getting upset? That's great. You can help with my blood pressure, 319-527-3864. We'll take these phone calls right after the top of the hour. We've got news coming up and more. Don't forget, again, you can always join us out. in the chat room together with our friends here on Facebook, facebook.com slash MichaelDukeShow. All right. We'll be back with more right after this. If you've got to go.

You got to go to work. You got to leave us. All I ask is that you be kind and you love one another and you live well. Those are my three exhortations to you. Back with more. Okay, let's check in with the caller on the line here and see if they'll stick with us. I don't know who it is, but... Let's take the call and see who it is. See if they'll stick with us. Good morning. Who's this? Where are you calling from?

Paul Sedotna. Hey, Paul. Will you hold on until we get you over the top of the hour here, and we'll be right back to you? Yeah, I'm waiting at a tire store, so I got nothing going on. Okay. All right, Paul. We'll hold the line. We'll be right back to you then, and you can... You can have your say on the other side. I'll put you back on hold. Paul in Soldotna is number one with a bullet on the other side here.

All right. Willie turned the mood around. Thank you, Willie. Yeah. I mean, it's interesting. I mean, you know, I'd love to try some of these things that... that uh you know i've never i've never never had whale never had wall never had walrus have had seal that was interesting for sure um But it's interesting. Smelt, geese, salmon, seal, tundra grass fed moose. It's all good. Melissa says there's an epic corgi battle happening in her house right now.

i think michael needs corgis in his studio for all the bad news vibes i got a boston terrier in my studio of course he's just sleeping at my feet so that's that's good that's good Kimchi sausage is good. I do like kimchi. I do like kimchi of all kinds. And yes, I can attest that kimchi sausage is delicious. I'm just waiting for Frank to send me another package of kimchi sausage. The first one was so good.

And they said, yeah, rattlesnake tastes like chicken. I've heard that snake is very much like chicken. I've never had snake. I have had alligator, which is, why is that not stopped? There we go. Come on. I have had alligator, which is similar. And I've had ostrich. And I've had kangaroo. But it's it's turd it is yeah maybe the corgi battle is my fault it's my low octave range apparently it drives animals into a frenzied state

Somebody called and said that she hated my intro to the Charlie Kirk show because it sent her animals into a frenzy. A frenzy. Welcome to the program. Welcome. I hope your dogs aren't getting upset by this. Right? oh man um Yeah, alligator was pretty good. Alligator was pretty good. Surprisingly, I really liked ostrich. I thought ostrich was tasty. I liked them all, quite honestly, but ostrich.

was good kangaroo meat was good they were all they were all tasty it turns out i like meat i mean go figure i just like meat of every kind you okay down there Uh... All right. I had a small piece of whale once, said Harold. Once. Never had walrus before. I mean, it'd be interesting to see what it's, you know. Again, just give me a taste of it. I've never had blowfish, right? That's the one that you can only have a certain amount of for, you know, pretty much your entire life.

thinly sliced blowfish you know because it's a paralytic and it could kill you but apparently that blowfish sushi is supposed to be amazing you know kind of thing I might give that a shot one time, although it could kill you. It's a taste to die for. We'll see. We'll see. Wait till the bunny lady finds out your views on cats. Well, let's not bring up the cat incident again, shall we? That is a show that shall live in infamy.

I had a recording of that at one point and I don't know what I did with it, but yeah, that was, uh, That show, man, did that make some people mad. And then Harold says we had tenderloin beef. Well, yeah, I mean, come on. Who doesn't love a little tenderloin beef? Come on, that's great. Boy, my stuff all of a sudden this morning is super laggy and slow. What's going on? All right. Hide. Okay, now it worked.

All right. Paul Insul. is still hanging out with us. And we're going to be here in just a second. And we'll see. What do you mean food trucks don't have sync? Most of the food trucks that I've looked inside have sinks. Why wouldn't it? I mean, I don't know what you're talking about, Robert. I don't know what you're talking about. um i have not never i've never had muck duck nope Escargo. Yeah. Escargo is weird, man. It's like, that was just enough for me. One time that was enough for me.

Now, scallops, clams, even oysters. although i like baked oysters more than i like raw oysters we have a place down here called the oyster the broken orc and they've got some amazing baked oysters Absolutely amazing. You okay down there, bud? Where are you? Oh, did you... yeah my dog he's down here horkin is horking his own tongue all right

Well, this is kind of a weird show today, but that's okay. We're going to continue on. We will jump back into it here. Paul's on the other line. We'll get back to it here right now. Here we go. Whoa, buddy. Put that thing back in its holster. We haven't gone anywhere. I don't understand. Check out themichaeldukesshow.com for information on how to get access to the podcast. Welcome to the party, pal.

