She was for it before she was against it-Bridge to Nowhere

[Bitek]

just one of many stories

Palin has recently been publicly critical of requests made in past years by Stevens and others for $223 million in federal funds for a bridge from Ketchikan, Alaska, to Gravina Island, calling it "the Bridge to Nowhere," a derogatory label critics attached to the project. As a candidate for governor in 2006, she backed funding for the bridge. After her election, however, she killed the project, saying she would use the federal funds for other purposes. As mayor of the small city of Wasilla, Alaska, Palin appears to have made use of the system she now decries, hiring a Washington lobbyist, Steven Silver, to represent the town. Years ago, Silver worked as an aide to Stevens. After he was hired, the city obtained funding for several projects, including a city bus facility that received an earmark valued at $600,000 in 2002. That year a local water and sewer project received $1.5 million in federal earmarks, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan watchdog organization. A campaign spokeswoman, referring only to Palin's record as governor, responded that "she took the lead in slashing wasteful spending."

also:

?It was about being face-to-face with those who were actually writing the budget,? she told The Anchorage Daily News in 2006, boasting that she brought home more money for priorities like upgrades to the local sewer system. She directed Wasilla to employ Washington lobbyists to press for federal money for the town, helping obtain more than $8 million in earmarks for projects ranging from waterworks to a shelter. And she expressed support for the Bridge to Nowhere earmark as well. ?I do support the infrastructure projects that are on tap here in the State of Alaska that our Congressional delegations worked hard for,? Ms. Palin said when asked about that bridge and another in an October 2006 television debate while campaigning for governor. Later that month, when asked if she would continue state financing for the Gravina bridge and another proposed bridge project, she said yes. ?I would like to see Alaska?s infrastructure projects built sooner rather than later,? she responded in a questionnaire from The Anchorage Daily News. ?The window is now ? while our Congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist.?

Once elected governor in November 2006, Ms. Palin warned Alaskans that nationwide ridicule of the Gravina bridge would make it difficult to secure more federal money to meet rising cost projections. Last September, when Ms. Palin announced she was abandoning the project, she cited a growing financing shortfall. ?It?s clear that Congress has little interest in spending any more money on a bridge between Ketchikan and Gravina Island,? she said. (Alaska was able to keep the federal money and direct it to other projects.)

Her tiny town of ~7000 had its lobbyist hired by her and brought in millions. She made her mark by bringing home huge amts of pork, and really the opposition to the BtN was a PR stunt to allow future earmarking (and She/Alaska still kept the money)

Really it looks like her MO is not to end earmarking, but a cynical attempt to take over the political power structure in Alaska that controls earmarks, and thus the most power.

 

[Gunslinger08]

Repost.

 

[XZeroII]

I don't understand the point of what you posted. It sounds like she is doing the responsible thing and trying to help her local town by using federal funds to help them. And then she abandoned the bridge project because it wasn't financially feasible.

Your post looks like an attempt to discredit her, but is fails miserably. I'm not sure what to make of it...

 

[jpeyton]

Alaska receives more per-capita federal spending than ANY other state in the union. It's a big sinkhole for our tax dollars, and the bridge to nowhere (which she supported) was simply the icing on the cake.

Lobbying for earmarks?

Saddling her town of Wasilla with a pile of debt?

Big subsidies and handouts for the oil/gas industry?

Sounds like she'll fit right in with the GOP in Washington.

 

[Dari]

Originally posted by: XZeroII
I don't understand the point of what you posted. It sounds like she is doing the responsible thing and trying to help her local town by using federal funds to help them. And then she abandoned the bridge project because it wasn't financially feasible.

Your post looks like an attempt to discredit her, but is fails miserably. I'm not sure what to make of it...

You got that right. She's being lauded for being against it when she was for it.

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: Dari

Originally posted by: XZeroII
I don't understand the point of what you posted. It sounds like she is doing the responsible thing and trying to help her local town by using federal funds to help them. And then she abandoned the bridge project because it wasn't financially feasible.

Your post looks like an attempt to discredit her, but is fails miserably. I'm not sure what to make of it...

You got that right. She's being lauded for being against it when she was for it.

"I was for it before I was against it."

Famous last words.

 

[BoomerD]

This article about her stance on the "Bridge to Nowhere" is pretty good too:

http://news.yahoo.com/story//n...a_politics_palin1_dc_1

"During her first speech after being named as McCain's surprise pick as a running mate, Palin said she had told Congress "'thanks but no thanks' on that bridge to nowhere."

