President Donald J. Trump reached a deal with Democrats — putting off fights over spending and debt until the end of the year. (White House photo)

The rest of the 2017 will have less drama than the ups and downs than those that we have been experiencing since January. The federal government will more or less operate on schedule, the debt limit fight has been pushed back to the end of the year, and it’s because President Donald J. Trump successfully reached out to Democrats. This is exactly what the president should have been doing all along. This is governing.

This is Trahant Reports.

What a week. When it began, I wrote: “Congress is back today and one of two things will happen: It will either do its work or all hell will break loose.” I was off. It wasn’t Congress doing its job, it was the president. He bypassed his own Republican party leaders (catching them off-guard) and struck a deal with Democrats to fund government for the rest of the year and to push the debt limit fight back until December.

This is exactly what the president should have been doing all along.

This is governing. It means, for now, at least, he figured out that the real majority in Congress is moderate Republicans plus the Democrats.
It’s smart politics. But it’s also dangerous because his action undermined both House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — especially with their more conservative members. If it’s a one-time event, Ryan and McConnell will get over the snub. But if this is the new way of doing business, well, there will be a different kind of drama ahead.
There is also a new movement by some Republican to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. This plan would push more of the decision making about health care to the states, through block grants. It would even let states keep aspects of the Affordable Care Act such as Medicaid expansion, as long as they’re willing to pay for the extra costs. And that’s a deal breaker.

The problem for the Indian health system in such a scheme is that states neither understand nor want to invest the resources required. This bill would have to be considered fast under Senate rules. The current set-up is to vote on a replacement plan using the budget reconciliation process. That only requires 50 votes instead of the more common 60 vote standard but that goes away on Sept. 30 unless there is a new budget in place. That’s unlikely.

Another health care issue that impacts Indian Country is the reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Plan or CHIP. This program is essential for so many children who receive services from both the Indian health system and their own school. The current law expires Sept. 30.

So there is a lot of important work ahead. And the best outcome might be another presidential deal with Democrats. Quickly.

I am Mark Trahant.

Indian Country Today is officially on “hiatus” while the Oneida Nation looks for a new owner or a new business model.

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Publisher and Oneida Nation Representative Ray Halbritter wrote Monday: “Indian Country Today Media Network has faced the same challenges that other media outlets have faced. It is no secret that with the rise of the Internet, traditional publishing outlets have faced unprecedented adversity. These economic headwinds have resulted in Indian Country Today Media Network operating at an enormous—and unsustainable—financial loss, and now have caused us to take a hiatus to explore new partnerships or economic strategies …”

Most Native American publications (Internet or not) lose money. Howard Rock, the legendary founder and editor of The Tundra Times, once called it “an unselfish venture.”

But it’s also an essential venture. There is no chance that stories important to Indian Country are going to be covered by mainstream media. Oh, perhaps, once in awhile. But nothing systemic. It comes down to this: No one has to explain to an editor of a Native publication why it’s a story. That can only happen in a medium that serves American Indian and Alaska Native readers.

And over the years Indian Country Today has done good work. It’s been a forum for so many outstanding Native American writers and voices. It was that unselfish venture.

So what’s next? I hope that someone considers a nonprofit model, one where fundraising is a part of the “business model.” These days journalism needs people who are willing to write a check for no other reason than the good work that’s done. Someone needs to give them a reason.

Indian Country still has remarkable talent and media outlets. Some are local, a few national.

The problem is that none of these vehicles have deep pockets. That means there is little or no money for the writers, photographers, and artists, who create content. And that’s what we need: Money for ideas. A fund that values writers no matter where their content surfaces.

News is something that informs and once in awhile, inspires. We are better citizens when we are informed. Elias Boudinot had the best phrase when he was editing The Cherokee Phoenix. He called it “a vehicle of Indian intelligence.”

We need that intelligence now more than ever. As Elias Boudinot wrote in 1832 (as he was losing his editorship of The Cherokee Phoenix) “I do conscientiously believe it to be the duty of every citizen to reflect upon the dangers with which we are surrounded; to view the darkness which seems to lie before our people— our prospects, and the evils with which we are threatened; to talk over all these matters, and, if possible, come to some definite and satisfactory conclusion.”

 

That is the why. I am Mark Trahant.

Oklahoma’s John Calloway Walton was a socialist and his primary target was the Ku Klux Klan. But after much chaos in state government, the Legislature removed him (and protected the Klan).

The Trump presidency ended last week. Not literally. But in practical terms.

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So at a news conference in New York City the president blamed people on both sides for violence at a neo-Nazi rally. He said some of the people protesting were fine people who had unfair press.

Why is that a problem? Here is what a Republican says about his own party leader.

Mitt Romney tweeted: “One side is racist, bigoted, Nazi. The other opposes racism and bigotry. Morally different universes.”

Trump lost what is left of his ability to govern. An example of that was the topic that his New York City press conference was supposed to be about, infrastructure spending. This is an idea that ought to have broad support. Not any more. Few words about the plan were reported and anything that has a Trump label now is politically toxic.

The question now is how fast will the Trump administration crumble?

There are clues, mostly from state governments.

