Alaska Congressmen Attempt to Earmark ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ For Personal Profiteering
Alaska Congressmen Attempt to Earmark ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ For Personal Profiteering
In 2005, Congress defeated the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere” earmark spearheaded by Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), which would have spent $200 million connecting mainland Alaska to an island home to 50 people.
Roll Call reports today that members of Alaska’s congressional delegation are persisting in making another bridge in the Alaskan tundra. Their pet project this time is for a bridge in the sparsely populated Knik Arm region, and the earmark “could mean a significant windfall for a number of people close to the Congressional delegation…some of whom purchased land in the area.”
Both Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Rep. Don Young (R-AK) have several relatives and former aides who own land or stock in companies with property in the Knik Arm region. Most notorious, however, is Stevens, whose underlings stand to make hundreds of thousands of dollars from the bridge:
George Lowe, Chief of Staff: “[O]wns a 2.6 acre parcel of undeveloped land on the Knik Arm…Borough records show that Lowe’s land went from being appraised at $47,000 in 2005 to $57,500 in 2006.”
Lisa Sutherland, former aide: “[O]wns just under four acres on Knik Arm, which they purchased in October 2002. The value of the land went from $38,400 in 2005 to $65,000 in 2006, according to the assessment.”
Trevor McCabe, former aide: Owns stock in Point Bluff LLC, which holds tens of acres of land in the area. “McCabe and his wife also own a separate parcel on Knik Arm, 3.7 undeveloped acres. … The value of that property went from $37,800 in 2005 to $62,400 in 2006, according to the property assessment.”
Sen. Stevens’ cronyism here is a continuation of years of abuse of his power for personal gain. His son, Ben Stevens has received millions of dollars in consulting fees from several of Sen. Stevens’ projects (see the list HERE). For example, Sen. Stevens secured more than $10 million in federal aid to put the 2001 Special Olympics Winter Games in Anchorage. Ben Stevens ran those Olympics and received over $700,000 in salary for doing so.
Sen. Stevens also helped settle a disputed contract favorable to VECO, an Alaskan oil company which recently pleaded guilty to bribing at least four Alaskan officials, including paying over $200,000 in bribes to Ben Stevens.
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45 Responses to “Alaska Congressmen Attempt to Earmark ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ For Personal Profiteering”
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Go go gadget dumb a$$ republicans!
May 14th, 2007 at 4:39 pm50 people £200 million
$4 million per person
My god they could have bought 20 lear jets and flown off the island
unless its to do with a road that links up some Oil depot
May 14th, 2007 at 4:41 pmah, politicians trying to personally profit off the taxes of American citizens. who would be surprised by this? Especially these days!
The fact of the matter is this - politicians have always done this, and the only way to prevent it in the future is to reduce the power that they have to abuse our system…
Some reading:
“Overlooking the Obvious”
May 14th, 2007 at 4:42 pmhttp://www.populistamerica.com/overlooking_the_obvious
Another typical Republicrook.
Ho hum.
May 14th, 2007 at 4:42 pmJust don’t put this in the Iraq Supplemental Spending bill. The republicans hate pork.
May 14th, 2007 at 4:43 pmNasty.
May 14th, 2007 at 4:45 pmThis shit has GOT to stop… On both sides of the aisle!
Edwards ‘08
May 14th, 2007 at 4:46 pmJeez, for $200 million, Stevens could have bought those 50 people their own yachts. Then they could come and go from the island in style!
Stevens could call Duke Cunningham about getting the yachts. He knows all about that.
May 14th, 2007 at 4:48 pmFISCAL CONSERVATISM!!!!
May 14th, 2007 at 4:50 pmSen. Lisa Murkowski is the dauther of the long-time senator Frank Murkowski who after leaving the senate became governor of Alaska and appointed Lisa to the Alaska House as majority leader. Frank is the one who introduced the bridge to nowhere. Lisa continues the fight for her bridge to nowhere.
May 14th, 2007 at 4:52 pmI despise personal enrichment by members of either Party - I’m sure you do, too. Imagine my surprise when the “Budget” topic came up and you were NOT discussing the shrinking deficit due to increased tax revenues……..I was shocked!!
Happy Monday, taxpayers!!
May 14th, 2007 at 4:56 pmIs it already friday?
May 14th, 2007 at 4:56 pmINVESTIGATE
INCARCERATE
IMPOUND (assets)…
…restore sanity…
…and the media is attempting (as usual)…
…to dictate who the presidential nominees (of both parties) will be…
…FIGHT BACK!
