Alaska’s View from the Hill With Senator Mark Begich
Once again Matt Felling of KTVA sits down for a conversation with a member of Alaska’s congressional delegation. This time it’s Senator Mark Begich (D).
He remarks about the surprisingly low turnout in Alaska’s election and the large number of Alaskans who remained undecided until the last moment. He’s calling the race for Murkowski. “I think she’ll have a small drop off, maybe 5 percent, maybe 10 percent — what you see is an end result of an election where she still wins.” He talked about how the money given to Murkowski by Native Corporations had impact, and has some other interesting insight as to how the election fell out.
He also thinks that Murkowski should start voting more centrist than she has over the last two years when she’s spent her time snuggling up to Mitch McConnell and Republican Party leadership. Murkowski has stated in the past that she’ll remember who put her in office this time. But, she’s also stated that she’s a Republican and will organize with Republicans, and she’ll always be a Republican. Begich says, “Now, it’s delivery time” to reach across the aisle as she promised in the campaign. And “just saluting the party leadership,” no matter which party it is, is not in the interest of Alaska.
Felling asked, “If Obama had walked into the White House and thought jobs, jobs, jobs – putting health care on the back burner” would we have not seen the massive loss of Democratic seats in the House. Begich answers, “I felt that not just today, but for the past year. Jobs could have been and should’ve been our top priority…” He said that he’s one of the guys pounding away at this who gets to go to his colleagues, and say ‘I told you so.
Begich also talks a lot about TARP and the fact that it even though everyone hated it, and he was not for it at the time, it may have actually worked, even though nobody wants to admit it.
Begich is highly critical of the leadership of Afghanistan saying, “My attitude toward the leadership of Afghanistan has gotten more severe in the sense that I just think they’ve got to get their act together, and we cannot continue to sacrifice good Americans and our allies in this battle where they are not doing their fair share. I mean, I can’t say that enough… I’m just telling you now that Karzai and some of his leadership and what you read, and I read about the Iran issue… This is unacceptable, to put American lives on the line, and then they go off and start making deals with Iran and other countries that are not our friends. This is not acceptable for us, and for our people to be on the front lines and jeapordizing their lives for that type of behavior by the leadership.”
He also addresses the fact that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is in the Defense Authorization Bill coming up, and that he has heard from many troops that talk about the fact that they serve every day with military from countries who do not have a “discrimination policy” and that it doesn’t affect their ability to do their jobs. An internal poll just released backs that up.
Enjoy the interview. It’s worth the 20 minutes.
The healthcare for senior citizens in Alaska unless very well connected is not good at all..even
yet..so Alaska political people need to answer that question..certainly Palin who on tv ..tweets etc.
says how good she ..get the she..again..made healthcare in Alaska..call it on that good.
I was surprised a medical specialist doctor who writes often on ADN and is a Repbulican who
says Palin is a phony and I think was for McAdams…said in one of his columns..there are greedy
doctors in Alaska..well..we have a grandson who is going to have a dental procedure done in
Anchorage..a wisedom tooth not growing right and crowding other teeth..the bill is way over 2 thousand..two long stadning dentists in St Louis area say..way overcharged.. surely with grants
etc..Alaska could get more doctors and dentists..just out of school to practise there..if that is
the main money problem for patients. The insurance health company situation has to be kept
in certain bounds…so do not let them repeal that bill… or your insurance will keep going up and
up. Our supplement politcy went down over one handred dollars with the health insurance supple
ment we have..that is a number ..over a hundred less a month. The ultra right wing and the
tea party election some people only on the abotion issue…yet look at the new healthcare
reform bill..if a child is born with serious very expensive needed medical care then they can
get it..without the caretakers having to go bankrupt and lose their homes. and what situations
do they have for the many children today that are artistic..that do need ..the ones that do some
mecidines to help them…many of these when needed and at times are..are very expensive..
so all this for the children…well see it is then…also if the main breadwinnder cannot find
a job ..that pays anything..at all…what help is that to the children? Corporations in general
could care less about their workers…just work twice as hard for less pay…their profits corporations
can soar…while some unions got lax..some wanted to much money…remember what the working
average American got before any unions….well Christmas is around the cornor..so ultra right
wing and tea party..you get to play Scrooze and the average American can be tiny tim.
