Obama And Biden Voted For “Bridge To Nowhere”
By John Powers - Chicago Daily Observer
Now that Alaska is front and center in the news again, it is a good time to catch up on a favorite story, The Bridge to Nowhere, using the Washington Post US Congress Votes Database.
Though Gov. Palin originally supported the earmark spending on the Ketchikan bridge (“to nowhere), she eventually killed the project, chosing to spend Federal money on other infrasturcture programs.
However, Sen. Biden and Sen. Obama voted for funding the Bridge, even when given a second chance by Sen. Tom Coburn, who proposed shifting earmark funds to Katrina relief.
Sen. McCain did not vote on the Coburn Amendment, though he is on record as opposing the Ketchikan bridge earmark.
Link to votes record.
Keep in mind when you read the vote count on this the [wording] of the Coburn Amendment, which intended to move money from the Alaska Bridge To Nowhere to Hurricane Katrina aid.
Biden and Obama voted “NO” on this … Hence, the indication on the vote record as their votes being “NO” … which meant THEY intended the money to remain directed at the bridge.
To me, the refusal to move those funds to something much more deserving and immediate like Katrina aid, especially inlight of the democrats constant thrashing of the (R) Bush Administration allegedly failing in the aftermath, speaks VOLUMES to the game that was being played with the Hurricane disaster … and exactly by whom.
So, here’s the thing (sorry, Daddy) … The Obama campaign [thinks] it can nail Palin as a “flip-flopper” on being for the bridge before being against it. From what I gather, this was whiel she was running for Gov. in Alaska … and before she actually had complete access to the data and books. Once in office and having a go-over of the facts and figures this ethereal/phantom bridge was shown to be a needless investment of the federal funds, and she decided on a ferry for the island that cost much less. Even the Alaska Democrat Party had a page detailing Gov. Palin’s credit for killing the bridge … but {gasp!} deleted it all of a sudden … Check out LGF’s accounting of it:
Little Green Footballs
Alaska Democratic Party Deletes Page Crediting Sarah Palin with Killing ‘Bridge to Nowhere’
Mon, Sep 8, 2008 at 1:16:06 pm PST
A web site paid for by the Alaska Democratic Party says unequivocally that the state of Alaska officially abandoned the Bridge to Nowhere project, and credits Governor Sarah Palin.
Or … it used to say that, before the page mysteriously vanished some time during the past few days.
Here’s the Google cache from September 4th: Retire Ted Stevens » Blog Archive » Ted Earmarked Funds for Bridge that Goes Nowhere.
And here’s the text that they consigned to the memory hole, because it’s embarrassingly off message:
Ted Earmarked Funds for Bridge that Goes Nowhere
* Stevens championed proposed bridge near Ketchikan that became national symbol of wasteful spending
* Sen. Murkowski’s family would benefit personally from the bridge
* State of Alaska killed bridge
The proposed Gravina Island Bridge, also known as the “Bridge to Nowhere,” became a national symbol of wasteful congressional spending and driver of earmark reform. On Sept. 21, 2007, the State of Alaska officially abandoned the controversial project.
The Gravina Island Bridge initially received $223 million in 2005 via earmarks by Alaska Senators Ted Stevens and Lisa Murkowski. The bridge would have connected Ketchikan, Alaska with its local airport on nearby Gravina Island (population 50). Congress stripped the earmark after a national uproar about it but appropriated the money anyway for unspecified transportation uses. Former Gov. Frank Murkowski’s administration set aside about $113 million of the appropriation for the Ketchikan bridge. However, Gov. Sarah Palin said the $398 million bridge was $329 million short of full funding, and only $36 million in federal funds were set aside for it. She said it was clear Congress had little interest in spending any more money for it and that the state had higher priorities.
UPDATE at 9/8/08 2:33:06 pm:
Now the Alaska Democratic Party has re-posted the page with a new address: Retire Ted Stevens » Gravina Bridge.
UPDATE at 9/8/08 2:35:15 pm:
Also see: Alaska Democrats pull web page
Advice to Obama and Co., better “burn that bridge to nowhere” Palin flip-flop smear …
Be respectful of others and their opinions. Inflammatory remarks and inane leftist drivel will be deleted. It ain’t about free speech, remember you’re in a private domain. My website, my prerogative.
If you can't handle using your real email address, don't bother posting a comment.
Typical Dhimmi horseshit.
Let’s not forget Bambi giving grant money from the CAC to make Chicago an African Village and celebrate Juneteenth instead of the 4th of July…
https://pat-dollard.com/2008/09/because-the-msm-will-not-touch-it-the-obama-ayers-failed-schools-of-chicago/
September 10th, 2008 at 4:44 pmA little more on this bridge. It was a boondoggle from the word go. Most Alaskans I know thought it was a joke. Mostly the city fathers of Ketchikan were behind this thing. The bridge was to span a channel about a 1/4 of a mile. But it also had to be high enough to allow the big tour ships passage underneath.That’s where the excessive cost came in. Truth is there could have been simple ferry service to the other side just like there is going to the airport now.Somebody got a last lick in though…There is a blacktop road to nowhere going straight through the muskeg on Gravina Island.
September 10th, 2008 at 4:49 pmSomebody got a last lick in though…There is a blacktop road to nowhere going straight through the muskeg on Gravina Island.
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MAYBE, sometime in the not too distant future, it can lead to an oil drilling field operation.
September 10th, 2008 at 4:56 pmdrillanwr (Will Carry Palin’s Lipstick)
September 10th, 2008 at 5:12 pmIt’s only liberals trying to rewrite history again. Like Barack Obama.
Once more, I take this opportunity to remind people that Obama created fictional people for his autobiography, “Dreams From My Father.” In the Introduction, he shares that some of the characters are actually “composites” of real people. (Two or more people combined into one person.)
And, of course, we can’t forget that Obama, who attended an elite prep school in Hawaii and thus doesn’t have an excuse, slandered the Christian missionaries with his made-up account of them. In “Dreams From My Father,” he gives a drive-by mention of the “crippling disease brought by the missionairies.”
However, the first Christian missionaries didn’t set foot on Hawaiian soil until 42 years after the invasion of the Western sailors, fur traders, whalers, merchants and others who so greatly impacted the islands with epidemics of historic proportions.
In fact, the first missionary party included a physician with medicine to treat the diseases that were talked about as far away as New England.
When is Obama going to apologize for his slander? Maybe he’ll blame it on a ghost writer.
September 10th, 2008 at 6:27 pmObama apologize? C’mon “sweetie”, “get over it”. Him apologizing for anything is “putting lipstick on a pig”.
September 10th, 2008 at 7:27 pmHahaha. You just flashed me back to Obama addressing a reporter as “Sweetie.” One more in his ever-growing list of gaffes. Thanks for the laugh.
September 10th, 2008 at 8:33 pmHahaha. You just flashed me back to Obama addressing a reporter as “Sweetie.” One more in his ever-growing list of gaffes. Thanks for the laugh.
September 10th, 2008 at 8:34 pmThanks for this. Just showed up a liberal, and told him to shut the fuck up with the ‘flip-flop’ shit.
September 10th, 2008 at 8:59 pm