May 14th, 2007 at 4:57 pm£200 million how many children in a capitalist health society could have been given minor life saving Treatments - I guess nobody in the elected government really cares
May 14th, 2007 at 5:00 pmThis thread does nothing but embolden the enemy, who are, in this case, namely, anyone besides Sen. Ted Stevens.
May 14th, 2007 at 5:03 pmValiant Venus,
May 14th, 2007 at 5:04 pmWere in the “Shrinking deficit” does the money allocated for fit in?
Good Christ Toby! What the hell is that: “£”?
May 14th, 2007 at 5:04 pmGod probably wants it to happen or something.
May 14th, 2007 at 5:07 pmVV,
May 14th, 2007 at 5:08 pmWhere in the “Shrinking Defict” does the trillion or so dollars allocated for the Iraqi War fit in? When will that money be added to thec “Shrinking Deficit” VV?
Its the same GUY that did ‘Polar Express To Nowhere’ for the Northern Line Extension … The Northern Line Extension will provide a direct route from North Pole
watch this guy hes, done the bridge, the train ,
next it will be a “Road to nowhere” Highway 666 to the artic tundra for $750 million
May 14th, 2007 at 5:13 pmRepuke troll is delusional today.
She claims the deficit is shrinking due to rising taxes. LOL!!
I’m looking at the US Debt Clock and it’s not going backwards.
Once again, Venus has her head up Uranus.
May 14th, 2007 at 5:14 pmThis was my response to my friend who sent me this link. I live in Anchorage. This bridge has been considered for over 20 years for the following reasons.
This is interesting - it’s only half true. There has been an interest in building this bridge for a long, long time because Anchorage sits in what we call a “bowl” that is, it is shaped like a large piece of pie. The rounded portion (the “pie crust’) is surrounded by mountains and land that is designated as state or federal property - state wilderness parks and an army base, and is not available for development - thank God. The corner and lines that would be the outline of the sides of the “pie” are water - Knik Arm and Cook Inlet. Anchorage maxed out on property that could be developed without sacrificing greenbelts for the wildlife a few years ago, I think about 7. I know it was before I bough my place here in town, but I remember when the last piece of large property that could be subdivided got sold because it was noted in the news.
The most obvious, and certainly the very best place for Anchorage to acquire more land for the city to continue to grow, and let’s face it - Anchorage is not very big with a population of only about 270,000 - is across the arm where there is lots of reasonably priced land that is available for private ownership and is immediately across from downtown. Environmentally, for the city not to sprawl, to keep greenbelts to be wildlife friendly, to cut down on long-distance commutes, in every way - the bridge across Knik Arm is a good idea.
I have no doubt whatsoever that the people listed, aware of the inevitable reality of the necessity of the bridge and having the money to invest, have purchased land in that area. I would have done the same if I had been able. It’s been a good idea for many years. In fact, given the geography of Anchorage, there has long been an interest in building such a bridge but the glacier silt at the bottom of the arm and the extremely high tides have made such a bridge too difficult or too costly or both. The silt is difficult to build on, and Knik Arm has the second highest tides in North America, right after that famous place (Bay of Fundy? can’t remember) in Canada that has the first highest. Knik Arm isn’t really very wide so far as bodies of water go, but those two factors have prevented a bridge from being built prior to now.
I have to say that in this case, Think Progress doesn’t really know what they are talking about, I mean apart from the insider knowlege and land speculation that I would have no doubt is going on. But that bridge will get built, sooner or later, barring some catastrophic crash in the population, for the simple reason that there is no place else for the city to go.
May 14th, 2007 at 5:22 pmThe corner and lines that would be the outline of the sides of the “pie†are water - Knik Arm and Cook Inlet.
Don’t you mean “Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm”? I thought they were both part of the Cook Inlet, which is the big thing that hooks up with the greater Pacific.
May 14th, 2007 at 5:26 pmI was all for the bridge.
May 14th, 2007 at 5:29 pmThat’s right. Turnagain Arm. They are both Cook Inlet.
May 14th, 2007 at 5:31 pmRemember when Clinton gave us a BUDGET SURPLUS? Funny how Republicans think a lower projected DEFICIT is such a victory.
“[This administration] has a well-established history of overstating the deficit early in the year and then taking credit when it turns out to be lower than projected, even if it has done nothing to make that happen.” –nonpartisan budget analyst Stan Collender.
