Alaska’s Junior Senator Visits Seniors

It was the early ’90’s. My dad was reading the morning paper and grumbled about some assemblyman in Anchorage and muttered something about Doogie Howser. My college friend and I were joining him for breakfast and I told her that he was talking about Mark Begich. She laughed and asked if my dad knew about my crush on him.

My dad looked up in a mock look of condescension and said, “You have a crush on who, Mark Begich or Doogie Howser?”

My girlfriend and I laughed and in unison said, “Yes!” My dad was of course only joking. He had nothing against the politician or the actor, but he didn’t like Mark because of how his youth came across, and he couldn’t stand the TV show.

Later that year, my mom told my dad that they were going to go have dinner with the Begiches. As I recall it, my mom had won a dinner at the Begich home at a silent auction for one of the groups on which she chaired a committee. My dad, always a performer, griped while they got ready. I think they were taking wine and my dad looked at it and hollered at my mom that Mark, who was at least 30 years old, was probably too young to drink it. My mother came downstairs and made a face at him.

The next morning we had breakfast and I told them about my date, and they told me about dinner. My mom said that Deborah was an amazing cook, and my dad said that Mark Begich was “more than tolerable” in person. “More than tolerable?” I don’t know if he ever spoke of me that well! He said that he came across best one-on-one, in the comfort of his own house, “not like a boy genius” as he thought he did on the assembly, and eventually as mayor. He conceded that Begich was extremely knowledgeable on the issues, was extremely intelligent, and that even when the conversation became critical of his votes, he kept his cool and was very personable, adding, “But he still looks like Doogie Howser!”

After many years and many experiences, I forgot about the brief discussions we had about Assemblyman Mark Begich until I went to see the now-US Senator Mark Begich speak at the Wasilla Senior Center on Friday. Most senior attendees have been around the block a few times, and they have no problem speaking their minds to a lawmaker, and they also vote. Seeing a lawmaker in action with seniors is very revealing of how they respectfully handle pressure. The event started out with Senator Begich being introduced. He took the mic and first spoke of a delightful woman, Helen, who had a birthday, her 92nd. We all clapped for her and he lead us in singing happy birthday to her while she radiated happiness.

I have to say that whatever my dad did not like about the young Mark Begich, I do not see anymore. At the age of 50, whatever youthful quirks were seen by my late father, are not there in the seasoned politician and public speaker. Senator Begich has a way of speaking to a busy room and making each person feel as if he is speaking to them, individually, which my dad said could be his strength.

The discussion was pretty basic because he only had an hour, and part of that had to be dedicated to answering questions. There is no question anymore about if the Arctic will be explored for oil, but it’s now only a matter of when. He said that 1,800 employees will be needed to help them explore the ocean and then develop it. In 2015, Conoco-Philips will need 5,000 employees just to help explore their area. Begich said that he wants to see more of these jobs go to Alaskans, but that we need the kids to be educated and able to do them. He spoke of being over at Teeland Middle School and explaining to the kids about the jobs where entry level jobs are $25-$40 an hour. He said the kids understood that to be some serious cash. He supports federal funding of education where ever it is needed so we can full the American jobs on American soil.

The mining industry is getting a 20% growth in the next five years. This is where the Senator spoke of bringing colleagues up to actually see Alaska. He spoke of taking them around the state, with at least a trip in really bad weather to a place that is very far out, where the plane ride in is scary. An aspect that anyone who is a Democrat hears constantly is that Democrats are pro-government and regulations. This is not true with Senator Begich. The man who grew up in Alaska is an entrepreneur. He has been pushing for the federal government agencies to streamline their permitting processes to allow “developers to get a clearer path forward with reasonable requirements.” He explained that he has been pushing against a proposed roadless rule so that there can be easier access to the resources.

Going into senior issues, Senator Begich got smiles from everyone when he told us that his mother is his biggest watchdog on social security. He said that she has no problem calling him and demanding to know what he meant by something or what he was doing if it didn’t wound right to her. Speaking to the group of seniors, he told them that Social Security and Medicare are not entitlements. He explained that Social Security is solvent until 2036, but that after that, it will only pay 78% until 2084 at which point it will be at 75%. One of his proposed bills is to increase the contribution. At the present time, people are only taxed for Social Security on income up to $111,000, but if they contribute over that amount, it will be solvent for everyone.

