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Sen. Mark Begich of Alaska is the lead sponsor of Senate Bill 1865, which would raise the price of the federal duck stamp to $25. At its current price, the buying power of the federal duck stamp, which is required by the U.S. government to hunt migratory waterfowl, has never been lower over its 79-year history, according to a news release from Ducks Unlimited. Since the federal duck stamp’s enactment in 1934, the price has only been raised seven times. It has been 23 years since the last increase to bring the price of the stamp to $15, the single...

An Alaska senator said the State Department called his office today to say that they would be creating a post for a U.S. ambassador to the Arctic. Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) introduced the United States Ambassador at Large for Arctic Affairs Act a year ago, pressing Secretary of State John Kerry to make the appointment on economic and national security grounds. Six of the eight Arctic nations currently have ambassador-level diplomats representing their interests before the Arctic Council. The United States will assume the chairmanship of the Arctic Council in 2015. “It’s not always easy explaining to Washington bureaucrats how...

As Democrats have been pushing extending unemployment benefits in Washington this week, Alaska Democratic senator Mark Begich missed an important vote to give a speech to a lobbying organization in Hawaii. Begich, one of a handful of vulnerable red-state Democrats, delivered a speech at an annual event hosted by the American Association of Airport Executives, according to the Hill. While in Hawaii, he attended two fundraisers and met with Hawaiian governor Neil Abercrombie. An aide stated that the senator committed to the speech before the vote was scheduled, and the additional events were later planned. The Senate voted to invoke...

Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) is drawing praise from across the aisle from one of Alaska's top Republicans. Rep. Don Young (R), the state's lone congressman, praised the work Begich has done as senator. "Mark's done a great job of, very frankly, representing people. He's not always on my page, that's for sure, but he's done a good job," Young told The Hill on Wednesday. Young, the longest-serving House Republican, said he expected Begich to face a tough race, however, due to some of his votes for Democratic priorities. "His big challenge is some of the votes he made are not...

The Republican National Committee began running ads in 40 media markets Tuesday mostly targeting incumbent senators who supported President Barack Obama’s health care program. Billionaire former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, meanwhile, gave $2.5 million to help Democrats defend their majority in the Senate. The early action suggests Republicans see the president’s signature domestic achievement as their way to keep control of the House and perhaps win the Senate. With more than 300 days remaining before Election Day, both sides are looking to set the agenda before voters start paying attention. “Obamacare is going to be the issue in 2014,”...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Sen. Mark Begich's campaign is pushing back against an ad featuring a woman who speaks of him like he's her senator when she's actually an actress. Begich campaign manager Susanne Fleek-Green called the ad from Americans for Prosperity a "phony attempt to snooker Alaskans."

Red-state Democrats always knew Obamacare would be a problem during next year's midterm election. But a new poll released Tuesday shows just how daunting a threat it is. **SNIP** Those numbers draw a bull's-eye on the back of the four red-state Democratic incumbents who voted for the health care reform in 2010 and are up for reelection in 2014: Mary Landrieu in Louisiana, Mark Begich in Alaska, Mark Pryor in Arkansas, and Kay Hagan in North Carolina. Each already faces a slim path to victory in their respective conservative-leaning states, one narrowed further by the law's increasing unpopularity. There's little...

Senator Mark Begich (D., Ala.(sic)) said Monday that he has enrolled in a health-insurance plan through the federal marketplace. Begich, who has been a supporter of Obamacare, told the Associated Press that he had no trouble signing up. He also declared that the difference in the exchange’s performance between its launch and now was “day and night.” Previously, enrollment proved so difficult that Enroll Alaska, a company founded specifically to enroll Alaskans, threw in the towel. According to the company, the federal exchange’s subsidy calculator was under-calculating the tax subsidy Alaskans were eligible for by $100. The freshman senator said...

There was a time, not long ago, when former semi-Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) could cause a stir just by Facebooking her own bad dystopian Obamacare fanfic, but hard times have fallen on the giving a rat’s winking ass about Sarah Palin industry. How bad has it gotten? Barely a month into her serious consideration of a bid to replace Senator Mark Begich (D-AK), Palin announced that she is “not planning to run for the U.S. Senate,” and not only did nobody care, they actually cared more about Palin’s thoughts on Ashton Kutcher than her senatorial ambitions, or lack thereof. In...

Gotta figure her lead would be even bigger without Joe Miller in the field here. Her nomination for the taking? Alaska should be a top tier pick up opportunity for Senate Republicans next year…but their top choice of a candidate is Sarah Palin. 36% of GOP primary voters in the state say they’d like Palin to be their standard bearer against Mark Begich to 26% for Mead Treadwell, 15% for Dan Sullivan, and 12% for Joe Miller. Palin leads mostly based on her strength with ‘very conservative’ voters where she gets 43% to 20% for Treadwell, but she also leads...