The Michael Duke Show. The greed and the entitlement is astounding to me. What more could you want from a low-budget radio program? This is a dumpster fire. That was just BS. It is time to get a new perspective. We know just what you need and we've got just the cure. Open wide and prepare for steaming hot cup of freedom. The Michael Dukes Show, streaming live across the world.

Live around the world on the internet at michaeldukeshow.com and across the state of Alaska on this, your favorite radio station and or FM translator. Good morning, my friends. How are you? Are you ready to go? For this Thursday, you know what that means. Tomorrow is Firearms Friday. But today... We're just going through some of the stories and I was getting a little worked up, but I had opened up the phone lines early. 319-527-3864.

And told people they could call and talk about what I was talking about or distract me and drive the conversation in another direction. Willie called in and we started talking about it. Now the whole chat room is going on about weird things that they've eaten. over the years and it's kind of fun and i'm just enjoying it right now um i'm i'm enjoying where we're going right now but paul is on the line from soldatna

getting his tires changed out because I guess it's tire change day, right? I mean, the studs have got to come off. So hopefully you guys are ahead of the curve. Let's see what Paul has to say this morning as we get started. Good morning, sir. What's on your mind? Oh, I'm trying to be a good husband, and I'm getting the wife's tire swapped. Crow, woodchuck, or groundhog, some people call them and beaver. I guess I didn't consider it odd eating that when I was a kid because my grandfather

That's what we ate. We didn't... We didn't eat it all the time, but once in a while, we lived on a vegetable farm. If he got a crow, he only would do young crows. If he got a young crow... or our woodchuck and um it was like the tender wine and the rear part of the woodchuck i remember that i don't remember what part of the beaver um but uh

So, yeah, that was the weird thing. That's not what I called about, but it was really nice when he brought that up because it got me thinking. I didn't think anything of it back in the day. I had a... You know, our grandparents went through and parents went through the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Right, right. And so meat was meat, and they didn't eat meat a lot, especially on a vegetable farm. We had meat only a couple times a week, but it was mostly all wild game. We were fortunate.

you know we had pheasant normal things for pheasant venison We were on the edge of a river and a swamp on one part of the property, and so we really did well with ducks. We never ate much geese. But lots of pheasant, quail, woodcock, pepper doodles, some people call them. Right. Anyway, I call for another reason. I've only been in the state about six years. And someone made a comment that it was voted on to move Juno to somewhere else in Alaska.

Yeah, no, there's been. Is that true? Yeah, there's been several votes. In fact, there's been a couple of votes on the actual ballot, I think four or five separate times now. to move it various places. At one point, I think it's been voted on twice to move it to Willow, just north of Wasilla. and everything else. And it was actually passed by the people, but there was a contingency that they had to do a study to figure out how much it would cost.

And then, of course, the legislature was like, whoa, whoa, whoa. And so they came up with a study that said it was going to cost like a billion dollars. And that was 20 years ago. When a billion dollars was even bigger than it is today, right?

I think you would save us a billion dollars, actually. Well, I think that the report that they pulled together in the study, I think it was flawed. I think they don't want to get out of their little bubble down there. But yeah, people have voted to move the Capitol. And like I said, five or six, four or five times, five or six times. And each time there's some kind of stumbling block or roadblock. They don't like that idea. They don't want to be in the public eye.

My opinion is a lot of this would go away if they had to see us face-to-face. One of the reasons why Washington's Washington, there's a big circle around Washington where everybody works in Washington, D.C., so there's this buffer. And it's kind of a hard place to get to, believe it or not. I used to be based there with an airline, Washington, D.C. But people, you know, being on the East Coast, the Cal, you know.

A lot of people can't travel there to get in their face. Well, if we were in, since most of our population, a little over half is in the Anchorage area. I really think it would be a game changer if we had... had it had it there right well this is this has been one of my just me yeah no paul i agree with you one of my things you know we have this thing called the charter of changes which is my suggestion for you know how we fit how we fit

the problems in the state. And one of the changes is to change the venue. And part of the problem has been the big pushback on moving the Capitol. is the fact that all those people who live in Juneau, there's a ton of people who live in Juneau who are dependent on the fact that Juneau is the capital, right?

They either they either work or, you know, live or they have some connection to the fact that Juno is the capital, their contractors or their state employees or anything else. And so that's when the whole pushback is don't don't don't decapitalize Juno. Right. So that's why my contention has been, you don't have to move the capital. The capital could still be in Juneau, but you could move the sessions onto the road system. I mean, 80, 85% of Alaskans.

our on-the-road system at one place or another. Right. Where they could climb on a highway. If they were up in, you know, they were up at Coldfoot, they could drive down. If they were down here in Homer, they could drive up. If you could put it on the highway system in some.

You know, localized middle of the road area. Willow would be fine. You know, Palmer Wasilla would be fine. I mean, people talk about putting it out in Delta or someplace. It doesn't matter if you could put it on the road system, the legislative session itself. and know that all the sessions are being held in this location.

