A ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ no more

Congress still hasn’t agreed on how much — or even whether — to cut federal spending, but there was a small but significant victory for fiscal sanity last week: Pork appropriator extraordinaire Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, pulled funding for his infamous “Bridge to Nowhere” project. The $320 million savings is small in the context of the federal budget, but the symbolism is large. Now, other lawmakers need to get the message and go on a pork-free diet.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

5 Comments

  1. kelly
    Posted November 22, 2005 at 3:06 am | Permalink

    What Congress needs to do is to lead – and they should start by giving up their salary increase. If they are going to cut back on Medicaid, college tuition aid and food stamps, then they shouldn’t be lining their pockets with salary increases either.

  2. mrcontroversy
    Posted November 22, 2005 at 7:03 am | Permalink

    Maybe the gentleman from Alaska will get on a roll, and realize the House DTV plan to eliminate local television from cable in 2013 is a really, really bad idea.

  3. TRACY
    Posted November 22, 2005 at 7:28 am | Permalink

    Phillip you forgot to add the fact that Ted got to keep the 320 mill for Alaska, he just has to find some place else to spend it.

  4. Joe Williams
    Posted November 22, 2005 at 8:47 am | Permalink

    They can still spend it on a bridge if they want. But Tracy is right. Alaska state government got the money, so there was no savings.

    But boy did it upset the Congressional Delegation in Alaska. They were Pee Ode! Big Time!

    LOL! Wonder if Alaska going to still build their $2 million dollar bus stop.

  5. Falcone
    Posted November 22, 2005 at 4:14 pm | Permalink

    Pork is the grease that makes the political machine work. We complain long and loud about crummy politicians, but usually we mean other people’s crummy politicians. As long as a politician brings home the bacon and doesn’t eat a baby on live TV, they get re-elected.