Sarah Palin underexposed? It’s hard to imagine. But in Alaska, where she is considering a Senate run, she might be. The former governor “has no profile in Alaska. She’s not active,” says a Republican consultant familiar with Alaska politics. “She’s doing her own thing personally. She’s not giving speeches and doing Republican-women events and fundraisers and helping people. She’s just very much under the radar.” That kind of invisibility may have prompted her potential opponent, Democrat Mark Begich, to snarkily remark to Politico yesterday, “I don’t know if she’s a resident. She’s been away from Alaska a lot.” According to...

Governor Palin has added the following photos/posts to her Facebook page this morning here and here. Really, Mark? Really?Margaret Thatcher used to say, “I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.” So, thank you, Mark Begich, for making me and others exceptionally cheery today! Mark, after looking at your voting record I can see why you are looking for a distraction. You have voted FOR Obamacare, FOR massive tax increases, FOR carbon taxes which could cost Alaskans 21,000...

Republican Alaska Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell announced Tuesday that he will run for Senate next year. He enters as the apparent frontrunner against Joe Miller, a conservative who blew the 2010 race, in a GOP primary. “Alaskans are very concerned about what is, or is not, happening in Washington, D.C,” Treadwell said in a statement on his web site. “So am I.” Now attention turns to Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan, who was Sarah Palin’s appointee as Alaska attorney general. If he gets in the race, the two candidates acceptable to the establishment could divide the vote.

"Superficial" "A source close to the Senate negotiations [says] that two senators who voted against the background check bill would vote for it after minor, superficial changes." - Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC, May 6, 2013ACTION: Senators who voted pro-gun last month are under intense pressure - by Senate Democrats and Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s hit ads - to switch their votes.  We need to keep applying the heat and let them know that gun owners are ready to help in any Senate campaign, no matter which state, to defeat ANY SENATOR who votes for gun control.LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FROM WASHINGTON, DC. It’s...

"Do the words 'Senator Sarah Palin' excite you?" That's the opening line of a recent email by The Tea Party Leadership Fund, which is trying to draft the former Alaska governor and past Fox News commentator to run for the Senate in 2014. The fund argues Palin has a clear path to victory in part due to recent polling showing incumbent Sen. Mark Begich, a Democrat, with less than 50 percent of the vote. But, it being a draft, the group hasn't talked with Palin about whether or not she's interested. And Palin – whose PAC didn't respond to request...

WASHINGTON — As the Senate prepares to begin debating new gun control measures, some of President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats are poised to frustrate his efforts to enact the most sweeping limits on weapons in decades. These Democrats from largely rural states with strong gun cultures view Obama's proposals warily and have not committed to supporting them. The lawmakers' concerns could stand in the way of strong legislation before a single Republican gets a chance to vote "no." There's a core group of Democratic senators, most but not all from the West, who represent states with a higher-than-average rate of...

<p>It will be an uphill battle--all the way. I know this.</p> <p>Do we let the gun industry take over and dictate policy to this country? Do we let those who profit from increasing sales of these military style-weapons prevent us from taking commonsense steps to stop the carnage?</p>

WASHINGTON - Recognizing the need to revamp outdated and restrictive gun laws, U.S Senators Mark Begich (D-Alaska) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) have introduced the Firearms Interstate Commerce Reform Act. The bill allows for the interstate sale of firearms and removes several antiquated and unnecessary restrictions imposed on interstate firearms transactions.“Utahns and Americans everywhere have a right to bear arms, and this legislation ensures that onerous and outdated restrictions on everyone’s Second Amendment rights are no longer in place,” Sen. Hatch said. “By removing these restrictions, we can ensure that the constitutional freedoms we seek to protect remain intact.”“Current laws restricting interstate commerce of firearms...

Sen. Mark Begich is turning a deaf ear to Sarah Palin's demand that he make drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge a condition for his vote to approve raising the nation's debt ceiling. "She's not really on my radar screen to take advice from," the Alaska Democrat told reporters Tuesday. "Let me put it this way. It's always interesting to read what she has to say," Begich said. But, he added, "Someone who quit Alaska is not someone I look for to get Alaska policy decisions on." In discussing the debt ceiling vote on "Fox News Sunday," Palin said:...

Landrieu pushes back against attacks on Big OilMay 11, 2011 Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) has thought of a novel way for oil industry executives to protest her party’s attacks on their federal subsidies: Pack up your things and go elsewhere. “I don’t think the oil executives would ever do this, but if I were one of them, I would be tempted to just shut off the spigots and go elsewhere and maybe America could run everything on solar power for the next decade or two and see what happens,” Landrieu told POLITICO. Landrieu, who hails from a major oil producing...