I agree with you. I think there's a big difference than listening to somebody on the phone versus having a whole crowded room of people looking at you over the dais saying, what you're doing is wrong and we want you to stop.

I agree with you, but I don't think we'll be able to move the Capitol because it's already been voted on and voted on and delayed and denied and everything. That was a real good part. That was a real good point, Michael. I didn't think about that. Even if they just had this session. In national politics, that's what your congressman comes home so you can talk to him. We have that here, but it would be nice to be able where...

Where things were happening, we could actually go see them happening. Right. Well, and there's precedent for it. So we could voice a opinion at that time. Yeah, there's precedent for it because they have held legislative sessions. In other places, they've held them in Anchorage. They held one up at the UAF and Fairbanks. They've held sessions in other parts of the state. There's no reason why they can't do it. It's just because I think most of the time. They they like being.

isolated and restricted and not having to deal with the public. And then the only people that can come down and bug them are the people that have spent the money, you know, the two or $3,000 that it takes to fly to Juneau and stay overnight and be able to stay there and do everything else. And so that means it's usually only the special interests, the NGOs.

And the governmental entities that are down there lobbying them, they don't have to be bothered by Joe and Susie Alaska. They don't have to be bothered by the average Alaskans. And I think that's a shame, quite honestly. Well, and they should look at it as a shame. They're supposed to be serving us, right? They work for us. Obstensibly. And basically, they're using it as an excuse to avoid us. I can see your point on Juno. Yeah. Because the city itself would probably fall apart if they moved.

But the sessions, that could happen. Yeah. Like you said, as president. Oh, I would love to have it happen. I mean, to me, that would be a huge change because and maybe we wouldn't bother them most of the time. But if there was a big contentious bill, if there was a bill about. Again, the PFD where what was the last time they had a big hearing on the PFD amount and there was like four hours of testimony.

of just person after person after person. If you had a room that was stacked with people like that, it's a lot harder to look them in the eye and say, No, you know, it's a lot harder for them to make those decisions. But that's that's kind of what's happened. And it's frustrating.

We're one of the only states where you basically can't drive to the capital. I think Hawaii is the only other one where you can't just drive to the capital where you're at. But you can hook a $75 flight from one island to the next. So maybe, you know. Maybe that's what I don't know. It's just it's it's astonishing. And I'd love to see the legislative session be on the road system.

They should look at it as positive, though, because they're there to serve us. And also, you know, we support a lot of these things. we would support. Right now, it seems that the legislation that's coming through a majority doesn't support so that's why they're hiding

Because basically that's what they're doing, right? Well, you could be, and you could be right. Maybe a majority doesn't support it, but they've got a lot of special interests that are saying that they do, and that's what they're pointing to. And that's part of the problem, right, is the special interests are the only ones that can get down there. The average Alaskan doesn't have the time or the money to go down there.

and fight these things out and uh whereas if i could hop in a car and drive three or four hours and go be there i probably would you know i could take a day off to do something like that quick question um Being new to this state, six years is new to this state. I always hear you use the term full PFD. What is a full PFD?

A full PFD is based on the original statutory formula and how the original statutory formula worked was that they took a five-year average of what the earnings were, what the permanent fund itself earned. And they would take that five-year average and they would take basically 20% of the five-year average. And that's what they would factor the PFD to be. The money is deposited into the earnings reserve and it would just sit there.

And then they'd take this five-year rolling average and they would cut a full PFD check based on that amount. And that was good. because it helped with the vagurities of the market. If the market went down, your PFD would drop for a couple years because it would affect the overall average, right, of a five-year average.

And if it went up, it would go up a bit. You know, it would drop down a bit. It would go up a bit. But it helped smooth out the highs and lows of the returns from the permanent fund itself. And it's a significant amount. I mean, 100% of our PFD would be somewhere this year in the $3,400 range. But now they're debating whether or not to give us a thousand dollar PFD or a four hundred dollar PFD. So they're taking all that excess money that would normally have come to us.

And they've now decided that they're going to slice that up for us and spend it because they obviously know better than us how to spend that money. Right. Okay. Well, thank you very much, sir. I appreciate it. Well, Paul, it was good to hear from you. Thanks for calling in, and I appreciate you listening. Thanks for being part of it. I'm a supporter of you, so I believe in the show. All right. Well, thank you, Paul. I appreciate it. Thank you for calling in today.

It was a great call. I really enjoyed that. which leaves all the lines open. 319-527-3864. So you guys really don't want me to get to the next stories because... you know, I'll probably get agitated again. And that's just good for me. I'm just enjoying talking to you. So if you want to call in, now's the time to do it. We've got all the lines open and we will take your calls. directly on the other side of this commercial break.

