Municipal attorney Dennis Wheeler concludes in his report to the Assembly that then-Mayor Mark Begich failed to disclose the severity of the city's potential budget shortfall before the Assembly approved the 2009 budget and long-term labor contracts. We agree.

Assemblyman Matt Claman has said he didn’t see anything to suggest that former Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich was hiding something.

Claman was responding to the city attorney’s report looking into whether Begich withheld key information from the Assembly before the body approved long-term union contracts.

Does this mean Claman voted to add $200 million to the city’s budget by approving contracts knowing full well we could not afford them?

Either Claman and his fellow Socialist Six members were grossly irresponsible with taxpayer money or Begich mislead them about the state of the city’s finances.

The recently released city attorney report clearly documents how Mr. Begich withheld important information. At least three members of the Socialist Six confirmed to me Begich withheld from them the e-mail from his CFO predicting huge deficits just before they voted for the contracts. But the newly released report shows the Begich deception went even farther.

The report shows Mr. Begich was so deceptive, even a member of his own staff rebelled.

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Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan on Friday vetoed an Assembly action from Tuesday that he says would hurt his efforts to ease his difficulty of balancing the city budget in a time of tight revenue. The issue centered on $12 million in city debt due next year and $10 million due the following year. Sullivan's budget for 2010 proposes to take on new debt to make those payments. The new debt would carry a much smaller payment-due in 2010 and 2011 than the $22 million currently due, although the full amount would have to be paid eventually.

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This weekend chances are good we will take a giant step toward turning America into a country mirroring European style socialism. Our country will never be the same once government takes over health care and that is exactly what will happen if the Senate passes health care legislation this weekend. 

Here’s the sad part. Alaskans will have ended up playing a major role in ushering in socialized medicine because we elected Mark Begich to the U.S. Senate. Without Begich, Obama Care cannot pass. Begich has made it clear he will go against the wishes of the majority of his constituents and instead be loyal to his party bosses and vote in favor of the Harry Reid written health care bill.

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An investigation by the city's chief attorney concludes that former Mayor Mark Begich knew and failed to tell the Anchorage Assembly that the city wasn't going to have enough money to cover all its budgeted expenses last year and this year.

A 60-page report delivered to Assembly members late Wednesday afternoon by municipal attorney Dennis Wheeler says a section of the city charter "requires the mayor to report to the Assembly when he knows to a reasonable certainty that revenues will be less than appropriations for the fiscal year."