It was jobs..that really was the election..midtern..that hurt the Democratic pary..however the majority
of the statesm..just fooled around with the stimulus funds and did very little to have any shovel
ready jobs…how are your roads and highways and transportation? in most states not good at all.
Krugman of NYT and even Cramer..wall st. stock person..both said from the beginning the stimulus
was to small..perhaps Obama wanted to see first how it would be handled but with the otherpolitical
party people being so against him period..better strike while you can. The healthcare reform bill
was needed and of course it would be complex…but with healthcare costs going up and up before
it was needed…the Democrats need to explain..very clearly and often..just what their bills will do
for the American people and what if not passed how it will and does affect the American people..
make it very very clear. ie just like the legal beagle of Mudflats when the pieces he writes explain
what the real situations are.
“karen marie” wrote:
I wag my finger in chastisement at Begich for repeating Republican talking points about job creation.
Excellent point! This from Bernie Sanders website:
Some saw Tuesday’s election as a “shellacking” and took from the results a lesson that there should be greater efforts to cooperate and compromise. Sen. Bernie Sanders had a different take. “We have to be crystal clear about what we stand for,” he told radio host Ed Schultz on Thursday. “What we have to do is take it to them rather than being on the defensive. When we’re clear and fight for the American people they will come down on our side.”
See also: http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=2abd25d9-eceb-45f7-9fdd-f8c49f387eb3
Begich is a true blue dog Democrat, and I dare say he’d be a Republican if he was a Senator for an east coast state. But this is Alaska and it seems that all Democrats here have to wear a red coat over their blue shirts. I voted for Begich in 08′ and I’d may do it again in 14′ but I hope he sides more with the Democrats than the Republicans in the upcoming years.
Agree on all points.
Amen.
I wag my finger in chastisement at Begich for repeating Republican talking points about job creation.
Anyone who has been paying attention (apparently NOT Begich) would understand that everything Democrats have tried to do is related to job creation — from the bailout of the auto industry to health care reform to energy policy to the stimulus, but in every instance lockstep opposition by Republicans either stopped or watered down those efforts.
Shame on you, Senator Begich, for blaming your own party for the failures of the Republicans.
TARP no strings attached was under Bush in Sept ’08. Sux that Obama keeps being trashed over it. Walk thru my neighborhood, and I’ll introduce you to people who still have their homes and now have jobs b/c of Pres. Obama.
TARP with no strings was also passed by the Democratic Majority in the House and Senate. Only 9 Democrats voted no on TARP — on the House side the bill was originally introduced by Democrats and 171 (out of 262) of the Aye votes were Democrats.
Anytime there are votes on war or corporate welfare the Democrats happily vote along side Republicans.
Am I one of the only ones that feels good about what happened a few days ago, on election day? I think we are doing okay with our current situation. This is coming from a lifelong negative nelly. Whenever I make a positive comment about anything the PetDad has to ask me if I’m okay, but really it could have been worse and we as progressives have weathered worse. Just my two late night cents.
What happened to don’t worry be happy?
This may be off topic because my comment relates to the distribution of video on the Internet. and the technology that is used.
First off, thanks for posting this! That said the audio is out of sync with the video so it’s sort of like watching a dubbed foreign film. This is something that is easy to avoid if the people doing the digital reformatting from the broadcast files to the files for the Internet know what they are doing, and care about what they are doing. Audio/video sync problems are common when creating files for streaming or downloading (choose your search engine and try the search terms: audio, video, sync, internet – you’ll get lots of hits). So I have to wonder why KTVA didn’t do a better job? I’ll leave it to you to speculate why, but I find it disrespectful and as a viewer noisome.
Thank you, Matt Felling, for allowing Senator Begich to speak and address direct questions without Matt leading him to the “correct,” scripted answer. Compare, if you will, the spoon-fed “questions” (complete with answers) that are typically offered up to Palin.
The Senator is correct in saying that TARP has been, at worst, a relatively low net cost stopgap in halting the progression toward a full-scale depression. I hope he’s serious in supporting the use of the returned funds to paying down the deficit.
It will be interesting to follow Mark and (presumably) Lisa after the new Congress is seated. Watching how they vote on major legislation will tell us if either has learned anything from the 2010 election.
Go Scott McAdams! (Sorry, it will be a while before I can help myself from saying that.)