We will continue. For those of you who are just joining us, yes, the new education bill did pass. And yes, it looks like it may be veto-proof. and the governor may not even be able to veto the funding of it. But it looks like they may have the votes for that.

So who knows what it's going to look like here? And that doesn't even count on the fact that we don't know what the actual employee costs are going to be of the new contracts. But rumors have it that it's going to be an additional $300 million. Running on 100% pure beard power. Oh, also some coffee. We dip our beard in coffee. Ha, nice beard. The Michael Duke Show. Okay. All right, let me get...

Let me get over here to see what you guys are talking about. Mother's Day coming up, May the 11th. We're only 10 days away from Mother's Day. I hope you guys are getting something nice for mom. um ptarmigan beaver cracklin is great like it's like pork rinds but for with beaver skins

Yeah, we also voted to shorten the session. Yeah, I mean, not only did we do that, we voted to have a 90 day session and they thought, well, that was a nice. That's a that's a that's a nice suggestion. Be a shame if we just ignored it. Oh, weirdest thing I've eaten has to be monkey. was deployed in training back in 98 out of Wainwright to Guam. And during some downtime, we went out drinking with some Australian soldiers and some Navy voice.

And I found a hot dog street vendor selling shish kebabs at 2 a.m. Long story short, after eating two of these, I tried asking the tiny, only non-English speaking Filipino lady what they were. And then she proceeded to start making monkey noises and gestures. Was it good though? Was it tasty? I will say some of the best kebabs I've ever had have been, was it was in Guam. I did, I have was in Guam and I. Some of the best stuff I've ever eaten. There were some good eats in Guam. Let's see.

Remember when Dunleavy tried to have a special session in Wasilla? Yeah, I know. They don't want to do it. They don't want to be where the people are. Yeah, it's two grand to go to Juno, says Melissa. She said, I spent $2,000 on plane tickets and a place to stay when I went in January and ate a couple of hundred bucks for food over four days. I spent about $2,300, $2,500 just to be there. Yep, exactly. Um...

You want to take a walk down memory lane, says Bill. I don't know. What are we talking about? I may be behind the times. Sure. Beaver fat, not skin. Beaver fat is beaver crackling. Yum. Eating monkey and now we have a new virus. I mean, you know, whatever. It's all a gamble. Might as well play Russian roulette with something, right? And then now Terry is challenging Bill. Do it, Bill. Do it. Take a walk.

Okay, well, weird show for today, but I'm enjoying it. I hope you are as well. I do have some other stories, but I've got Diane on the phone, according to my caller ID here. And so we'll pick it up. Maybe we should check. I have a feeling I've seen this number before. Let's check in with them to see if it's Diane. Good morning. Who's this? Where are you calling from? hi michael this is actually the husband oh okay okay hold the line then what's your name

I'm James. It's okay. You have the right number. Okay, James, hold the line. I'll be right back to you. James in Kasilof is calling in. It's his wife's name on the caller ID, he said, so that's all good. bill we can't take you anywhere man we just can't take you anywhere

Oh, man. All right. You guys talking about all this different kind of food and all I want is a big, big mess of scrambled eggs and sausage and bacon and... protein man i just want a big plate of protein right now that's what i want right now OK, we're going to continue ahead here. We got more coming up. I'm going to try and get some of this good news as well. But first, we're going to take James's call and we'll see if anybody else wants to to get to be a part of it.

Here we go. The Michael Duke Show. Common sense, liberty-based. The Michael Duke Show, proudly splitting the left versus right. Michael Dukes, the one with the sh... Well, let's continue on. Kind of a freewheeling Thursday today. We talked a bit about the education bill. And where that was going. And then I got sidetracked. We could talk about weird food and things like that. And now we just talked about where the legislature is going. But James is on the line.

from up in Kasilov. So let's see what James has to say. Good morning, sir. What's on your mind? good morning michael you're doing just fine thank you most people aren't even up yet just pouring their coffee now well thank you i'm trying i'm trying to do it Anyway, yeah, they don't want to come out of Juneau. They'd be, there's only like four good people down there. Sarah Vance is one of them.

And these are not people I've got to understand. These are not good people down there. It's just like Washington. Elon is doing a great job down there cutting everything out. Congress has still got to pass it all. And now I just heard also that the board's trying to kick Elon off the board down there now, too. You mean off the board of his own company? Is that what you're trying to say? Or off the Doge thing? Or what are you talking about? No, off his company.

Interesting. Interesting. I hadn't heard that. I mean, that would probably be catastrophic for them. The guy's got the Midas touch. It seems like most everything he touches turns out well. So if they're deciding to try and pull him for political reasons. That is probably a mistake. I mean, if you're a capitalist, you should have profit motivation. Shouldn't really care about what people's personal beliefs are. But, you know, I guess time will tell.

