Begich’s Big, Ugly Vote Backfires at Home

The bill is deeply unpopular with the majority of Alaskans, yet Begich has falsely touted it as a “great bill for Alaska” and admitted he had “no doubt” about voting for the Medicaid-cutting tax scam.

So where was he during August recess? Not at town halls. Not taking questions from the press or general public. Not explaining why he voted to gut lifesaving programs – and his silence was deafening.

Read more for yourself:

• Every August, members of Congress return to their home districts for several weeks. This time around, the task for…Alaska’s all-Republican congressional delegation was to sell their legislative accomplishment from the preceding month: a behemoth budget reconciliation bill that offsets the extension of tax cuts by slashing spending on Medicaid.
• The bill could prove more politically decisive for…Alaska’s only U.S. House member, Rep. Nick Begich, who [faces] reelection…next year.
• Begich [has] sought to portray the bill as a triumph for the state, even as a majority of Alaskans indicated in a recent survey that they oppose it. Whether or not…Begich succeed[s] in convincing Alaskans could determine [his] political future.
• On Wednesday…groups in Anchorage sought to draw attention to one thing that…Begich…did not do during the recess: host a town hall open to the general public.
• “We’re here tonight because it is August recess in America, and that means — allegedly — the delegations of the members of Congress are home in their districts. Allegedly they are here. They are hiding,” said Kristen Crowell, executive director of Fair Share America.
• …Begich faced criticism earlier this year when he cut off a question from a Trump critic during a telephone town hall…Begich also declined multiple interview requests from the Daily News.
• “When people argue against Medicaid funding, they fail to see the human cost. Cuts to Medicaid mean that families like mine will be forced to go bankrupt for trying to provide care,” said [Sarah Krug, an Anchorage resident who relies on Medicaid to care for her child who has cerebral palsy]. “Thousands will simply fall through the cracks, left without the care that they need to survive.”
• …Begich [has] largely sidestepped any public debate about the projected cuts to Medicaid spending across the country.

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