With the help of at least a half a dozen Alaskans, Sen. Mark Begich takes aim at the conservative Koch brothers in his first television ad of the race. The ad takes issue with the Koch brothers, who have spent roughly $1 million attacking Begich for hurting the economy, while Koch Industries announced the shuttering of a North Pole refinery, a mainstay of Alaska’s Interior economy.
Using a montage of six Alaskans, the ad accuses the brothers of contaminating the drinking water and laying off workers.
“The Koch brothers, the billionaire Koch brothers. I do not believe it. They come into our town, fire a refinery, just running it into the ground, leaving a mess. A lot of Alaskans are losing jobs and I’m definitely concerned about the drinking water. I don’t go down to tell them what to do, I expect them not to come up to Alaska to tell us what to do,” say a mix of Alaskans in the ads.
In a statement, the Koch brothers funded political group Americans for Prosperity fired back at Begich. “It’s disappointing that Senator Begich’s first message to Alaskans is a Washington-style, negative attack ad that does nothing to address any of the real concerns voters have about his record,” Alaska AFP spokeswoman Heidi Gay said.
“Senator Begich already misled Alaskans about ObamaCare; now he keeps changing his answer about supporting a carbon tax. Although he has tried recently to distance himself from past support, even Politifact concluded he would be a ‘maybe’ on a carbon tax vote. He has given a different answer every time he has been asked about it.”
AFP has repeatedly claimed that Begich supports a carbon tax. Begich has repeatedly said that he doesn’t. Begich did however sign a 2010 letter written to Senate Majority leader Harry Reid that called for “making polluters pay through a price on greenhouse gas emissions,” in order to address climate change.
A carbon tax is one way to make polluters pay. There are other ways, however, as Begich has pointed out.
GOP candidate Dan Sullivan isn’t buying it. His campaign called Begich’s denial of such support an “election day conversion.”
None of the three GOP candidates–Sullivan, Mead Treadwell, or Joe Miller — have said anything about the closure of the refinery.
Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com
You want to see the Koch Brothers influence in Alaska politics? Check our the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) which is supported by the Koch Brothers. ALEC includes several Alaska legislators who travel to ALEC meetings and return with .”model legislation” they introduce to further the political agenda of the Koch Brothers. Now we will see how these ALEC aligned legislators perform on the issue of the Flint Hills Refinery clean up.
Isn’t Begich the only candidate in the race that has actually taken money from the Koch brothers? Begich, at one time or another, finds himself on all sides of an issue depending on who he’s talking to. Guess he gets upset and runs nasty ads when he gets caught telling a fib.