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Matt Buxton

@matt.akmemo.com

1.4K followers 150 following 2.3K posts

Alaska wonk. Husker. Roller coaster, Magic card and staying in enthusiast. Writes akmemo.com Hanging out and hanging on.

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Matt Buxton @matt.akmemo.com · Jan 21

And I'll be at it here throughout session.

Follow my newsletter for even more #akleg wonkery at www.akmemo.com

The Alaska Memo

The What and Why it Matters of Alaska Politics by Matt Acuña Buxton.

www.akmemo.com

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Reposted by Matt Buxton

Colleen Mondor @chasingray.bsky.social · 11h

Attention, Alaska.....

Will Guisbond @willguisbond.com · 11h

Inbox: DOT secures $41 million to fund the Essential Air Service through early November, a program that was expected to lapse during the shutdown as soon as Oct. 12.

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Reposted by Matt Buxton

Pat Race @pat.alaskarobotics.com · 1d

Municipal elections day in Alaska!

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Matt Buxton @matt.akmemo.com · 1d

Hey, thanks for following along! If you like livethreads and stuff like that, I've also got a newsletter that I write when the crushing horror of our current political situation isn't totally overwhelming.

www.akmemo.com

The Alaska Memo

The What and Why it Matters of Alaska Politics by Matt Acuña Buxton.

www.akmemo.com

Matt Buxton @matt.akmemo.com · 1d

and that's.... it?

a woman with long red hair is sitting in a chair with a man .

ALT: a woman with long red hair is sitting in a chair with a man .

media.tenor.com

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Matt Buxton @matt.akmemo.com · 1d

Asked about Trump's efforts to also influence the Federal Reserve Board.

Murkowski: "I think we should be concerned about that."

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Matt Buxton @matt.akmemo.com · 1d

Murkowski on Trump's indictment of Comey: "That's not how due process, that's not how justice for all works around this country."

Neat.

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Matt Buxton @matt.akmemo.com · 1d

Townsend: "What do you think about him using the power of the state against political opponents?"

Murkowski: "I think it's wrong, just plain and simple."

She says her comment on James Comey "got a little attention back here in Washington, DC"

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Matt Buxton @matt.akmemo.com · 1d

Murkowski says they have confirmed that NOAA will be able to issue permits for the crab season ahead of Oct. 15.

"We're being told that we shouldn't have to worry."

Sounds convincing.

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Matt Buxton @matt.akmemo.com · 1d

Murkowski says that maybe what Kennedy and she were thinking about, actually, was moving the program to another agency that is already doing health and safety training.

So.... nothing really.

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Matt Buxton @matt.akmemo.com · 1d

Asked about Kennedy's plan to kill the Commercial Fishing Safety Program at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and how he committed to continuing with some safety and health training. Any update?

Murkowski: "I don't have an update."

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Matt Buxton @matt.akmemo.com · 1d

Murkowski: "Our reality is Essential Air Service is essential."

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Matt Buxton @matt.akmemo.com · 1d

Murkowski says Essential Air Service will stop as early as October 12 due to the federal government running out of funding because of the shutdown.

cc @chasingray.bsky.social

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Matt Buxton @matt.akmemo.com · 1d

Then Murkowski basically just gives an overview of the Trump administration's ouster of CDC Director Susan Monarez over her refusal to rubberstamp vaccine skepticism.

Finally adds: "We should all be worried about that."

To be clear, this was a Q about how senators can push back.

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Reposted by Matt Buxton

A #0000FF Alaskan 👈🏽 @slyride.bsky.social · 1d

No, there is not. www.aha.org/news/blog/20...

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Matt Buxton @matt.akmemo.com · 1d

Murkowski: "Am I disappointed with the direction that he has taken with this? Do I think that he didn't keep his commitment to me?"

She doesn't ever actually say.

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Matt Buxton @matt.akmemo.com · 1d

Murkowski says that RFK Jr. said he was going to focus on "chronic diseases" during the confirmation process, which she says sounded great to her.

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Matt Buxton @matt.akmemo.com · 1d

Townsend asks Murkowski if she felt she had been misled by RFK Jr. during his confirmation process.

Murkowski: "I disagree with the approach that he is taking with vaccines."

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Reposted by Matt Buxton

Don @wormeguy.bsky.social · 1d

Ralph Seekins & Craig Compeau organized a rally in 2011 about armed government thugs harassing Alaskans. Murkowski attended and spoke at that rally.

Murkowski even signed a shit that with a National Park Service logo and read “Nazi Police State.”

www.newsminer.com/fed-up-fairb...

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Matt Buxton @matt.akmemo.com · 1d

Murkowski notes that the work requirements DON'T apply to seniors, children, pregnant mothers and the disabled.

She says it's only low-income adults ages 19-64 who will have to find a job to qualify for the social safety net programs.

"there's a lot of confusion."

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Matt Buxton @matt.akmemo.com · 1d

She says it's now on the state to fix its food stamp and Medicaid system (which have both been decimated under Dunleavy) during the extension.

Basically, that extension goes past the 2026 election so Begich and Sullivan get to run without the worst of it.

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Matt Buxton @matt.akmemo.com · 1d

Murkowski: "There were many things that I couldn't make any better than what I was able to, but I own my vote, and I'm proud of the efforts that we made to make improvements to the bill."

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Matt Buxton @matt.akmemo.com · 1d

Murkowski on the "Rural Health Transformation fund" says it's one of the biggest deals from the bill.

(It replaces only a part of the funding they'll lose)

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Matt Buxton @matt.akmemo.com · 1d

Murkowski concedes that the work requirements that Republicans are applying to Medicaid and food stamps wouldn't have worked for rural communities.

"It was an effort to make changes, positive changes, that would either give us more resources or more time to comply."

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Matt Buxton @matt.akmemo.com · 1d

Murkowski says she COULD have said "don't touch Medicaid," but then she wouldn't have been able to secure as much oil and gas drilling.

"We may not like what we're seeing right now, but our job every single day is to try to make this better for Alaskans."

Again, oil and gas drilling?

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Matt Buxton @matt.akmemo.com · 1d

Murkowski: "There's a bill that's going to pass with or without my support. My job is to try to do everything that I can to make changes to those things that could have a negative impact on us in Alaska. To make it less harmful."

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