A Road Through A Wildlife Refuge...And, A President Who Hesitates to Twist Arms

[amborin]

In Gun Bill Defeat, a President Who Hesitates to Twist Arms

Senator Mark Begich, Democrat of Alaska, asked President Obama’s administration for a little favor last month.
Send your new interior secretary this spring to discuss a long-simmering dispute over construction of a road through a wildlife refuge, Mr. Begich asked in a letter. The administration said yes. (Begich wants to road through the wildlife refuge)


Senator Mark Begich appears unlikely to be punished by the White House for refusing to support background checks.

Four weeks later, Mr. Begich, who faces re-election next year, ignored Mr. Obama’s pleas on a landmark bill intended to reduce gun violence and instead voted against a measure to expand background checks. Mr. Obama denounced the defeat of gun control steps on Wednesday as “a shameful day.”

But Mr. Begich’s defiance and that of other Democrats who voted against Mr. Obama appear to have come with little cost. Sally Jewell, the interior secretary, is still planning a trip to Alaska — to let Mr. Begich show his constituents that he is pushing the government to approve the road.

edit

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/us/politics/in-gun-bill-defeat-a-president-who-hesitates-to-twist-arms.html?hp&_r=0

[msongs]

1. "I welcome their hatred" vs "I'll do anything you say if you will like me" nt