That's where we're at now. Yeah, it is all political, and it's money. They want to stuff their pockets. They don't want you to go down to Washington. They don't want you to get anywhere near them. They just have the NGOs and stuff taking the money and putting it in their pockets. Another thing I learned, speaking of studies, they've been studying phones in the school for about 20 years now.

And they have decided, which I could have told them 20 years ago, yeah, phones, kids having phones in the schools is not a good thing. Right, right. Yeah. Like that's a big shock. I mean, anybody who's watched these kids watch this kind of stuff. Could have figured that out. Having kids with phones, it's just a big distraction. I remember teachers used to take away my, I've always been a big reader.

And I used to carry books with me, like novels and stuff. And teachers used to occasionally take my book away because I'd be reading when... I was like, this is boring. So I start reading and they throw it out. They take my book away. So, I mean, I can't imagine what a cell phone would do to kids who are bored and lack the attention span to keep with it. I imagine it's a big, it's not a big surprise.

Well, I'm going to say the word, but this really is communism we're dealing with. It started decades ago, and we're in the revolution state right now. But... Yeah, the conservatives have got to get involved, you know. You know, they've messed up our voting system up here now, but nobody, the people wouldn't go to the primaries. They just go to the main event. Right. They won't primary out these people that need to go. like we had Roger Holland in there. finally got him in.

And that nasty lady, I forget what her name is, got right back in and exploded. Right, Kathy Giesel. People didn't do what they needed to do. Yeah. No, that's the thing. Well, I think people are burned out. I think they're frustrated by the whole thing. And the problem is you can't grow weary in well-doing.

And that's that's kind of where we're at. I mean, we're battle weary, but people you can't you can't give up. That's that's not going to help in the long run. So it is a tough thing. But, you know, maybe people I mean, I was very. Very encouraged by this last voting cycle to see how people voted. And I think maybe people are getting to the point to where they're upset enough that they will...

That they'll, you know, that maybe they'll make a change. Maybe we can see more change across the country. We'll have to see what the next cycle brings, I guess. Yeah, well, yeah, this MAGA deal is great. My dad, I tried to talk to my dad. He's a total purebred education system Democrat. So he hates it when I even bring up the word MAGA. And Charlie Kirk, he was so mad at Charlie Kirk.

I love Charlie Kirk. He probably got us Trump in. Yeah. Well, I appreciate you calling in, James, and thank you for being part of it today and helping us. and helping us stay sane. Thank you so much for calling in. Whoops, I killed the call. Sorry, James, if you wanted to have the last word there, I snipped that short. 319-527-3864. 319-527-3864. If you'd like to sound off, now is the time to do it. Who would have thought...

that who would have thought that, you know, the voters could be wrong, that special interests could be wrong. You remember back on the ballots this last year? how they gathered signatures and then they put it on the ballot, this bill that mandated a minimum of $15 an hour. That's how it was phrased, was a minimum wage bill. But buried in that minimum wage bill of $15 an hour was also a category for paid sick days.

And then on top of that, there was a third caveat that said you couldn't talk to your employees about. politics, political issues, or religious issues, which, I mean... was going to make it tough for places where political entities were trying to force their way in or for religious institutions who had employees who couldn't talk about.

I mean, it's just kind of a big who thought that there would be problems on that. Oh, yeah, that would that was us. I forgot that was us. It was especially on the paid sick days, because there are so many mom and pops out there. that absolutely are going to get crushed by this bill because it passed. It passed. And it didn't just pass here. It passed in Missouri and Nebraska as well.

And they wanted to require employers to provide paid sick leave to their workers. And now in some of those states. Lawmakers, actually lawmakers in all three of the states are trying to roll back the benefits, citing concerns from businesses about the costs. Go figure. Michigan, in February, for example, this is from the AP, Becky Boer and Abeck and David Lieb, Marjorie Beck, they all wrote these stories from the three different states.

Back in February, Michigan enacted revisions to a paid sick leave law initiated by voters seven years ago. delaying the date when small businesses have to comply and allowing for a longer period before new employees are eligible. It's been seven years since Michigan has done it. That has vote that has outraged some voters.

But lawmakers contend that citizen advocates who crafted the initiatives overlooked the realities of running a business. That's because most of the places in like here in Alaska specifically. This was pushed forward by the unions and unions have no, they have no concept, nor do they care about the realities of running a business. We've seen that in many of the negotiations where they demand things that would essentially bankrupt a business, and they're just like, take it or leave it.

Restaurant owner Tim Hart in Hannibal, Missouri has a steakhouse that employs about two dozen workers. And he said that paid sick leave requirement imposes a double financial hit because he has to pay one person to stay home sick and another to fill the shift. He said he's urged the Senate in Missouri to halt the law. He said, when this goes into effect, we very likely won't survive.

