Who does Mark Begich think he is kidding? His budgetary experience and credentials are notorious. The ex-mayor's city budget was in shambles when he left office to take Stevens' Senate seat in 2009. That bloated budget set the stage for the recent conflict between the city's current leaders and its union employees.
The senator has served his first term alongside a Democratically controlled Senate and administration which has racked up over $6 trillion of new debt in less than five years, more than doubling the rate of the previous eight years. Yet, he points to the excesses of the previous (Bush) administration and a largely symbolic salary cut as evidence of his fiscal responsibility. His words are nothing more than political double speak and bad math, but who would expect anything less from the Senate's only member without a college degree and a closet liberal?
Mark Begich is not a political moderate, nor is he a good representative of Alaska's conservative fiscal and social values. Don't be fooled again when he runs for reelection in 2014.
— Eric Sees
Eagle River