Libertarian ping! To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.
Posted on 06/07/2007 5:02:03 PM PDT by JTN
WASHINGTON, June 6 — It is no secret that campaign contributions sometimes lead to lucrative official favors. Rarely, though, are the tradeoffs quite as obvious as in the twisted case of Coconut Road.
The road, a stretch of pavement near Fort Myers, Fla., that touches five golf clubs on its way to the Gulf of Mexico, is the target of a $10 million earmark that appeared mysteriously in a 2006 transportation bill written by Representative Don Young, Republican of Alaska.
Mr. Young, who last year steered more than $200 million to a so-called bridge to nowhere reaching 80 people on Gravina Island, Alaska, has no constituents in Florida.
The Republican congressman whose district does include Coconut Road says he did not seek the money. County authorities have twice voted not to use it, until Mr. Young and the district congressman wrote letters warning that a refusal could jeopardize future federal money for the county.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
When he was approached near the House floor by a reporter, Mr. Young responded with an obscene gesture.
Classy, as always.
Ping
Don Young (R) Alaska has never had any allegations of impropriety or illegal activity. He has been Alaska's lone representative since 1973 and had done an awesome job for us. Your post is out of line.
“awesome job for us” = tons of pork
WHat pork, just because we want a couple of roads and a bridge or two. I’ll admit we have a small population, but more folks than Vermont, Wyoming, DC and North Dakota.
I don’t hear any whining about those states “getting too much pork”
At least we still supply a lot of oil to the West coast - what would Vermont? Syrup?
(/S)
While only two bills were enacted, the states of Alaska and Hawaii, which have been the top two states in pork per capita every year but one since 2000, were served more then their fair share of bacon by Senators Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii). In the defense appropriations bill alone, Alaska received $209,900,000, a 127 percent increase over the total of $92,425,000 in 2006.
Alaska again led the nation with $985 per capita ($646 million), or 30 times the national pork average of $33. The runners up were the District of Columbia with $461 per capita ($257 million) and Hawaii with $454 per capita ($574 million). Senators have once again proven that membership has its privileges: your money.Here's the 2007 summary.
Did you even bother to read the full article?
Does an Alaskan rep. getting large donations at a Florida fundraiser ring any warning bells with you?
And then, Voila, mega (taxpayers) dollars flow to the benefit of those who donated.
Do you consider taking campaign contributions in exchange for funneling taxpayers money to donors to be ethical?
If Young gets tired of the Alaska cold, (although I suspect he is seldom there) he might considering running for a seat in New Orleans that may be opening up soon.
It appears as though he is a perfect fit for the job, his new constituents are used to his style.
Libertarian ping! To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.
he’s no better than a common criminal, in fact he’s worse
On a “per capita basis” Alaska has
The highest rate of rape in the US
The highest rate of alcoholism in the US
The highest rate of STDs in the US
The highest rate of - damn near evrything - on a “per capita” basis.
Alaska leads the Nation in ice cream consumtion, high school dropouts, and on and on.
The the ones who squeal the most always use “per capita”
How much did New York spend on putting air conditioning in garbage trucks, how many billions did King Ted land for the folks of Tax-a-chuses (Big Dig anyone)? I don’t see any bather about ‘per capita’ here.
(/rant)
"I'd like to be a little oinker, myself," Mr. Young told a Republican lunch crowd here, taking mock offense at the suggestion that Ted Stevens, the Alaska Republican who is chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, directs more pork to their state than he does. "If he's the chief porker, I'm upset."...
He said he would support an increase in the federal tax on gasoline — a "user fee," he called it — to pay for even more projects than were included in the newly passed bill.
...
"It's not a good way to legislate, although I got a lot of stuff in it," Mr. Young told The Anchorage Daily News in December. "I mean I stuffed it like a turkey."
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