Senate Comes to Halt in Battle of Bridges

[NVMojo]

I work for a tribe (less than 2,000 in population) that needs a 1/4 mile road built to provide a secondary access into their community for emergency vehicle back up, costing about $300,000. and we can't seem to get funding. This tribe is in Nevada, Reid's state, but they don't have oil in the region and their land that is now being mined for gold was stolen from them long ago ...but in Alaska ....

WASHINGTON (AP) - In a clash of generations and political philosophy, 37-year Senate veteran Ted Stevens of Alaska told a freshman colleague that he would resign and "be taken out of here on a stretcher" if the Senate killed funding for two Alaskan bridges.

"It is an offense, a threat to every person in my state," the 81-year-old Stevens said of the proposal by fellow Republican Tom Coburn of Oklahoma to eliminate some $450 million in federal funds for Alaskan bridges and shift $75 million to a Louisiana bridge damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

The dispute temporarily brought the Senate to a halt as Republican and Democratic leaders sought to intercede between Stevens, the Senate Pro Tempore who is renowned for winning projects for his state, and Coburn, who was elected to the Senate last year on a platform of slashing the size of government and ending old-school pork barrel spending.

more....

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/bw-cong/2005/oct/20/102006638.html

[acmavm]

1. Hell, make him keep that promise. Ted Stevens is a king-sized asshole.

.

[Kenneth ken]

2. dang

missed a perfect opportunity to get rid of one blowhard senator:
"I don't kid people," he (Stevens) said. If the Senate decides ... to take money from our state, I will resign from this body."

Another reason this empire is so screwed up becomes apparent (from the article):
But in the tradition-bound Senate, Coburn was taking on an unwritten rule that one senator does not attack the projects sought by another.

[Raster]

3. Alaska's bridge to nowhere.

http://www.pacificviews.org/weblog/archives/000054.html

Visualize a double span, rising to 200 feet above ocean level, going from Ketchikan, Alaska (pop. 14,500) to Gravina Island (pop. 50 on a good day). The only thing of note on the island is Ketchikan's airport, which has six passenger flights most days. Maybe a few more during the summer. The ferries between Ketchikan and the airport run half-filled. And Ketchikan isn't even connected to the North American road system; if you go more than 10 miles from town, you run out of road.

So why does Ketchikan, Alaska need such a huge bridge?

Because Alaska's one lone (Republican) member of the the lower house of Congress, Representative Don Young wants it built. And since Young chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, he's in an excellent position to get what he wants. Despite it's US $200 million pricetag, Young's 'bridge to nowhere' has remained in the transporation appropriation bill currently working its way through the Congress, even though the project makes no economic sense and is being proposed at a time when the country faces a massive federal deficit.

"This really is a bridge to nowhere," said Keith Ashdown, a spokesman for the conservative budget watchdog Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Mr Ashdown says the Bush administration is the most fiscally irresponsible in history. "You can't have tax cuts, a war, and all the other legislative plans and then think we won't bust the budgetary dam," he said. <...>

mayor, Michael Salazar, argues that the bridge will open up the town to investment, enhance its attraction as a stop-off for cruises on the increasingly popular Alaskan tourist trail, and could be its saviour.

He said: "The environmental lobby always bitches if you change anything. But they probably said the same about the Golden Gate Bridge. Your first impression is 'look how beautiful it is here' and 'won't the bridge spoil the view' but what we need to continue our existence is jobs."


We can hardly wait to see Rep. Young's proposal to build a freeway from Ketchikan to Prince Rupert, British Columbia (pop. 17,000), the closest town connected to the North American road grid. It would only have to cross seven or eight ocean inlets in 100 miles or so. At US $200 million a bridge plus 100 miles of road, just imagine how many jobs the project would create. And don't worry about the cost: our kids will pay for it.

[Toots]

7. As a tax payer I would rather support a bridge built by American workers

than bullets to kill people made in another country. Actually the population of Ketchikan is about double the figure you used and has no road access to their one and only airport. Imagine every time you go to the airport to meet someone or go some place you need to take a ferry at a cost just to get there. I doubt if there is any other major US city with the population in the thousands that does not have road access to their airport. Remember rebuilding or building our American infrastructure is what brought America out of the Depression. It is just good smart use of our money to keep our citizens employed and as a matter of security have ready access to an airfield. I am not suggesting though that it should be done instead of aiding Katrina victims but that funding should be cut in the War Department before highway funding is cut.

[Raster]

9. I agree with you in principal. I also agree that funding should be cut in

the Department of Killing and Maiming before monies are cut from infrastructure. I'm just wondering if this particular project is the best use of $200 million dollars at this time?

[Ron Mexico]

4. By an 82-15 vote, Stevens stays and keeps his bridge.

Only ONE Democrat voted against Stevens and his precious fucking bridge. Man, did we miss an opportunity here - to demonstrate even more of an edge in fiscally responsiblity over the Repugs AND to get rid of an asshole like Stevens.

I plan on writing to every Democrat who voted pro-Stevens and ask, in politer terms than I'd use here, "what the fuck were you thinking and why the fuck didn't you vote against the fucking bridge?"

[NVMojo]

5. thanks for the info...I'm getting folks to write Reid and pals

[wordpix]

6. Where is the 2nd Bridge to Nowhere?

The article doesn't say.

"If the Senate decides ... to take money from our state, I will resign from this body." ---AK Sen. Ted Stevens (R)

Please let's lobby/write/yell to our senators and reps to get the $$$ back for more worthy transportation projects so this asshole resigns. I suspect the bridge is really for the logging/mining rapists who have denuded everything in the lower 48 and now have not much left except Alaska.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

8. From Stevens' butt to his head.

[KamaAina]

11. ROFL! Well, they DID say it was near Anchorage...

One, called by critics the "bridge to nowhere," would connect Ketchikan, Alaska, to an island where there is an airport and about 50 people. The highway bill allotted $223 million for that project and $229 million for another bridge near Anchorage.

But, why do we need a bridge from Stevens' butt to his head? Isn't one terminal of the porposed bridge already halfway up the other?

[sofa king]

12. No Residency Presidency for you then, Ted.

As President pro tempore of the Senate, Ted Stevens is #4 in the line of succession. Things ain't looking too good for Dick and George right now, and Denny usually does what he's told.

Should Ted resign, I do believe that Trent Lott is next in line for the pro tempore position.... I wonder what Trent would be willing to do to be President?

[karlrschneider]

10. Coburn (who I've known close & personal for 35 years) is mostly an ass

but he's right on this small issue. He's like a broken clock.