The 'Bridge to Nowhere' Is No More!
CNBC's Squawk Box is reporting that the "Bridget to Nowhere" has been officially defunded. However, this can only be seen as a small victory. The millions of dollars allocated for this pork project will go to the Alaska state government for them to spend as they see fit...instead of the money going to the Katrina relief effort...or, heaven forbid, back to federal taxpayers. UPDATE (9:46am): This is a rare incident. The Club's blog is linking to the Sierra Club's website. The environmental group has issued a press release, which has more information on the defunding of the Bridge. UPDATE (11:09am): Radley Balko expands on my point about this being no big victory. In fact, Balko is far more harsh on this defunding, which I think is entirely appropriate. Click here to read more. UPDATE (1:22pm): After some reflection, I think we should downgrade this "small victory" to a "sound defeat". As was recognized in the original blog post above, the money is NOT going back to the taxpayers or to Katrina. The money is still being wasted on pork projects by which Alaska has control over. The Senate merely tweaked the language to remove the pressure brought on by the public. The Senate didn't learn its lesson. Taxpayers aren't better off. Daniel Glover at National Journal correctly notes that while we bloggers chase after pork, it is still "a creature that is as greasy and elusive as any pig in the county fair." Well said. If we truly want to claim a victory on pork, we need to actually reduce pork barrel spending. And the best way we can do that is to keep the pressure on and let lawmakers know that this "smoke and mirrors" routine won't work. UPDATE (1:40pm): More information. This time it's from John Fund of the Wall Street Journal, writing in the WSJ Political Diary($): bq. With polls showing that 60% of Americans have heard of the infamous "bridge to nowhere," the $223 million federally-funded span that is supposed to connect Ketchikan, Alaska to virtually uninhabited Gravina Island, Republican leaders have finally decided to get rid of what some were calling "a bridge to our embarrassment." bq. The transportation appropriations bill that is scheduled to reach the Senate floor this week will zero out the bridge and give the money to the state of Alaska to spend as it wishes. The tipping point against the bridge came when Reader's Digest featured an article on it in this month's issue and it became known that reporters were pursuing the fact that a 33-acre parcel of land on Gravina Island is partly owned by Nancy Murkowski, wife of Governor Frank Murkowski and mother of U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, a big booster of the bridge. bq. Rep. Mike Pence, the chairman of the conservative House Republican Study Committee, says the bridge's demise is only the opening round in a war he plans to fight against a federal budget that is wildly out of control. But he considers it an important symbolic victory. He compared Study Committee members who bucked their leadership to oppose the bridge to British soldiers depicted in the classic World War II movie "Bridge on the River Kwai." "Just as in the movie, members of Congress finally convinced their leadership that we should blow this bridge," he told me. UPDATE (1:48pm): Mark Tapscott asks if Ted Stevens will now resign. We can only hope, right? UPDATE (5:21pm): I like this blog post - The Blank Check to Nowhere. UPDATE (5:48pm): I bet you didn't know this. I know I sure didn't. From the e-mailbag: bq. With respect to: Defunding the Bridge to Nowhere. One difference between having it as a line item and giving the same money to the State of Alaska to spend is that the specific funding eliminated the need for an Environmental Impact Statement and reviews under other Federal laws. If Alaska tries to use the money on, say, a bridge in the same location, it will now be an action funded by the Federal government that is subject to being sued and enjoined under NEPA, since Congress has not specifically authorized it by statute.
