Many of us Alaskans express frustration that our votes don’t count on the national stage. This past November they very much did, as evidenced by Rep. Nick Begich’s vote in favor of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed in the dead of night by the U.S. House.
I asked Grok, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence entity, what this might mean for Alaska. I suggest you do the same. Here are some of the Musk entity’s highlights: reduced federal support for local communities, cuts to the National Park Service of $267 million might impact tourism, reductions in federal funding for rural hospitals, and the potential of adding significantly to the national debt.
What might that mean for Wrangell? According to Elon’s Grok, “cuts to Medicaid and SNAP (food stamps), reduced National Park Service funding and environmental risks could strain the community’s health care, food security and tourism-driven economy.”
Our vote in last year’s election counted, allowing Begich to be the vote that got this legislation over the finish line in the House.
My hope is that Sen. Lisa Murkowski will be the vote that doesn’t allow this disastrous legislation to become law when it comes up for a vote in the Senate.
-- Paul Southland
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