I hear ya. Go Scott McAdams!! I look at the numbers for Berkowitz at 38.14% and McAdams 23.64% and I’m royally pissed off at the 15% who voted for Berkowitz but not McAdams. IF they had, that would’ve put McAdams at 38%, within striking distance of Murki’s 41% minus the margin of error for write-ins. I’m assuming all the voters for Berkowitz were Democrats, it doesn’t make any sense to me otherwise. Were they scared Democrats or what? I am so disappointed that I want to out-crazy the crazies.
I’m confused again – wasn’t TARP enacted before Begich was in the Senate? Isn’t the stimulus bill a jobs bill? Senator, your party is still a majority in the U.S. Senate – act like a Dem.
I the debates of the ’08 campaign, Mark spoke against it, I think he considered it was too much to be rushing into so quickly. Stevens was for it, Ethan was for it, Young was against it.
Dear Mark,
I voted for our President specifically for a functioning Healthcare system geared to help Americans instead of insurance companies. One that rivals other top western countries where they actually care about preventative-deaths and medical-bankruptcies/foreclosures- sometimes resulting in homelessness. (medically caused homelessness is unheard of in those countries).
How do you propose, Mark, that the sick (who could have prevented their illness with affordable healthcare), the d.ead and the now homeless , because of medical bankruptcy/foreclosure, with no permanent address get these magical jobs?
Complaining about the Commander in Chief is just not cool. If your about creating jobs then just do it: Get some great thinkers, draft some legislature and make it happen. Long lasting stable jobs.
Didn’t your mother teach you pointing fingers is rude? Actions speak louder than words,( and finger pointing). We need forward thinking do-ers. Platitudes and soundbites are not actions that help us.
I expect most of our representatives to be able to multitask. Creating creating medicare for all type healthcare, then jobs is a full time job and we need you to help us achieve these do-able things. You ,sir, are in a position to help create those jobs. Good luck to you and us. We’ll need it.
You can’t just blame Blue-Dog Dems or Republicans for not passing the public option. The White House abandoned it as soon as they saw it was going to be a fight. In case you didn’t notice anytime a real issue arises Obama is quick to compromise. He hasn’t fought for a thing (well… I take that back… he is fighting pretty hard to keep DADT in place). Failure to include the public option lies equally with the President and Senate .
Dear Mark,
Please don’t diss the Commander in Chief. I voted for him because I believe our country needs a healthcare system that truly helps it’s citizens instead of preventative deaths and medical bankrupcies and medically caused forclosures and homelessness.
Exactly how, Mark, are these people supposed to find jobs if they’re too sick, dead or have no permanent address? Blaming only our President, with a soundbite, is a sad thing to do. Why don’t you work to create plan for new jobs while multitasking to help strengthen our healthcare bill towards medicare for all? Stop your bitching and do something. Actions do speak louder than words.. or in your case platitudes.
Find a couple great people and draft up some legislature to create some great , enduring, stable jobs. I wish you well in your endeavors. Remember you represent us, now quit complaining and get to work.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385×522350
Excelent discussion on Ratgin with Greewald and Cenk
I agree that a Senator should be for his or her state’s best interests, but the nation’s best interests preempt state interests. Hopefully, what is good for Alaska or Kansas is good for the country as a whole. There are ways to tailor national programs to benefit both a particular state and the nation; it’s when the pork projects for a state take away from the needs of the whole when Senators and Representatives owe an allegiance to the nation.
For example, giving priority to corporations whose projects would destroy Alaskan’s environment and fisheries for short-term oil company or mining interests not only ruins Alaska, it undermines the nation as a whole. Creative minds can find reasonable solutions that are a win-win for both Alaska and the other 49 states. I hope Begich has a creative and open mind and will not be lured into the special interest traps that swallowed Lisa Murkowski’s integrity.
Mind you – Kansas Republicans have been in those little cages for so long they no longer see the problem of being kept by the corporations. They are totally at peace with the idea. Keep Begich on his toes and protect him from sliding into mediocrity or worse. Just saying, he seems your best hope now.
The magical politician………Mark Begich.
Alaska thought they elected Mark Begich, but magically he turned into…….THIS Mark Begich.
I think he has McCain disease.
Just be what ever it takes to actively remain in politics, to be a player, to have the power of your senate seat.