The paid sick leave laws are set to go into effect today in Missouri, July 1st here in Alaska and October 1st in Nebraska. And it's a tough, tough, tough time. Representative Justin Ruffridge has put a bill in. that would exempt seasonal workers and businesses with fewer than 50 employees from the sick leave requirement. That could exclude many catering to Alaska summer tourists.

Ruffridge, of course, is a member of the House minority. He said small business owners should be able to choose whether to spend money on sick leave benefits or other measures to grow their business. Again, this is I would love to see this, but it's not going anywhere. Why? Because the House is controlled completely by the Democratic majority who are beholding to who? Yes, the union.

Joelle Hall, president of the Alaska AFL-CIO, which supported the ballot measure, doubts Ruffridge bills will gain traction in the final week of this year. Yeah, of course it's not going to. Because she said no. She told him, don't you dare let that out. But, she said, I believe this is the beginning of a long battle to protect voters' wishes from the wills and whims of the business people who don't want to pay sick days. That's the thing.

They act like these evil mom and pops just don't want to pay. They're just so greedy. They don't want to pay. They have no idea of the reality of it's not that we wouldn't like to pay. It's just that there's not enough money. I mean, if you want to pay $25 or $30 for a hamburger, okay, then we could do it. But how are you to compete in that regard? If you can't afford it, well, we'll just drive the cost of everything up. Everybody will pay more to make sure that these employees have.

Who could see this coming? I mean, who would have thought? Who would have thought that this is what's going on? It's going to be a huge problem, folks. It's going to be a huge problem. in the future. When this goes into effect on July the 1st, You look for some serious ramifications for what's going on across the state of Alaska. It's going to be problematic, to say the least. All right, phone lines are open again, 319-527-3864, but we are up against the break.

So we will continue here in just a moment. And we'll be back. I got some good news on the other side. But we're going to start with some phone calls. We'll return. Don't go anywhere. The Michael Duke Show. Common Sense. Liberty-based. Free-thinking radio. listened to by more staffers in Juno than any other show. Because their bosses told them to. And after what they just heard, oh man, they're gonna be pissed. You're a bad, bad man. The Michael Duke Show.

Okay, we are in the break right now. Troy is on the line. Troy, we're going to be to you here in just a second. We're going to see what's going on. Businesses are closing in Fairbanks. Garden Island is one on the chopping block. Yeah. I mean, I fully expect that it'll be the small mom and pops that will feel the bite, especially.

Uh, many restaurants in the lower 48 have started going completely robotic and the owners have stated they're getting better output with that. Yeah, I know. I mean, it's, you know, you want to work yourself out of a job. Here you go. Here you go. uh anthony said i own my own heating company when i get sick i'd be obligated to pay myself sick time but when i'm sick and not working there's no money to come in so i guess i could sue myself for wages

What kind of drugs are these people on? Well, luckily, as the owner, you're not an employee or an owner. So you're not, you know, but it's just. It's like, you know, here at the radio station, I have no employees. I'm basically doing it all right now in the future. But right now, luckily, I don't have to deal with that right yet. But. In the future, it's going to be a thing. It's going to be a thing.

Oh, Jim said, we haven't heard from Carlene lately. You know what? You're right. We haven't heard from Carlene in a while. I hope she's okay. Carlene and Kodiak. I hope she's okay. I'm just scrolling backwards here to see. Oh, somebody else was asking about the lady from Kodiak that used to call in regularly. That was Carlene. Carlene was the one that used to call in. Been a while since we've heard from her. All right.

Yeah. Being an owner, if you don't produce, you don't eat. Amen to that. I can agree with that, Harold. Absolutely. That's what you got to do. That's what you got to do. You got to do that. And you don't produce, you don't eat, which is something that employees don't have to worry about. I mean, at least sometimes in the short term, depending on what job they're at. Um... Alright, I guess I'm all caught up.

Remember when the union thugs shot out the liquor store windows in Fairbanks because Odom was delivering there? I don't remember that, Willie. How long ago was that? Maybe I just wasn't plugged into that whole debate or struggle. I don't remember that at all. All right, don't forget, tomorrow is Firearms Friday. Your chance to sound off on issues of a 2A nature. We're going to talk about guns. We got Willie Waffle. He's going to be with us tomorrow. We get to talk about the Thunderbolt.

which I'm excited to go see for sure. But, uh, so that, and I am working on another guest. I don't know if I'm going to be able to, you know what I should, it reminds me, I got to send another message trying to get a guest back on for tomorrow, but we'll have to see. We'll have to see what, let me see if I can, did I get a response? I did not. I guess I'll have to send a text. He's like, he's like, don't, don't do that. All right. Let me, let me send it. Let me send a text right now.

Let me... I shouldn't be doing this while I'm live with you guys, but you know, you don't mind. Podcast people are like, what are you talking about? Um... And there we go. Boom. That was it. Message sent. See how easy that was? Didn't take out too much time. It's all good. Um, oh man, my, uh, my phones are dinging off the hook off the All right, we're going to jump into this here in just a minute. We're about one minute out. I also have some good news stories that include the Amish.

