Begich on Board with Bernie!
Yesterday, Bernie Sanders distinguished himself and became the hero of frustrated Americans who think that the current plan to deal with the Bush tax cuts fell far short of what it could have been. Bernie Sanders found the spine of the Democratic Party. Sanders (VT-I) spent eight and a half hours standing at the podium, his voice eventually getting tired, leaning on his hands toward the end, not reading the phone book, but speaking eloquently, passionately, sincerely on behalf of the people, and against the deal struck between the President and congressional Republicans. Sanders was aided in his marathon, by…
Why Won't Joe Miller Concede? (Answer: It Doesn't Matter)
Alaska’s Democratic Senator Mark Begich made a statement yesterday that was covered in Politico and the Anchorage Daily News, calling for Joe Miller to abandon his legal challenges to the U.S. Senate election that has Lisa Murkowski unofficially declared by herself and the Associated Press as the winner of the race. “It is time for Joe Miller to put Alaska interests ahead of personal ambition and allow the state of Alaska to certify Lisa Murkowski as the winner,” Begich said. “Without both senators, Alaska’s interests will be at risk on critical issues from energy development to job creation and reducing…
Senator Mark Begich Talks Economy (video)
And now for something completely different… Today Senator Mark Begich (D) gave a speech on the floor of the Senate. He talked about the economy – the private sector, General Motors, optimism, and… “the other side.” Enjoy.
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…
Saying Goodbye to a Fallen Warrior
I found out last Wednesday, while I was in Soldotna for a family reunion, that my good friend Maurice Bailey had passed away the previous day. While he had suffered from Leukemia for awhile now, it still seemed to catch us all by surprise. Mo was a Vietnam vet, a pilot, an aviation mechanic and a stalwart fixture in Alaska’s aviation community. He was also founder of the non-profit organization Veterans Aviation Outreach, whose goal is to find as many of Alaska’s estimated 80,000 veterans as he could and get them signed up for their US Veteran’s Benefits. He sometimes found vets who were in the throes of…
Pop, Ooze, Dung, and the Alaska Personnel Board.
Lots of good stuff floating around the internets. Here’s a little smorgasbord of tasty treats you may have missed. POP! Gubernatorial candidate Bob Poe wrote an excellent compass piece for the Anchorage Daily News that begins like this: I support equal rights for all people. And I support banning discrimination in Anchorage due solely to someone’s sexual orientation. I support a comprehensive equal rights ordinance because it’s the right thing to do, period. Sh. sh. shhh. Listen. Do you hear those faint little noises, like Pop Rocks? Remember all those people in red shirts who testified at the Anchorage Assembly…
Mark Begich on the Public Option, the Kennedy Legacy, and Being Bold.
~~~Mark Begich at his June Anchorage Town Hall Meeting on health care, calling on a constituent who actually raised her hand to speak. Ah, those were the days. I’m going to confess right now, that after 2/3 of a term of Gov. Sarah Palin, and a vice presidential run, and all the Twittering Facebooking adventures of the last year, I thought if I ever heard the word “bold” again come out of the mouth of an Alaska politician, I was going to run screaming into the hills, or smash myself in the head with a brick. So nobody was more surprised…
Frankenmap is Now Complete!
Last summer I first noticed two things; Al Franken’s strange and wonderful parlor trick, and it’s fatal flaw. It seems that Al Franken, when he was a child, was given by his parents a wooden map puzzle of the United States. I was also given by my parents a wooden map puzzle of the United States. That’s where the similarity between me and Al Franken ends. Although I was left with a better than average sense of geography, and can still put the map together pretty quickly, Al Franken can actually draw the thing from memory. Franken’s childhood map did…
Senator Mark Begich’s Arctic 7-Pack
Recognizing that the Arctic will play a major role in the nation’s commerce, foreign policy, and energy independence over the next 50 years, U.S. Sen. Mark Begich today introduced a legislative package of seven bills designed to plan and prepare for the changes and challenges in the region. Begich devoted his “maiden” speech on the Senate floor to the issue because of its importance to Alaska. Called the Inuvikput legislation after the Inupiaq expression meaning “the place where we live,” Begich’s package of bills deal with oil exploration, climate change, shipping, health, and diplomacy in America’s arctic. Begich said the…
When in Doubt, Trust….The Bush Administration?
A potentially precedent-setting ruling in a case involving Alaska resource development came through the Supreme Court yesterday. It involved the legal contamination of a naturally occurring fish-bearing lake on the one hand, and the economic interest of a mining corporation on the other. I’ll give you one guess who the court ruled for…and it wasn’t the environment. (A lightbulb goes off over your head) “Heyyyy, is this the same Supreme Court that ruled in favor of Exxon recently in that oil spill case? The one where the environment and local people got the short end of the stick in favor…