Focus on maintaining political clout By Tom Schulz January 22, 2014
Greens Creek and Kensington mines are expanding, adding dozens of good-paying jobs. Senator Begich helped the mines through the federal permitting process. Greens Creek is on federally protected land and normally wouldn’t have been able to expand. But thanks to our Senator’s work it did receive the federal permit and is expanding. We’re also seeing major progress on reducing federal deficits. In fact, this December the federal government ran a budget surplus, according the Wall Street Journal. We haven’t had an annual budget surplus since the start of the Iraq war over a decade ago. According to the Congressional Budget office, annual deficits have fallen approximately 50% since 2008. The improvement to our financial situation is due to several factors. First; we’ve had consistent economic growth since 2008, which results in more revenue. Second, Congress has enacted spending cuts. For example, the recent bipartisan budget agreement further reduced deficit spending. Senator Begich pushed hard to stop pay raises for Senators, and blocking pay raises was just one part of the effort to reduce deficits. Senator Murkowski and Senator Begich voted for that bipartisan budget agreement. After the Budget agreement, Congress passed a bipartisan appropriations bill that contained some important investments in Alaska. For example, all our major military installations received funding for infrastructure improvements. Our Alaska military installations are getting upgrades in rescue equipment like helicopters. And that bipartisan appropriations bill contained major investments of importance to Southeast Alaska in particular. For example, it strengthened our marine debris cleanup program and invested in our salmon fisheries. People in Ketchikan have seen this progress firsthand, as our shipyard received funding for upgrades. When it comes to our Senatorial delegation, we’re benefiting from people who are from Alaska and understand Alaska. Our bipartisan Senatorial delegation has clout because they’re able to work with people on both sides of the aisle. As we look to the future, I think we need to focus on maintaining that political clout. Tom Schulz About: District 26 Democrats http://ketchikandemocrats.org/ Received January 21, 2014 - Published January 22, 2014
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