I mean, you don't see that too often. The Amish And also some DIY SOS. Got some fun stories. So we're going to talk about that after we talk with Troy, who's up first. First come, first served. We're going to jump into that here and continue. All right, my phone won't quit dinging this morning. I don't know what the deal is. All right, let's continue here in just a moment. the Michael Duke show, common sense, Liberty based free thinking radio. Uh, we will continue with Troy.

Right after this, don't go anywhere. Like, share, subscribe, ring the bell, do all that stuff. And if you haven't liked the show yet, why not? Public enema number one. Oh, wait, sorry. Enemy. Public enemy number one, which makes more sense. On the other hand, he's a little bit of a pain in the Michael Duke show. Okay, we're continuing.

now i got some good news but before we get to that phone calls reign supreme troy's calling in from down here on the peninsula let's see what troy has to say good morning my friend what's on your mind Morning, Michael. You know, you bring up a subject with this paid sick leave. We're a small business, ACDC Electrical Supply, ACDC Service.

we are providing services to Homer, right? That I feel is a very big need. Right. One of our biggest things was trying to keep our costs down with this sick leave. We are still trying to figure out what we're going to have to do to try to keep the cost lower, but we can't.

Where our rates right now are at 130 an hour, they're going to have to go up. And then the end... customer for that is the people of homer right so now they're gonna have to pay a few dollars more an hour for services that you know i feel should have been lower The cost for the consumer the cost for the payroll services just attract was going to be upwards of $500 more a year just to track the thickly.

Right. For the state requirements. Right, exactly. You know, you've got, we're looking at upwards of about $25,000 a year on our business just on the service side. Right, just for the paid sick leave. Well, and this is what I was saying earlier. I mean, you know, the ones that are really... Feeling it, you know, I'm sure every small business is feeling it, but the restaurants specifically, because usually they live on such a thin margin and they have usually a larger pool of employees.

because they're not always working, you know, full time or doing whatever. But the argument is, well, just pay them, just pay them. They're valued employees. Just pay them what they're worth. And they're like, you don't understand. I have to pass that cost on to the end-use consumer. The consumer always pays for these things.

So now the burger will cost 25 bucks for a burger instead of 15, you know, or $20, whatever it is. And they're like, oh, well, but because everybody now has to. So you're okay with driving the price of everything in the economy up. As long as you guys are getting what you want. I mean, to me, it just makes no sense. People know it's a negotiation when you go into a job. You take a job knowing whether or not.

they are offering paid sick leave or not. I mean, that's part and parcel of the deal. You made that decision. It wasn't like anybody held a gun to your head to do it. Absolutely. When we hire, we have a decent-sized crew with us, and we pay them very well. But we did that for a reason. We paid them well because we're paying them what they're worth. The cost of living in home or in Alaska is already high as it is.

So we want to make sure that their families are able to have food on their table. We want to be able to have them not have to worry about next week's paycheck. In doing that, we're paying them a higher wage than the national average as being an electrician, period. A higher wage than the Alaskan average to be an electrician. So now you're just adding to this that we're already... paying a higher dollar amount for the employee. you know if if we

If this actually continues on, it's going to put a strain here and we're going to have to reassess how we are charging our customers. We don't want to do that. We don't want to change. My father-in-law, Dave, and I, this has been a conversation with us since the day it passed. And we are very pro. Don't get me wrong. We are very pro. We want you to take a vacation. You need time to get your stuff in order and have a happy healthy lifestyle.

forcing it on the company is where the problem lies. It's hard. financially for the company so we're waiting to see how this all plays out and we just take it step at a time I look forward to seeing how the rest of the legislation goes with this. I think you're right. I don't see a change happening anytime soon.

Yeah. Um, and the end user is the one who's having to deal with it. Yeah. I mean, cause the other option is, okay, do I drop my wages and then offer it as a benefit, you know, because it's mandated, you know, or do whatever. I mean, the bottom line is, is that, you know, and then how about people who don't take advantage of it? I mean, when I worked for a company before the last five years, I worked for another company. I think over five years, I may have taken two sick days in five years.

maybe three sick days in five years. And that was not something that I could just, you know, I couldn't cash it out. I couldn't use it up. So if I didn't use it, do I then lose, you know, what's the benefit to me if I'm not using it? But again, the mandating, the mandatory, you must. This is a free and open society. We should be able to have a negotiation. If an employee wants it in front of an employer, they need to negotiate. If the employer doesn't offer it, then they...

You know, again, there's nobody holding a gun to their head to be at that location. And if the wages are competitive or beyond competitive, then you sometimes you just got to make do. That's I mean, that's what happens. We can't we can't fix everything with a government mandate. Nope, I agree. And, you know, Michael, I appreciate you bringing the subject up. I won't hold you up any longer. I've got to get into work.

