Mark Begich: ShortFormBlog

17:22 • 1 month ago

The President, the Secretary of Defense, and Alaskan Senator Mark Begich announced this week that they'll all give a portion of their salaries back to the US Treasury.

The public, stated reason for this is to show solidarity with federal workers who were furloughed due to the sequester. An alternate explanation: The President warned for weeks that the sequester would have a disastrous effect on the country, but its effects since hitting haven’t been acutely felt by the citizenry at large. These pledges by the president and his allies serve as a public reminder that yes, the sequester did have tangible, measurable effects—at least for the workers who’ve been furloughed—and thus retroactively lend credence to the president’s warnings. source

15:34 • 4 months ago

President Obama faces gun control pushback from Blue Dog Democrats, others

Tags: Politics Gun Control President Obama Mark Begich Mark Pryor Tim Johnson Max Baucus 2nd Amendment Second Amendment grabbags sc 22 • Permalink

Sen. Begich “I think they’ve got a long haul here … There are some of us who just fundamentally believe in a Second Amendment right. To be frank, I feel like it’s going to be hard for any of these pieces of legislation to pass at this point.”
Sen. Pryor ”While I appreciate the president’s efforts to keep Americans safe, I believe the place to start is to enforce the laws on the books. That being said, I will continue to look for areas of common ground, including funding for law enforcement in schools, implementing tracking systems for the mentally ill and criminals, and addressing violence in the media.”
Sen. Johnson ”We in South Dakota have far fewer problems with guns than they do in New York or New Jersey, and it makes common sense to not have one size fits all.”
Sen. Baucus ”Enforcing the laws we already have on the books is good first step, and it’s clear more needs to be done to address access to mental health care. Before passing new laws, we need a thoughtful debate that respects responsible, law-abiding gun owners in Montana instead of a one-size-fits all directives from Washington.” source

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The President, the Secretary of Defense, and Alaskan Senator Mark Begich announced this week that they'll all give a portion of their salaries back to the US Treasury.

President Obama faces gun control pushback from Blue Dog Democrats, others