State of the Union Address Irks Alaska’s Delegation

President Obama gave his State of the Union address Tuesday night, and the response from Alaska’s U.S. senators was swift and negative, particularly to Obama’s pledge to act without Congress where he can.

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“Going it alone is not a solution and it’s counterproductive in government,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski said in a video rebuttal. “Consensus-building is hard, but 100 percent do-able.”

Sen. Mark Begich, the only Alaska Democrat in Congress, took swipes at the president, too. He says Obama should’ve focused on oil and gas development and he promises he won’t sit idle for what he calls an executive power grab from an Administration that doesn’t get Alaska’s core issues.

Liz Ruskin is the Washington, D.C., correspondent at Alaska Public Media. Reach her at lruskin@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Liz here.

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