You guys want to see the latest bull shit from Americans For Prosperity? Here it is:
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/...
In a tough new advertisement from the Koch brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity, an unnamed woman looks directly into the camera and upbraids Senator Mark Begich, Democrat of Alaska.
“Senator Begich didn’t listen. How can I ever trust him again?” she asks in criticizing Senator Begich’s support for President Obama’s health care law. “It just isn’t fair. Alaska deserves better.”
But there is a slight problem with the commercial. The woman is not from Alaska. She is actually an actress who lives in Maryland. And to some, the elegant kitchen she is standing in, done in French country style with granite countertops, might seem out of place somewhere as rugged and frontierlike as Alaska.
The commercial, which was scheduled to start running on Wednesday, never explicitly claims that the woman is a real Alaskan voter. And actresses are used routinely in political commercials. But as far as Mr. Begich is concerned, it is an illegitimate attack from outsiders who have no business getting involved in Alaska politics.
“Today’s misleading ad from the Koch brothers is just more evidence that even billions of dollars can’t buy integrity,” said Rachel Barinbaum, a spokeswoman for Mr. Begich. - New York Times, 11/20/13
And this is just one ad that the Koch Brothers are playing to go after Begich:
http://thehill.com/...
Americans for Prosperity, a conservative outside group backed by the Koch brothers, is launching a $4 million ad blitz attacking six vulnerable Democrats on ObamaCare.
The ads attack three senators and three congressmen for the program's disastrous rollout and accuse them of breaking voters' trust. All use female narrators and are aimed at persuading women voters.
The targets: Sens. Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), and Reps. Ron Barber (D-Ariz.), Joe Garcia (D-Fla.) and Patrick Murphy (D-Fla).
"ObamaCare doesn't work. It just doesn't work," says the narrator in ads against Barber, Hagan and Murphy, after running through the litany of ongoing problems with the law.
"I trusted the president and Senator Begich. Lots of promises were made to pass ObamaCare. They knew the real truth," says the narrator in the Alaska ad. "Senator Begich didn't listen. How can I ever trust him again?" - The Hill, 11/20/13
Begich though has been out proposing his own change to the Affordable Care Act:
http://www.ktoo.org/...
The Expanded Consumer Choice Act would add a new tier of coverage to the range of plans available on the individual market starting in 2015.
Begich wants to call them copper plans. They would be less expensive and have higher deductibles than the bronze, silver, gold and platinum plans currently available.
Begich says he’s been talking with small business owners and individuals who want more affordable coverage options under the new law.
Some consumers would be able to use subsidies to pay for copper plans. The law currently allows people under age 30 to buy higher deductible, catastrophic plans but they aren’t eligible for subsidies.
Begich says having another option is especially important for a state like Alaska, where health care premiums are so high. - KTOO, 11/20/13
Begich knows he's a top target for the GOP and the Koch Brothers. They're still pissed about Begich beating Senator Ted Stevens (R. AK) on their home turf back in 2008 and they want revenge. But Begich is an excellent campaigned and he is going to make this race about Alaska:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/...
National and statewide Republicans have sought to remind Alaska voters of Begich’s support for the Affordable Care Act, and Gov. Sean Parnell recently wrote an open letter to the state’s junior senator urging him to either support repeal efforts or “substantially change” the law.
After announcing earlier this month that he had personally enrolled in a health insurance plan via the federal marketplace, Begich has ramped up his own criticism of the Obama administration’s health care rollout.
But in a twist to the political calculus on the issue, Parnell announced Friday that he is declining to expand Medicare for more than 40,000 eligible Alaskans (more than 5 percent of the state’s population). That move has already triggered significant backlash among many interest groups, particularly in the state’s most remote areas, which are largely inhabited by low-income Alaska natives, who tend to lean Democratic.
Still, the issue appears likely to remain a thorn in Begich’s side in a state where the law remains unpopular.
And that’s exactly why Begich will promote at nearly every turn his deep Alaska roots, attempting to keep the race’s focus centered on the local level rather than Washington, D.C.
“Alaskans tend to vote for the individual, not simply based on a party label, and that’s been true for elected officials from Wally Hickel [who was elected governor in 1990 as a member of the Alaska Independence Party] to Lisa Murkowski,” said Zack Fields of the Alaska Democratic Party.
For Begich and the other Democrats running in red states, the critical question remains whether their own name, or that of their political party, will end up being more important to voters next November. - Real Clear Politics, 11/19/13
Begich has also been making Native American and Alaska Native issues top priorities in the Senate:
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/...
Another Democratic senator is putting heat on the White House to live up to the federal trust responsibility to tribes by paying full contract support costs (CSC) owed to tribes for health services.
Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) wrote in a letter to President Barack Obama November 8 that he wants the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to stop pushing a budget proposal that would authorize the Indian Health Service (IHS) and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to limit how much each tribe would be paid for CSC reimbursement.
Begich further asked the president to convene a meeting between tribal officials and the OMB to consider ways “to fully fund these costs,” and he requested a settlement process for resolving millions of dollars in unpaid past CSC to tribes. The senator is also proposing an amendment to the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act that would facilitate a CSC settlement process and would appoint a special master to oversee it.
“America’s tribes are frustrated with the lack of resolution of this issue and both they and I have written numerous letters to your administration seeking a solution,” Begich wrote to the president. “Some of these claims extend back more than 20 years.” - Indian Country Today Media Network, 11/13/13
And he's also been focused on local Alaska Native issues:
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/...
A U.S. senator has asked Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell to direct his staff to “thoroughly and swiftly” complete a review of evidence that could exonerate four Native men imprisoned for the 1997 beating death of a teenager.
The request from Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) dated November 8, came after the state’s prosecutor asked the Fairbanks Superior Court for additional time to complete the review – six months, rather than the state-required 45 days.
Hoping for their convictions to be overturned are Alaska Natives George Frese, 36; Marvin Roberts, 35; and Eugene Vent, 33; and Kevin Pease, 35, who is Crow. Ages 20, 19 and 17 at the time of the crime, they are serving sentences ranging from 33 to 64 years.
They were convicted despite testimony that backs up their alibis; incriminating testimony that is questionable and, at one point, was recanted; and no fingerprints or DNA evidence that connect them to the crime.
The Alaska Innocence Project asked that their convictions be overturned after it obtained a sworn confession from a former Fairbanks man now serving a life sentence for murder in California. The man, William Z. Holmes, wrote that he and four other individuals, all high school friends, had been cruising around town that night harassing “drunk Natives” when they saw “a white boy walking alone.” During the ensuing confrontation, one of the friends stomped on the boy’s head; the boy died of his injuries in the hospital. Holmes’ statement identifies a friend who allegedly inflicted the fatal injuries. Bill Oberly, a defense attorney who directs the Alaska Innocence Project, said Holmes’ confession is backed by corroborating evidence. - Indian Country Today Media Network, 11/17/13
If you would like more information on either Begich's health care plan or the Native American affairs that he's working on, please do contact his office for more information:
(202) 224-3004
http://www.begich.senate.gov/...
And please do consider donating or getting involved with Begich's re-election campaign so he can fight back against the Koch Brothers and the GOP:
http://www.markbegich.com/