May 14th, 2007 at 5:34 pmThe environmental Alaskan is right. Having lived there also, there is more to this story and though I’m quite sure that pockets have been lined and padded in conflict of interest, Think Progress painted this picture black and white.
May 14th, 2007 at 5:35 pmSo, why don’t you citizens of Alaska demand and issue and sign a nice recall/impeachment petition? Are you afraid the gravy-train’s gonna stop flowing?
May 14th, 2007 at 5:41 pmWake up - the gravy-train only benefits a few, well-connected individuals.
So if the bridge needs to be built and is so worthy to Alaska; build it yourselves. Not on fed funds.
May 14th, 2007 at 6:02 pmSounds like: ‘A Bridge Over Troubled Water.’
Don’t tell me. Fat cat Hastert owns land in Alaska. Let’s all support a 10-lane freeway to the North Pole. Seriously, it might be a good idea.
In 75 years Alaska is going to be the place to live. I just read the other day that by 2080, or so, the average summer temperatures will be ten degrees warmer. For Phoenix the average summer temperature would be close to 120 degrees; Atlanta close to 100 degrees. That IS bad news.
May 14th, 2007 at 6:09 pmAlaska is already the place to live. The cold keeps most people away, which is the point entirely. Granted, the moronic Republican population is difficult to endure, but so are the yuppie liberals riding their $3000 bicycles and taking their guided tours on whitewater rafts and feeling macho about it.
But overall one can easily get away and see some untouched land and wildlife and because of the relatively small population there is a live and let live attitude.
Blaming Don Young and Ted Stevens is too easy, not that they don’t deserve some of it. But they are only 1/50th of a system that is rotten to the core and has been for a long time. I don’t blame anyone for not liking it, but I do blame anyone for boorishness and venting their ugly spleens at the slightest perceived opportunity.
May 14th, 2007 at 6:26 pm“…but I do blame anyone for boorishness and venting their ugly spleens at the slightest perceived opportunity.” Comment by An environmental Alaskan
Think Progress vents their spleen at EVERY opportunity…..but to all it an ugly spleen mught be a bit judgmental…heh-heh.
May 14th, 2007 at 6:52 pmStevens is also the guy who described the Internet as a “series of tubes” when taking a strong alliance with the telecommunications industry against network neutrality. Go figure.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Stevens
May 14th, 2007 at 7:33 pmIsn’t the internet great? Just think…. 10 years ago, we’d have never found out this kind of information this fast. It’s our exposure to this kind of thing, bringing it to the light of the public eye, that makes it stop. Changing attitudes though, can take longer.
May 14th, 2007 at 7:40 pmOnce again, more proof that nobody does pork and cronyism like the Alaskan GOPers, especially Young and Stevens. These guys, after all, snarled and threw a temper tantrum when it was even suggested they give up some of their pork to help with Katrina relief. All about the $ with these guys. (And I guess Ted’s son being ensnared in the burgeoning corruption scandal in the state GOP isn’t giving him pause or anything.)
May 14th, 2007 at 7:57 pmTell the full story. It may have been an overall bad idea, but the bridge would have connected the town to its airport. Ever miss the ferry to the airport? You miss your plane.
May 14th, 2007 at 8:06 pmSo, they built the airport on an island, expecting that the rest of us would pay for the bridge eventually knowing that Big Oil would block and tackle for Stevens and Co ? , bribing even the foes of the biggest crybaby in the country. Its a Congress of whores, and he is one of the worst. Damn him.
May 14th, 2007 at 9:18 pmHere is a better idea; let the oil companies pay for it. They have record profits because they don’t pay windfall taxes. That was another one of screw the citizens by Alaskan politicians.
May 14th, 2007 at 9:35 pmMy whole point was that Think Progress’s article is not factual. The bridge isn’t a bridge “to nowhere,” but it’s immediately across a relatively small body of water from about half of the population of the state, and it’s the best, most logical place for the city of Anchorage to expand for multiple reasons.
It’s been privately owned land for decades, mostly farms. It is by no stretch “tundra.” That’s absolutely ridiculous. It’s forest, like Anchorage and most of the land in the lower latitudes. There is tundra in the area, but it’s at about 5,000 feet in elevation. I suppose there is tundra at sea level in some areas of the state, but I’ve never seen it; it would have to be a lot farther north.
There’s a reason it’s sparsely populated - it’s about a 65-75 mile drive from the nearest town of any size - Wasilla - and an additional 50 miles from there to Anchorage. There’s a lot more land between Wasilla and McKenzie Point, and most people bought property closer to someplace with a grocery store and a post office. I mean, we can be tough up here but we’re not completely living in caves.
