WSJ: Alaska's Congressmen Are a Bridge to Nowhere

[L. Coyote]

Alaska's Congressmen Are a Bridge to Nowhere
JOHN FUND - August 16, 2008 - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121884450278545995.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

King Salmon, Alaska - An albatross Republicans must haul around this year is that voters no longer clearly see them as the party best able to control government spending and taxes. GOP pork-barrel kings such as Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young are a big reason. Now allegations of corruption are swirling around both men as they face stiff challenges in Alaska's Aug. 26 Republican primary.

Messrs. Stevens and Young have done enormous damage nationally to the Republican brand. They were champions of the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere," a $223 million span to Gravina Island with 50 people on it, that became the butt of late-night comedians. But the jokes have been replaced with anger: Mr. Stevens was indicted last month on seven felony counts of lying about $250,000 in gifts he received from the head of the oil services company VECO, Bill Allen, who was seeking earmarks from the senator. Mr. Young has spent over $1 million in legal fees fighting a federal investigation of his ties to VECO.

Yet both may win nomination from fellow Republicans ..........

[L. Coyote]

1. Newsminer: Latest government charges in VECO case raise legal, political stakes for Stevens

Latest government charges in VECO case raise legal, political stakes for Stevens
Dermot Cole - August 16, 2008 - http://newsminer.com/news/2008/aug/16/latest-government-charges-veco-case-raise-legal-po/


Normal notions about the perils of pretrial publicity are reversed in the legal struggle over whether Sen. Ted Stevens will go to trial in Washington, D.C., or Alaska.

The defense is hoping that a half-century and more of pretrial publicity would work in Stevens’ favor and lead to a more sympathetic jury with a trial in Alaska. ..........

The legal case and its attendant arguments are complicated enough. The political implications are harder to gauge and more volatile, but nothing filed in court this week will work to Stevens’ advantage in his election campaign.

He is likely to win the primary election and to face a steady stream of publicity in the weeks to come that consists of accusations and denials, hardly the ideal environment for a successful political race.

..............

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Community Discussion:

I think the Feds are sending a clear message to Ted. "We have more than ample evidense on you, get smart, get out". If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, guess what? Its probably a duck. The runt is finally getting his due for abusing the American system. I don't care what party he belongs to, he's made us the laughing stock of America and I for one am ashamed that we let him stay in office. Time for new blood in the Senate, (and the House for that matter)......

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To misuse his office as Stevens has done is appalling. What the press should look into is whether Stevens reported any of the hundreds of thousands of dollars of graft he took to the IRS. If he did, then it is evidence that he broke the law by failing to disclose his graft in his senate finance disclosure reports. If he did not (as we suspect) then he is going to have to deal with charges of tax fraud.

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