What others say: Read the bill

  • By Ketchikan Daily News editorial
  • Sunday, April 1, 2018 7:26pm
  • Opinion

The Grand Old Party pulled a Nancy Pelosi.

President Trump signed a $1.3 trillion spending bill Friday. Alaska’s Sen. Dan Sullivan voted against it for the very good reason that existed in 2010 when former House Speaker Pelosi told colleagues who had a spending bill before them: “. We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it .”

They did then, and former President Obama signed it.

This time around the Republican-controlled Senate was given about 15 hours to read and understand the implications of the 2,000-plus-page bill. The House also had less than 24 hours to review it before its vote. Chamber leaders left no time for colleagues to do due diligence.

The Senate, along with the House, is following the migratory habit of some lemmings, which might lead to their political suicide.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

Sullivan exercised his individual thinking, which is what Alaskans would expect; he wasn’t elected to vote blindly.

President Trump signed the bill reluctantly. Privy to classified information regarding national security, he says he believed he had to increase military spending and prioritized that over other objectionable items in the bill.

The experience has prompted him to ask Congress for line-item veto authority. Not surprising, but unlikely, if even constitutional.

National security is paramount. Without it, there’s no United States of America.

But Trump recognizes the legislation is a “spending” bill, and his supporters more often than not favored a reduction in spending. However, sometimes it takes money to make money, and that seems to be the view the president has taken.

Both Democrats and Republicans are being criticized for the bill, and not simply because they had no reasonable amount of time to review it.

Mainly, the bill doesn’t address immigration. During the last spending bill showdown with Trump, Democrats sought a solution to the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) problem. It was expected that they, the GOP, along with Trump, would devise a solution this month. It would go hand-in-hand with an effort to prevent illegal immigration and generally fix the immigration system that obviously isn’t operating as it should, but Democrats really made no heartfelt effort toward that end.

While Trump received funds for border reinforcement, those are limited and not sufficient for what he desired in terms of a wall on the border with Mexico.

The immigration issue, which topped many Trump supporters’ priority lists on Election Day, remains unresolved.

Whether a supporter or an opponent of the wall, leaving the Dreamers in limbo is unacceptable. Their parents entered this place illegally, bringing them along. Their parents raised them here, and it’s all they know as home. Their lack of citizenship needs to be addressed, as does the prevention of an increase in the number of Dreamers and other immigration issues.

Of course the bill is chocked full of funds for all of the states. Alaska will benefit like the others, and the state won’t give any of it back even if the majority of conservatives, and some liberals, here agree with reducing the federal deficit. Undoubtedly, it will be spent on some worthy causes and projects.

In days to come, the bill will be reviewed in the detail it should have been before the votes and the specific funding will be identified and discussed.

But, the fact remains, congressional members all should have been given ample opportunity to read and understand it before they had to vote on it. If it couldn’t withstand the scrutiny, then it shouldn’t have become law. The process lacked transparency.

— Ketchikan Daily News,

March 24

More in Opinion

Gov. Mike Dunleavy holds a press conference on Monday, May 19, 2025, to discuss his decision to veto an education bill. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: On fiscal policy, Dunleavy is a governor in name only

His fiscal credibility is so close to zero that lawmakers have no reason to take him seriously.

Courtesy/Chris Arend
Opinion: Protect Alaska renewable energy projects

The recently passed House budget reconciliation bill puts important projects and jobs at risk.

Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, speaks in support overriding Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of House Bill 69 at the Alaska Capitol in Juneau, Alaska, on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)
Capitol Corner: Finishing a session that will make a lasting impact

Sen. Jesse Bjorkman reports back from Juneau.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R-Alaska) speaks to reporters about his decision to veto an education funding bill at the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: The fight for Alaska’s future begins in the classroom

The fight I’ve been leading isn’t about politics — it’s about priorities.

Rep. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna, speaks in support of debating an omnibus education bill in the Alaska House Chambers on Monday, Feb. 19, 2024 in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Capitol Corner: Choosing our priorities wisely

Rep. Justin Ruffridge reports back from Juneau.

Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, speaks in support overriding Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of House Bill 69 at the Alaska Capitol in Juneau, Alaska, on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)
Capitol Corner: As session nears end, pace picks up in Juneau

Sen. Jesse Bjorkman reports back from Juneau.

Dick Maitland, a foley artist, works on the 46th season of “Sesame Street” at Kaufman Astoria Studios in New York, Dec. 15, 2025. (Ariana McLaughlin/The New York Times)
Opinion: Trump’s embarrassing immaturity Republicans won’t acknowledge

Sullivan should be embarrassed by the ignorance and immaturity the president is putting on display for the world to see.

Former Gov. Frank Murkowski speaks on a range of subjects during an interview with the Juneau Empire in May 2019. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
Opinion: The Jones Act — crass protectionism, but for whom?

Alaska is dependent on the few U.S.-built ships carrying supplies from Washington state to Alaska.

Sockeye salmon caught in a set gillnet are dragged up onto the beach at a test site for selective harvest setnet gear in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Capitol Corner: Creating opportunities with better fishery management

Sen. Jesse Bjorkman reports back from Juneau.

The ranked choice outcome for Alaska’s U.S. Senate race is shown during an Alaska Public Media broadcast on Nov. 24, 2022. (Alaska Division of Elections)
Opinion: Alaska should keep ranked choice voting, but let’s make it easier

RCV has given Alaskans a better way to express their preferences.

Cook Inlet can be seen at low tide from North Kenai Beach on June 15, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: Solving the Cook Inlet gas crisis

While importing LNG is necessary in the short term, the Kenai Peninsula is in dire need of a stable long-term solution.