Grabby And Greedy

The Honorable Ted Stevens, the 82-year old senior Senator from Alaska, was irate: “I will put the Senate on notice--and I don’t kid people--if the Senate decides to discriminate against our state and take money only from our state, I will resign from this body,” he vowed in self-righteous indignation, knowing full well that no Republican would want to see him depart in anger after almost 37 years of senatorial service. But what outrage so raised his hackles?

Fellow Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, earnestly trying to find the millions of dollars needed to help the Katrina victims, had proposed that $453 million earmarked for two bridges in Alaska should rather be used to rebuild the severely hurricane-damaged Interstate 10 Bridge across Louisiana’s Lake Pontchartrain. It is a vital link in the nation’s southernmost coast-to-coast connection from Santa Monica, California, via New Orleans to Jacksonville, Florida.

That fact, however, did not impress Senator Stevens who finds it much more urgent to sell America’s taxpayers on two bridges in southeastern Alaska. One is a $315 million span, almost as long as the Golden Gate Bridge and taller than the Brooklyn Bridge, to connect Ketchikan (population 8,000) with its airport on Gravina Island (population 50). Critics have touted it a “bridge to nowhere.”

In addition, Senator Stevens and fellow Republican Don Young, Alaska’s lone Congressman and the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, want $231 million for a bridge that will connect Anchorage across an inlet to the nearly deserted Port MacKenzie, a rural area that has exactly one resident north of the town of Knik, population 22. The land consists of swamps between a few hummocks of dry ground. Fittingly, the projected span has already been named “Don Young's Way.”

On August 10, President Bush had signed the 286.4 billion transportation bill funding 6,371 highway and mass transit projects detailed on over 1,000 pages. It netted Chairman Young and Alaska over $1 billion in special projects. That is $1,597 in “pork” for every man, woman, and child in the state, according to the Washington Post. Only California and Illinois received more in absolute numbers.

Alaska ranks first among all fifty states in per capita federal spending, with $12,279 in 2003. That compared to $5,235 for last-ranking Nevada. Alaskans received $1.89 in federal assistance for every dollar they paid in federal tax. Only New Mexico received more.

In view of the huge costs of recent hurricane damage and the growing federal deficit, Senator Coburn thought that Alaska’s bridge projects “are very low on the totem pole.” He ignored, however, the unwritten Senate rule that members do not openly assail funding sought by a colleague. Not unexpectedly, therefore, Colburn’s amendment failed 82 to 15.

Some Alaskans living near the projected “bridges to nowhere” suggested, like Senator Coburn, that the available funds ought to be spent first on rebuilding the damaged infrastructure along the Golf coast. A letter to the Anchorage Daily News suggested that “This money, a gift from the people of Alaska, will represent more than just material aid; it will be a symbol for our beleaguered democracy.” Rep. Young vehemently and undiplomatically disagreed: “They can kiss my ear! That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”

On his website, the Congressman tries to defend the $1 billion his Committee and Congress allowed him to garner for Alaska in the most recent highway bill designed by his committee and officially named the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). There is, however, on his website not a single word about any obligation Americans might have to share the cost of the destruction along the Gulf coast.

Who, one wonders will assume this burden if the leaders of the rich state of Alaska refuse to forego federal funds even for projects of the lowest priority?

Wolf D. Fuhrig	Home	10-30-05
Grabby And Greedy
The Honorable Ted Stevens, the 82-year old senior Senator from Alaska, was irate: “I will put the Senate on notice--and I don’t kid people--if the Senate decides to discriminate against our state and take money only from our state, I will resign from this body,” he vowed in self-righteous indignation, knowing full well that no Republican would want to see him depart in anger after almost 37 years of senatorial service. But what outrage so raised his hackles? Fellow Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, earnestly trying to find the millions of dollars needed to help the Katrina victims, had proposed that $453 million earmarked for two bridges in Alaska should rather be used to rebuild the severely hurricane-damaged Interstate 10 Bridge across Louisiana’s Lake Pontchartrain. It is a vital link in the nation’s southernmost coast-to-coast connection from Santa Monica, California, via New Orleans to Jacksonville, Florida. That fact, however, did not impress Senator Stevens who finds it much more urgent to sell America’s taxpayers on two bridges in southeastern Alaska. One is a $315 million span, almost as long as the Golden Gate Bridge and taller than the Brooklyn Bridge, to connect Ketchikan (population 8,000) with its airport on Gravina Island (population 50). Critics have touted it a “bridge to nowhere.” In addition, Senator Stevens and fellow Republican Don Young, Alaska’s lone Congressman and the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, want $231 million for a bridge that will connect Anchorage across an inlet to the nearly deserted Port MacKenzie, a rural area that has exactly one resident north of the town of Knik, population 22. The land consists of swamps between a few hummocks of dry ground. Fittingly, the projected span has already been named “Don Young's Way.” On August 10, President Bush had signed the 286.4 billion transportation bill funding 6,371 highway and mass transit projects detailed on over 1,000 pages. It netted Chairman Young and Alaska over $1 billion in special projects. That is $1,597 in “pork” for every man, woman, and child in the state, according to the Washington Post. Only California and Illinois received more in absolute numbers. Alaska ranks first among all fifty states in per capita federal spending, with $12,279 in 2003. That compared to $5,235 for last-ranking Nevada. Alaskans received $1.89 in federal assistance for every dollar they paid in federal tax. Only New Mexico received more. In view of the huge costs of recent hurricane damage and the growing federal deficit, Senator Coburn thought that Alaska’s bridge projects “are very low on the totem pole.” He ignored, however, the unwritten Senate rule that members do not openly assail funding sought by a colleague. Not unexpectedly, therefore, Colburn’s amendment failed 82 to 15. Some Alaskans living near the projected “bridges to nowhere” suggested, like Senator Coburn, that the available funds ought to be spent first on rebuilding the damaged infrastructure along the Golf coast. A letter to the Anchorage Daily News suggested that “This money, a gift from the people of Alaska, will represent more than just material aid; it will be a symbol for our beleaguered democracy.” Rep. Young vehemently and undiplomatically disagreed: “They can kiss my ear! That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” On his website, the Congressman tries to defend the $1 billion his Committee and Congress allowed him to garner for Alaska in the most recent highway bill designed by his committee and officially named the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). There is, however, on his website not a single word about any obligation Americans might have to share the cost of the destruction along the Gulf coast. Who, one wonders will assume this burden if the leaders of the rich state of Alaska refuse to forego federal funds even for projects of the lowest priority?

Wolf D. Fuhrig

Home

10-30-05

Grabby And Greedy