CNBC’s Squawk Box is reporting that the ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ has been officially defunded. However, this can only be seen as a small victory. The millions of dollars allocated for this pork project will go to the Alaska state government for them to spend as they see fit�instead of the money going to the Katrina relief effort�or, heaven forbid, back to federal taxpayers.

The Seirra Club press release has more info (though their website does not appear to be handling the traffic load very well right now):

SENATE STRIPS EARMARKS FROM ‘BRIDGES TO NOWHERE’

The Senate Appropriations Committee removed earmarks for two controversial “bridges to nowhere” in Alaska: the Gravina bridge, which would connect Ketchikan to an island of 50 people, and the Knik Arm bridge, which would link Anchorage to a sparsely populated area. The projects have been the subject of strong criticism because of the general backlog of existing roads and bridges in desperate need of repair, especially those affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. According to the National Association of Civil Engineers, one in four bridges nationwide is structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, not including the damage from Katrina and Rita.

The issue has been particularly controversial for Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) who has served as a strong advocate for the Gravina bridge despite the fact that her family owns 33-acres of undeveloped land 3/4 of a mile from the point where the bridge would touch down. Since the State would now decide how the money would be spent, her father, Governor Frank Murkowski, would now face the same ethical scrutiny.

Did you catch that? Let me repeat it to be sure: The issue has been particularly controversial for Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) who has served as a strong advocate for the Gravina bridge despite the fact that her family owns 33-acres of undeveloped land 3/4 of a mile from the point where the bridge would touch down.

I’ve suspected for quite a while these bridges have been nothing more than a way to open prime development property for few well placed people. That opinion has been pretty much solidified.

Some are calling this a small victory against pork. I call it no victory at all. If you read the articles, you’ll see that Alaska is still getting the Federal taxpayer money, it’s just no longer earmarked for the bridges. It is up to Alaska to decide how they want to spend the money. Don’t be shocked if Alaska comes back and says ‘You know, we’ve got these two bridges we really need to have built….’

Are Your Tax Dollars Being Wasted?

Congress recently approved $223 million to build a bridge to a tiny island in Alaska. Such ‘pork projects’ as well as some other allocations in the federal budget raise an important question: Are Your Tax Dollars Being Wasted?

edit 11-19-08: broken link fixed

We Alaskans can afford to pay for our own bridges.
…
42% of our state revenue is from oil royalties and taxes. 39% of our annual revenue is earnings from our Permanent Fund, which was created from and is funded by, that’s right, oil revenues.
…
in addition, on October 12, each man, woman and child in the state will get a check for $846, representing their share of the oil wealth for the year. We pay no state individual income tax.

Alaskan’s pay no individual state income taxes? Apparently, that’s true. Looks like they don’t pay a sales tax either.

What really caught my eye was ‘each man, woman and child in the state will get a check for $846‘. Oh come on! That has to be BS right? Nope. Apparently the check is true as well. Its called the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation.

To top it all off, Alaska is a shall-issue carry state.

I’m living in the wrong damn state.

(yes, PA is a shall issue state as well but 1- I spend 99% of my waking time in MD and 2- Alaska’s permit has reciprocity in damn near half the country).

Technorati tag: Porkbusters

Congressional Contact Status

The list below shows the amount of pork Representatives and Senators have committed to cutting as reported by bloggers and blog-readers who have contacted them. The goal is to get every Representative and every Senator to commit to cutting significant pork projects in their district or state. So if your representatives show as ‘NO CUTS COMMITTED’, contact them and ask what they would cut — then report back here and let the world know what they say!

As of this writing, the only member of Congress to comit to any cuts is Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D – San Fransico 8th District).

In fact, other members of Congress become downright angry and belligerent when it is suggested they give up some of their pet project pork. Case in point Rep. Don Young (R-AK) (who’s infamous ‘Bridge to Nowhere‘ pork project has been covered here before).

