Certainly, Alaska’s three-member congressional delegation by themselves cannot stop every bad idea pushed by the Trump administration. It takes a majority of the House and Senate to block a presidential action, but a majority of both chambers seem more scared about their reelection chances and President Donald Trump’s social media postings than anything else.
However, the all-Republican Alaska trio could at least make a sincere, honest effort to speak out against the most harmful actions promoted by the president, particularly when his agenda is contrary to the well-being of Alaskans.
Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and U.S. Rep. Nick Begich had the opportunity last week to say no to Trump’s proposal to rescind two years worth of federal funding for public radio and TV in this country.
The measure before Congress yanked roughly $30 million from public radio in Alaska. That’s no small number: Of the 27 public radio stations in the state, 11 receive more than half their budget from the federal Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In Wrangell, federal funding covers close to half of KSTK’s annual budget.
This is not a trim, it’s a hatchet job.
The Senate approved the big recissions package the president wanted, undoing public radio funding along with about $7 billion in foreign aid. Murkowski was not one of the 51 Republican senators to vote yes. She was a loud no.
“My colleagues are targeting NPR (National Public Radio) but will wind up hurting — and, over time, closing down — local radio stations that provide essential news, alerts and educational programming in Alaska and across the country.”
Sullivan, who often mimics the president’s misleading and dishonest rhetoric, didn’t say anything. His spokesperson said the senator had warned public media that their “biased reporting” could cost them money. But he’s doing what he can to help Alaska stations, the spokesperson said.
Voting against the recissions package would have been a big help, but that option just wasn’t on Sullivan’s dial.
Begich’s justification for approving the president’s request was so full of static that you wonder if he even knows how to operate a radio.
In a written statement, the freshman member of Congress said technology has advanced and Alaskans have embraced cellphones and satellite communications. Public radio is not as important as it was, he said.
Maybe Begich lives in a different world where cell and internet service never go down, leaving radio as the best — the only — means of communicating during public emergencies, other than shouting out open windows or driving around town with a bullhorn.
Maybe Begich just cares more about Trump’s favor and fame than he cares about his constituents. He needs to check his antenna.
Larry Persily is a longtime Alaska journalist, with breaks for federal, state and municipal public policy work in Alaska and Washington, D.C. He lives in Anchorage and is publisher of the Wrangell Sentinel weekly newspaper.
