Senator Stevens was often reported as the King Of Pork, when all he was doing was try to make life a little more equatable for us with things you guys take for granted, and we don't have. Say you and your family wants to go see Grandma, you jump in the car and drive 50 to 150 miles without too much thought about it. Spend a long weekend then drive home. Many Alaskans have to fly to Grandma's house because there are no roads.
Problem now is that the people in the lower 48 (Congress) don't want to help us build roads. We helped pay for the Interstate system that connects and runs through the states, connecting cities and towns. Congress does not want to reciprocate. Some of these highways runs through vast unpopulated areas, like west Texas, and southern Arizona. It's nice and very convenient, for you folks. With big bridges and expensive causeways, even tunnels to cross places like Chesapeake Bay. Tunnels to go under rivers like in New York. And when we try and build a bridge it is called A Bridge To No Where. Here we sit with over 570K square miles, that's bigger than Texas, California, and Montana combined. Yet there is no highways to the entire western half of the state, and only one road north of the Yukon river. Alaska is arguably the least-connected state in terms of road transportation. The state's road system covers a relatively small area of the state, linking the central population centers and the Alaska Highway, the principal route out of the state through Canada. The places most tourist wants to go. The state capital, Juneau, is not accessible by road. All the highways are in the southeastern corner of the state except the Dalton Highway (The Haul Road) which was built by Aleyeska to build the oil pipeline, not with public funds. The last highway built in our state was the Parks Highway, from Anchorage to Fairbanks, built in 1972. This highway runs through Denali National Park. One of the main reason's for building it was that it shortened the drive to Denali from a seven hour drive to four hours from Anchorage. Again to benefit tourist. No one down there thinks about us.
As I said before Senator Stevens is old and senile. I honestly feel that it was a slip-up on his part, an honest mistake. He just plain forgot to assure the house bills were put on his taxes. Senator Stevens did pay for some work to be done to his house, Who knows, maybe Bill Allen did far beyond what he was supposed to do, in hopes of trapping the Senator for future uses. He had several State Legislators on his string.
From the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense:
"Taxpayers for Common Sense has released the last four years of earmark data for Alaska to help create an understanding of how powerful Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) has remained as an appropriator. The new research has found that Senator Stevens has secured or played a significant role in securing more than 891 earmarks worth $3.2 billion, which comes to $4,872 per capita over the last four years. This is more than 18 times the national average of $263 per capita for the same four years."
and
"He handed four earmarks worth $15.3 million to the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP), originally designed to capture energy from the aurora borealis. The program has reportedly received more than one hundred million federal dollars since 1995. Stevens also sponsored three earmarks worth $8.8 million for Hibernation Genomics, a University of Alaska-Fairbanks program that aims to “hibernate” people by slowing down their metabolisms while keeping them alive long enough to treat illnesses."
and
"Then there are the initiatives which can’t possibly benefit anyone outside Alaska, such as the Alaska National Guard’s Counterdrug Program (four earmarks worth $10 million). Stevens also sponsored 13 earmarks worth more than $60 million—often with fellow Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski—for the Alaska Land Mobile Radio, criticized by a 2006 State of Alaska audit for the “uncoordinated and inconsistent management of the project [which] has contributed” to cost overruns, shoddy accounting and budget planning."
Here's a link to the 891 spending amendments he added since 2004 and what they are:
http://www.taxpayer.net/user_uploads/file/Appropriations/All_Alaska_Earmarks_2005-2008.xlsJust like with deltecs complaint with the CRP program, the question is this: If these things are necessary, and fair, and we should all be supporting it, why not just make it a bill and let everyone vote? Why add these projects onto unrelated bills at the last minute?
And, obviously, no one forces anyone to live in Alaska. I agree that things are different and that things that are simple for us contiguous guys may not be for you. If that's a problem, move. But the truth is the remoteness, adventure, wildlife, oil fields, fishing, etc... are advantages that draw people to Alaska. I probably wouldn't feel sorry for residents of Nevada who complain about how hot it is...
And finally, let us not forget that the state of Alaska actually pays it's residents to live there. The permanent fund dividend payment is unique among all the states as far as I know. I'm certain I don't get one from the state of Kansas, nor did I get one when I lived in Missouri. Perhaps if a bridge is desperately needed for the residents of Ketchikan or Anchorange and it makes so much sense to build it, you guys could pay for it? I mean hell, if a project is such a surefire success people should be jumping at the opportunity to pay for such a thing... but they're not... huh...