VIDEO: ‘Chief Porker’ Don Young Lashes Out At Critics

No! That money is not there! That money is for transportation! That is not added pork. See, that’s why the whole media – Wall Street Journal, yourself, respectfully, you know, Sam Donaldson – don’t know what the hell you are talking about. This is grandstanding by individuals that don’t know what they’re talking about. I’ll go back to that. It’s ignorance and stupidity.

I have to agree with Rep Young there. It is most definitely ‘ignorance and stupidity‘.

The Truth Laid Bear, the site hosting Porkbusters, also has a list of pork projects per state with links and info on how to add more bacon to the list.

Technorati tag: Hurricane Katrina Porkbusters

Will the GOP take the bridge to nowhere?

Having recently voted to appropriate more than $62 billion to fund Katrina recovery efforts and with a looming final price tag near $200 billion, Congress is now debating how to actually pay for all this spending.

The track record is not good. Federal spending currently tops $22,000 per American household; and since 2001, the federal government has expanded in size by 33 percent. Some estimates have the federal deficit topping $500 billion by 2008 and $873 billion by 2015.

But the real debate isn’t happening in Congress as a whole – it is unfolding within the Republican Party. The debate will shape the future of the GOP. If Republicans – the one-time party of small government and fiscal restraint — cannot support spending cuts now, then they will officially signal their abandonment of fiscal conservatism, a once valued part of the Republican platform.

As part of that battle, conservative members of Congress, buttressed by think tanks and watchdog groups, are demanding accountability and responsible spending.

Emphasis mine.

For his part, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has said repeal of the drug benefit was a “non-starter.” DeLay drew criticism from conservatives last week when he declared an “ongoing victory” over wasteful government spending. For his efforts the House Majority Leader was named “Porker of the Month” by the government watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste.

Many Republican members of Congress must be asking themselves, “Is Nancy Pelosi the best fiscal conservative this Congress has to offer?”

And in related news:

Senate OKs Coburn Measure to Shine Light on Pork

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-OK, was successful yesterday in securing Senate passage of an amendment that he believes “will lift the veil of secrecy that conceals the process of inserting special projects – or pork – into appropriations bills.”

The Coburn amendment was successfully attached to the Agriculture Appropriations bill and was approved by the Senate on a 55-39 vote. The measure must be approved by the House and signed by President Bush in order for it to become law.

Technorati tag: Porkbusters

Rep. Don Young (R-AK) is trying to sell America’s taxpayers a $315 million “bridge to nowhere” in rural Alaska. As Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, he is in a very good position to get his way. But Rep. Young should be stopped from using his political clout to force federal taxpayers to pay for a bridge that is ridiculous in its scope, unjustified on its merits, and far too expensive for taxpayers to swallow at a time of record federal deficits.

If Rep. Young succeeds, tiny Ketchikan, Alaska, a town with less than 8,000 residents (about 13,000 if the entire county is included) will receive hundreds of millions of federal dollars to build a bridge to Gravina Island (population: 50). This bridge will be nearly as long as the Golden Gate Bridge and taller than the Brooklyn Bridge.

If memory serves me correctly, Alaska recieves a higher percentage of pork spending per taxpayer than any other state in the union.

John Stossel uses the Ketchikan bridge as a prime example of government pork in his series Myths, Lies and Nasty Behavior.

Whether Democrats or Republicans control Congress, one thing never changes. Politicians love to spend your money.

Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, is a good example. Years ago Congress gave money to the little tourist town of Ketchikan, with only 14,000 residents, for an airport on a nearby island. Ketchikan International has six to eight flights a day, and people get there by taking a short ferry ride — which they love. The scenic ride takes 500 air travelers a day to or from the airport in just seven minutes

Young wouldn’t talk to me about this. Maybe he’s too busy bringing home even more money for Alaskans. His state is one of the least populated in America, but he has helped get it more pork dollars than 49 other states, including pork like the Ketchikan bridge that even some of the locals don’t want.