I was in Arizona and saw the same kind of chaos that is Trump. A car dealer, Evan Mecham, had ran for governor for four times before hitting the winning combination, only lasted a little more than a year before being impeached. He said working women were responsible for divorce and said Martin Luther King Jr. “didn’t deserve” a holiday. He dismissed his critics as a few dissident Democrats and a band of homosexuals. Mecham sort of ran up the score: Six felony indictments by a grand jury and impeachment proceedings, a recall, impeachment by the state House followed by a conviction in the Senate in April 1988.
Another governor who was tossed out over racial divisions was Oklahoma’s John Calloway Walton. A 1956 book called Walton’s election “a revolution.” He was a socialist and his primary target was the Ku Klux Klan.

The Chronicles of Oklahoma said within a few months the statehouse was in such chaos that the word “revolution” was indeed, an excellent choice. Walton kept the legislature from meeting, declaring martial law, but even that did not work. The Oklahoma Historical Society said: “Walton offered to resign in exchange for strong laws against the invisible empire, but again legislators rebuffed him.”

There is an interesting connection between Walton and a recent election in Alabama. Oklahoma legislators wanted to prevent a candidate from winning a crowded primary (as Walton had done) and so required a majority. That’s why there will be another primary between former state Supreme Court justice Roy Moore and Sen. Luther Strange. Ten states adopted such a system.

I am Mark Trahant

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September is going to be a mess. Congress must sort out some really complicated financial issues.

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September Mess Trahant Reports from Mark Trahant on Vimeo.

There is the budget, plus an increase in the debt limit, how much money to actually spend on federal programs and services, and, if there’s time, tax reform.

This should be easy in a one-party government. The House acts, then the Senate does its thing, and President Donald J. Trump signs the idea into law. Easy. Except there is not a real Republican majority in Congress. The House is made up of at least three factions, or parties, Republicans, Democrats, and the more conservative House Freedom Caucus. So in order to gather enough votes to pass a spending bill, or any other of the financial challenges, at least two of the three factions have to agree.

The Senate has its own divisions within the Republican Party. (The very reason why the Republican replacement for the Affordable Care Act has not yet become law.)

And to make it even more complicated, the White House is not on the same page either. The president proposed a stingy budget that’s been pretty much rejected by members of the House and the Senate.

For example the Trump proposed budget calls for $4.7 billion for the Indian Health Service, a cut of some $300 million or 6 percent of the agency’s budget. But the House spending plan that is now being considered calls for an increase of $97 million over last year’s levels. Indeed, the Appropriations Committee that funds IHS and the Bureau of Indian Affairs plans to spend a total of $4.3 billion more than the president requested on programs under its jurisdiction.

The Senate will come up with its own spending plan. Then, in theory, the two houses will resolve their differences and agree on how much the federal government should spend over the next year (and the president can go along or veto the legislation and start all over).

But that’s not how Congress is actually legislating these days. More often Congress is unable to agree and instead passes a temporary spending plan based on last year’s budget or a Continuing Resolution. That’s an easier sell to members because it represents a last minute, throw up your hands, and do something, approach.

And the budget is only one fiscal crisis facing Congress next month. The same divisions play out on other complex financial issues, such as raising the debt limit, the amount of money the country borrows to pay its bills, or a new budget plan that Congress will have to follow for the next few years.

So yes, September is going to be a mess. And after the budget, spending bills, and debt limit fight is complete, there’s still tax reform on the agenda. Another mess. I am Mark Trahant.

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Healthy lifestyles are needed to reverse obesity trends. But new data shows stability in Native American youth, a first step in reversing the trend. (National Institutes of Health photo)

The most fundamental question about government is this: Does it work? When does government — tribal, state or federal — actually make a difference in our lives?

There are two ways to answer that question, data and story. Data tells what happens over time. But story is what we tell ourselves about what works, and more often, what does not work.

Ideally data and story lead to the same conclusion.

But when telling a story it’s awfully difficult to report that things are kinda, sorta getting better. We humans want clarity, a success story, right?

Yet progress is often measured slowly.

This is Trahant Reports.

We know there is an epidemic of diabetes in Indian Country. It’s a story that’s told often. Yet it’s also true that adult diabetes rates for American Indian and Alaska Natives have not increased in recent years, and there has been a significant drop in both vision-related diseases and kidney failures. Incremental progress.

A new study published last month by the American Journal of Public Health concluded that American Indian and Alaska Native youth still have higher rates of obesity than the total population, but those rates have remained constant for a decade. In other words: The problem is not getting worse.

This report is remarkable because it reflects a huge amount of data – reports from at least 184,000 active patients in the Indian health system. Most scientific studies rely on a small sample group, making it difficult to compare regions or even break down the data by gender or age.

To put this report into a policy context, think about the hundreds of programs that are designed to get Native American youth more active.

This is timely data because Congress must soon reauthorize the Special Diabetes Program for Indians. And this report is evidence that $150 million program works and it’s also worth a continued investment by taxpayers. (Remember: Chronic diseases, such as diabetes, are by far the most expensive part of health care. Every dollar spent on prevention saves many, many more down the road.)

The goal of course must be a decline in overweight and obesity statistics, not just stability. (And one warning sign in the report is that there was a slight increase in severe obesity, even while the general trend was stable.)

Obesity among Native Americans is relatively new, seen in only in the past few generations, so there is much that can be done to reverse the trend. And that starts with making sure the problem is not getting worse. Then we can get healthier. Kinda, sorta.

I am Mark Trahant.