You know, let's see how this goes. And we will do, as our company for Homer, the best that we can. to keep it as low as possible. Well, I got to tell you, I'm, I'm worried because, you know, I'm, you guys sponsor my show. I'm excited. I'm, you know, I'm worried now, now I'm in danger. See how it works. See how this trickle down works. This is some crazy stuff.

Anyway, thanks, Troy. I appreciate you calling in and giving us your perspective today. Yeah. I mean, because that's the thing. Then they have to make a decision. Can we sponsor a local softball team? Can we sponsor a local radio show? Can we sponsor? Can we help? Can we help out? Do we have more money for charities in the communities or other things? And of course, then all that money gets sucked up into something else.

And again, the government mandating it is the problem. That's the that's the biggest problem. that we have there right now but again who who knew that this would cause an issue who knew oh wait we all knew that it would cause an issue We all knew that it would cause an issue. Anyway, let's get down to some good news for today. We might as well finish up the show with some good news.

And this is just a great piece. For towns along Hurricane Helena's path of destruction through North Carolina, rebuilding homes and stores takes time. But thanks to an unlikely army of volunteers, rebuilding the sense of communities in town like Chimney Rock and Batcave had been done at light speed. There's a town called Batcave. Where do you live, Batcave?

Chimney Rock Village was destroyed by Helene's flooding, but every day the town's residents see supplies, people, and building materials coming from all over the country and know that the future is bright. But now... It's gotten even better. Because there's a group, and no, it's not Batman. There's a group that's come in and helped them out. More often than not, the help...

And putting the Chimney Rocks historic Main Street back together and rebuilding has come from a legion of volunteers, the Pennsylvania Amish volunteers from the Great Needs Trust. In their frocks and bonnets, the women screw panels of drywall onto skeletal timbers as deftly and surely as the men in their straw hats. The famous carpentry expertise of the Amish will do the old town well and maybe even help to add back a bit of the rustic charm lost in the flood.

According to WCNC, the Great Needs Trust and local contemporary volunteers, between the two of them, 2000 pairs of willing hands. have circulated in and out of Chimney Rock and Batcave, and they're doing some amazing work out there. And, you know, who knew that here we are, the Amish are out there helping things out, rebuilding the community, rebuilding the town. And that's just.

That's just some great stuff. And that's what communities are supposed to be about, coming together and helping. And the Amish understand that. That's what they're about. And I love that. I love that sense of community and giving back. And I think that is fantastic. My last story is out of the UK. There's a charity team in the UK of organized volunteer builders. who have come out to help a disabled man who'd been forced to sleep in his dining room for three years.

The 58 year old named Paul Ketterman hadn't been able to walk. since he had a problem about three and a half years ago. But without a bedroom on the ground floor, because he had a two-story place, he's had to sleep in the dining room. And now this charity that has come together called the Band of Builders, Paul's going to have a bedroom and a bathroom of his own.

The team of at least 25 construction laborers started building the extension to the three-bedroom home in Surrey that Kitterman shares with his wife and their son and his mother-in-law. Uh, it is labeled in the English media, uh, uh, town site there as DIY SOS. And he said the first night after they built the room and they got everything in there, the first night.

was the best sleep and the best shower ever. He said, I just can't thank people. You know, you're thinking about how would you just sleep alone? And it's so great to see people coming together. This is the thing. Be kind. Love one another. Live well. Big hat tip, by the way, to DeWalt. They contributed to the project. When they heard about the situation that Kitterman was in, they contributed to the project and provided some money and did some other things as well.

That's just great. I love it again. Just confirms my belief that DeWalt has some great tools and they're a great company. So good for them. So that's the good news for today. I thought we'd just finish up with something fun and good. Why not? Right? All right, tomorrow's Firearms Friday, my friends. We're going to hit it with the hard stuff, the firearms news. I'm hoping to have David Codry on. We'll see if that works out. Be kind, love one another, live well. Take that good news to heart.

Okay. Well, that does it. Miguel says, watch the way you say bad cave. Where do you live? Bad cave. Bad cave, North Carolina. I'm Batman. All right. Uh, it's, it's great. It's great. I love this. Uh, what else? Mike Shower's next visit to your show should be interesting. I agree with that. Ben Carpenter said... Until business owners prioritize a business friendly legislature, government centric legislators will continue to prioritize government over private business. Yeah, that's crazy. Yeah.

It's amazing. All right. Boy, you guys got real talkative there for a little bit. All right, well, we got to go. I just spent $40 on cheesesteak with fries and soda. We'll not do that again. Yeah, well, I hear you. I hear you, but that's where it's at. All right, folks, I got to go. We'll see. We've shed our terrestrial radio skin, and now we are slimy lizard internet people. It's the Michael Duke Show.