But as-the-crow-flies, it’s quite close to Anchorage, just a couple of miles.
The issue of the bridge is about GEOGRAPHY - not cronyism, although I’m sure that won’t stop cronyism from being a part of it. Because I see the bridge as being a good idea does not mean that I have ever supported it being federally funded. I agree - Exxon can pay for everything as far as I’m concerned. To make the assumption that I’m standing in line for a ‘gravy train’ or that I wouldn’t support a bridge being built from some other funding is extrapolating without any basis.
I’m no fan of Stevens and Young, nor either of the Murkowskis or the present governor Sarah Palin. Not by a long shot. I would walk across the street to avoid them.
But neither am I personally responsible for what they or everyone else in Alaska does anymore than other people posting here are responsible for everything their representatives or state governments do that is wrong.
As far as the increase in property values - McKenzie Point has long been a place to buy large tracts of land at reasonable prices. Look at the land prices listed. They are about $10,000 an acre. Where in your states can you buy undeveloped land adjacent to wilderness areas for $10,000 an acre? And property prices have gone up all over the place ever since I’ve been here, about 17 years. I bought a modest home in Anchorage for $106,000 five years ago this coming August. It is now appraised at $146,000. Am I guilty of cronyism? Not hardly. It’s just the way land prices have been going, and part of it is due to my earlier comments - Anchorage has run out of land that can be developed without sacrificing parks and greenbelts and wildlife, and people in Anchorage don’t want to do that.
You know, there is enough in the world that is terrible that we don’t have to make it up as Think Progress did with this issue. Things are bad enough, we don’t have to make them worse. And making things appear worse than they are is its own moral failing. And treating people to sarcasm and hostility without foundation is not a lot better than exploiting them without considering how your behavior affects them. People want to feel good, and not a lot else exists. People want to feel good and they aren’t really very good at it. People like Don Young and the assorted Republicans that have trashed the country (the entire planet for that matter) for the past nearly 30 years think they are entitled to feel good no matter what destructiveness they wreak or who or what they hurt.
But being destructive to people is being destructive to people, and it all counts. It’s all equal. If you don’t like them doing it, maybe you should take control where it counts the most and where you have the most power and don’t do it yourself. To anyone.
All of Stevens’ and Young’s failings aside, if this article is any indicator of the quality of information that comes out of Think Progress, it’s not worth viewing. It’s dishonest, inflammatory, and destructive in its own right.
May 14th, 2007 at 10:17 pmActually, now that I think about it, it’s not 65-75 miles from Wasilla to Point McKenzie. It just seems that way because it’s gravel road and you can’t go very fast. It’s about 35-40 miles, but it takes about an hour to drive it. I’ve done it a few times to go walk on the beach there because it’s so isolated and cool to do.
May 14th, 2007 at 10:37 pmI have friends who live there.
If you must attack Republicans then do it over something they did that is actually wrong. This isn’t. This is not a “bridge to nowhere”, it’s a bridge to connect a an important airport to the mainland. Right now people and goods have to take a ferry to get from the airport to Ketchikan, the 1/5th largest city in Alaska.
Geeze.
May 15th, 2007 at 12:57 amChrist, Mr. President, you are dumb. It is the pound!! You know, that currency that is destroying the dollar because of righty policies?
May 15th, 2007 at 2:47 amFred, nice troll spin on the bridge. Gee, let’s build a bridge to an almost uninhabited island. Woohooo!!!! And let’s let everybody pay for it!!! States rights, my a$$. You righties love federal funds if it is for what you want.
May 15th, 2007 at 2:49 amHey let um build whatever they want, just don’t make the rest of the country pay for it!
May 15th, 2007 at 1:32 pmSo pointing out that having a road between Ketchikan and the Ketchikan Airport makes sense is “troll spin“? Look at a map before claiming it’s a “Bridge to nowhere”. Tell me if you see any other major airports in southern Alaska.
http://www.google.com/ maps?q=Ketchikan,+AK,+USA&sa=X&oi=map&ct=title
It’s more productive, (and entertaining), to go after Stevens for his “inter-tubes” comments, and lack of support for internet freedom then drummed up phony issues like this one.
As far as making the rest of the country pay for it, we should have said the same thing about the 3rd runway here at SEATAC. They are building the darn thing over a huge ravine using fill from the now demolished King Dome, yet another stupid idea.
May 15th, 2007 at 3:07 pm