There is no inoculation or cure for this.
All in all, Ted Stevens was the best senator to come out of Alaska FOR Alaska.
I would like to see Senator Begich more in tune with Alaskans and others in the country who asked for either a single payer system and/or at least public options in the health care reform that passed.
The mistake was not in passing HCR. The mistake was in passing “mandates” without more “options”.
The mistake was in thinking if we add a couple more pieces to the puzzle, the rest of the puzzle can just wait a few more years or go bankrupt or die.
Real HCR that didn’t cater so much to the insurance companies, that actually helped people stay more healthy (more support for preventive care), and actually helped reduce costs would have turned out the base en masse in 2010.
Real HCR would have created jobs. Adding a few more folks to the Postal system would create jobs. Giving some interest back to small savers were give them some security to do home improvements and upgrade their technologies for their businesses and would create jobs.
All of Congress needs to listen more.
Kudos to Sen. Begich for making some small steps forward, but more could have done and must be done–not for the elite, not for the rich. When we help those at the lower end of the income scale, they spend their money on their real needs, boost the economy, and create jobs.
Hurrah for the single payer concept. How I wish President Obama had not backed away from that!
… along with way too many of our representatives. The Healthcare bill was a massive step forward. Let’s see if we will make it better.
Maybe now, Obama will take our troops out of Afganistan , and Iraq, instead of inadvertantly funneling(our) money to questionable “tribal leaders” and their new governments, especially near the Pakistan border. Christ almighty, if OUR government is doing such a poor job with our homespun warring parties (Dem vs REP) then what the h*?? do we think were gonna do over there? Let’s let them sort out their stuff and we’ll try and sort out our own stuff and also-too save billions of taxpayer money in doing so.
With all our troops back home we could create new jobs by repairing our infrastructure, maybe getting some monorails going? Wind-farms, solar panel factories, electric cars… built here, not in China/india/Mexico-job-siphon countries.
Hmm, Repukes will gridlock our country for another 2 long years then they will take above ideas and install Rupert Murdoch, Halliburton and Kock Bros., as the “Titians of Industry”, who will have everything made in China/India/Taiwan/Mexico and get ALL sorts of government grants, subsidies etc. with the added benefits of almost no taxes . Oh and offshore tax shelters too also…
I believe there are provisions in the Affordable Care Act that allow states to go the single payer route. It’s a huge bill, and obvious Republican lies have prevented all the possibilities from being highlighted. If Alaska wants single payer, check it out.
I agree with you about Health Care especially singer payor, but I’ve worked in government long enough to know how slowly and incrementally things happen. Medicare was a patchworked and compromised piece of legislation when it first passed. My specific complaint was in a Democratic Senator implying that this administration didn’t do “enough” about jobs when it was the Republicans who stymied jobs bills at every turn. When Repulbicans say “jobs” they mean tax cuts for people who make more than $300,000/year, and rewards for busting employee organizations.
Senator Begich’s views seem reasonable, sane, and thoughtful. Tell me again how he got elected?
Sorry – I’m from Kansas. I have absolutely no room to talk. We have had awful Senators for quite some time and just elected another one.
So, I am not being snarky about Alaskan taste — I really want to understand how you managed to get Begich when, you too, have had a run of stinkers before (and now concurrently with him).
Honestly – we need to copy your achievement about getting someone as reasonable as Begich in office (though I swear I think McAdams would have been a great partner for him to have worked with).
Well, I do have amend my statement as regards Wallflower’s comment. I, too, think that was not appropriate for him to put jobs ahead of health care because making health care affordable enables businesses to have more money to create jobs. I hope other Democrats don’t share his view on that because we need, above all else right now, for Democrats to come together and stand against the hideous agenda of McConnell and Boehner.
If Democrats cannot stand united by this good and thoughtful President, I will despair for all hope.
Wow, disappointing to see him stab our president in the back. Jobs,jobs,jobs was the focus of the first stimulus bill which the Republicans and certain conservative Democrats fought, biting and shrieking, every millimeter of the way. Perhaps Begich should put the blame where it belongs; or is he already sucking up to the right because he figures Lisa’s won?
That’s a good point about the stimulus bill. And healthcare reform was long overdue, not to mention Obama’s primary campaign promise. People expected it to get done in his first year.