Something that he emphasized is that Social Security has not contributed “a single penny” to the federal deficit. This is something on which he also goes over at his website. Social Security’s ”benefits must be paid only from its dedicated revenue, which is primarily from contributions paid by employers and workers.” This takes nothing from the government at any level.

Next, he spoke of the need for seniors to have decent medical care. For the long term, he has proposed a bill that will strike up to $100,000 in debt off doctor’s student loan debt if they go into geriatric-type care. The reason is that geriatrics do not pay well, but that the help is needed and there are a lot of jobs.

Coming to the questions, the first question was by prefaced by someone stating that her vote was on the line, asking if he believed in abortion. Like the vast majority of Democrats, the Senator indicated that while abortion is not a good thing, that it’s a personal choice between a woman and her doctor. He was then asked how he felt about Israel (he explained that he was on the armed forces committee and was heading over there soon and that he supports Israel,) and then if he was a socialist. (He explained that he is an entrepreneur first. The woman apparently lives under a rock, as Mark Begich is a well known businessman with deep roots in Anchorage. He is a Democrat, but there is no label that fits him as a blanket.)

A question was asked about drilling for oil in the Arctic. The man was very concerned about not repeating the same mistakes that happened in the Gulf. Begich explained something that not many seem to be up on in that in the Gulf, the ocean floor is 5,000 feet down. In Alaska, they have to have a container onsite to collect any spillage, and a dome to cap any well, at every well. They are also very strict about when the drilling can take place. Please note that there was no discussion at all about alternative energy sources. I was observing, not participating, so on the surface, I do not know if he didn’t bring up alternative energy sources because he was limited on time and his audience may not have cared, or if he is extremely pro-oil at this point.

One senior brought up something that, by a collective, affirming sigh, was on the minds of many seniors. She has only a few months until she is kicked out of assisted living due to budget cuts. She asked why prisoners had a higher priority with medical and dental than seniors who had worked all their lives and were law-abiding citizens, only to watch the prisoners get out and reoffend just so they could get back in while the seniors were worried about where they were going to live next. (An aside here—I have volunteered as a religious lay volunteer at a women’s prison. The prison dental plans tend to lean towards pulling teeth, and medical is not much further along. From what I have seen, they reoffend again because prison is not structured to rehabilitate and change behavior, but exists mostly to punish.) She wanted to know why judges didn’t send prisoners into the military where, back during the 60’s, the roughhousers would be sent into the military and come out as responsible people. To his credit, the Senator, while not going into detail on prison life, assured her that the prison was probably not something that most people would desire to go back to and that there were other factors in play with recidivism, but he told her that the military is all volunteer at this point and that the requirements to get in are higher. He spoke of state money that funds senior care and that Governor Parnell had rejected it (the state provides10% and the federal government is providing 90%) until after the election. Discussions were also brought up about the price of medication. The US government is a very good customer and Begich shared that drug companies have successfully lobbied against the government getting the best prices for it’s clients, the seniors. This is something that he has been working on.

The postal service was brought up, and he told us that a bill is caught up in the House.

Questions were brought up about gas prices and a discussion ensued where we were schooled on how hedge funds and speculators affected prices. Then someone asked about the US giving some Alaskan islands to Russia. He laughed and told us how a while back he started getting emails asking about this very thing. He said that somewhere in the blogosphere, this came up. For the record, no land has ever been given to Russia by the US. There were some islands that were part of the purchase arrangements that Russia had kept. Period.

Overall, it was a worthwhile discussion with the Senator. He is polished—almost too polished for my taste, but he still seems genuine, like when I admired him on the Anchorage assembly 20 or so years ago. I probably should have tagged around and gone to see more of him when he was going places in Mat-Su because every venue was tailored to the audience. I asked several of the attendees at the senior center if they were glad that they came to hear him speak and they answered affirmatively, feeling that he cared about senior issues and that he listened to them. With a couple of attendees told me that they could not get past the idea that he does not want to make abortion illegal, and I was told that we as a nation will suffer for it. I resisted the urge to ask if we could just as easily suffer for some other facets of our nation’s policies, but I was there only to observe and write, not work on anyone’s ideas.

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