My Turn: Sen. Sullivan has failed the people
Published 10:30 pm Tuesday, August 26, 2025
Many Alaskans, perhaps thousands, recently received a 26-page letter from Sen. Dan Sullivan. In truth, it was a lengthy campaign piece praising the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” (BBB) and the supposed benefits it will deliver to Alaskans and the nation.
Let us be clear: This was Sullivan’s first substantial 2026 reelection advertisement. Our propaganda warning lights should be flashing.
The bill is sprinkled with headline-grabbing gimmicks:
• No taxes on Social Security
• No taxes on tips
• No taxes on overtime
But read the fine print. These provisions are fractional, limited or illusory. They were inserted to distract from the bill’s deep unpopularity.
Sullivan also touts numerous other “benefits” he claims to have secured through amendments. Yet these are speculative at best — vague in scope, uncertain in value, and unclear about who will actually benefit. They are inconsequential compared to the BBB’s overall devastation to our country’s health care.
The truth is that any advantages Sullivan promotes, that may be real, will be substantially overshadowed by his under assessed impact to Medicaid and by two even greater devastating consequences: Paygo spending cuts and Trump’s tariffs.
The Congressional Budget Office projects the BBB will add $2 trillion per year to federal deficits. Under Paygo rules, that triggers automatic cuts — $490 billion (over seven years) slashed from entitlements, with Medicare squarely in the cross-hairs. Seniors will be hurt. Republicans continue to insist there will be no cuts to Medicare or Social Security. That is simply not true; It is a lie.
Add to this Trump’s reckless tariffs, the largest sales tax increase in U.S. history. The various think-tanks currently estimate these tariffs will cost the average American family $2,000 to $3,000 per year. Wages are not rising to counter inflation, and with Trump’s continued assault on unions, they may stagnate or even decline. Big business welcomes that outcome.
It is unsurprising that Sen. Sullivan hypes what he believes are his successes… even though he is obfuscating. But true accountability requires examining his failures. His most glaring failure is silence: He has not stood up to Trump’s catastrophic tariff scheme, even though Congress, not the president, holds authority over trade policy.
Sullivan’s record must be judged not by his self-congratulations, but by results. The reality is stark. The fiscal wreckage of the BBB combined with the crushing burden of excruciating tariffs will undoubtedly accelerate the decline in America’s standard of living.
On both counts, Sen. Sullivan has failed the people of Alaska and the nation.
• Van Abbott is a longtime resident of Ketchikan, first arriving in 1984. He served as assistant finance director for the City of Ketchikan and the Ketchikan Gateway Borough and was Ketchikan Public Utilities’ Telecommunications division manager for over a decade. He also has lived in Fairbanks for six years and Anchorage for five.