In the city Ketchikan, the planned site of the so-called "Bridge to Nowhere," political leaders of both parties said the claim was false and a betrayal of their community, because she had supported the bridge and the earmark for it secured by Alaska's Congressional delegation during her run for governor."

"When she was running for governor in 2006, Palin said she was insulted by the term "bridge to nowhere," according to Ketchikan Mayor Bob Weinstein, a Democrat, and Mike Elerding, a Republican who was Palin's campaign coordinator in the southeast Alaska city.

"People are learning that she pandered to us by saying, I'm for this' ... and then when she found it was politically advantageous for her nationally, abruptly she starts using the very term that she said was insulting," Weinstein said."


"National fury over the bridge caused Congress to remove the earmark designation, but Alaska was still granted an equivalent amount of transportation money to be used at its own discretion.

Last year, Palin announced she was stopping state work on the controversial project, earning her admirers from earmark critics and budget hawks from around the nation. The move also thrust her into the spotlight as a reform-minded newcomer.

The state, however, never gave back any of the money that was originally earmarked for the Gravina Island bridge, said Weinstein and Elerding.

In fact, the Palin administration has spent "tens of millions of dollars" in federal funds to start building a road on Gravina Island that is supposed to link up to the yet-to-be-built bridge, Weinstein said.

"She said 'thanks but no thanks,' but they kept the money," said Elerding about her applause line."



Sounds like a typical "New-Age Conservative" to me...

While Alaska isn't the biggest pig at the Federal trough, (New Mexico has that honor at $2 receved for every dollar paid in taxes) Alaska does come in at #2, at $1.87.)

 

[Lemon law]

Even as a partisan democrat, I see some things to admire about Palin the reformer. But there are some things not to admire which this thread somewhat demonstrates.

But imagine that, Palin another pandering politician trying to spin her actual record, just like the other three rascals on the the top ticket, neither total devils or total angels.
Humans with faults and virtues, it still comes down to holding our noses and voting for the lesser of two evils come November 4.

 

[BoomerD]

Parts of this story were in my Sunday paper:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08...s/31alaska.html?ref=us

I got quite a kick out of some of the quotes in the story:

"At least she can shoot better than Dick Cheney, I can tell you that for a fact,? said Nancy Gundlach, a university researcher from Fairbanks who raises racing dogs. ?In a national forum, that might be a little difficult to appreciate, but she?s a woman who doesn?t back down.?

Our governor is going to be vice president, and we still don?t have an Olive Garden,? said Keri Baranou, 30, who sells sewing machines"

And my personal favorite...

"Then again, there is the Alaskan approach.

?I don?t care what the image of Alaska is to anyone else,? said Sharon Rooth, a longtime resident. ?If I cared what America thought, I?d live there.?

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: XZeroII
I don't understand the point of what you posted. It sounds like she is doing the responsible thing and trying to help her local town by using federal funds to help them. And then she abandoned the bridge project because it wasn't financially feasible.

Your post looks like an attempt to discredit her, but is fails miserably. I'm not sure what to make of it...

I agree.

And I'm suprised to see investment in infrastructure derided as "PorK".

Until now I was under the impression that those on both the right and the left here feel investment in our infrastructure is a worthwhile priority.

Fern

 

[dmcowen674]

Flip-Flopping is allowed for Republicans, not for Democrats.

Get with the program already, it's been 8 yrs.

 

[her209]

Originally posted by: Fern
Until now I was under the impression that those on both the right and the left here feel investment in our infrastructure is a worthwhile priority.

Its an Investment to Nowhere.

 

[fskimospy]

Originally posted by: Fern

Originally posted by: XZeroII
I don't understand the point of what you posted. It sounds like she is doing the responsible thing and trying to help her local town by using federal funds to help them. And then she abandoned the bridge project because it wasn't financially feasible.

Your post looks like an attempt to discredit her, but is fails miserably. I'm not sure what to make of it...

I agree.

And I'm suprised to see investment in infrastructure derided as "PorK".

Until now I was under the impression that those on both the right and the left here feel investment in our infrastructure is a worthwhile priority.

Fern

Are you kidding me? That's not infrastructure, it's stupidity and you know it. Infrastructure doesn't mean it's just any road built anywhere, or any bridge. It has to link useful things.

 

[Bitek]

For a woman being championed as Reformer, she has a backwards history. How many tiny villages hire their own Washington lobbyists so the Fed pays for their own city buses and sewer systems? How is this a national interest? She's popular for sticking the US taxpayer for paying for city services rather than the people that use them.

Now infrastructure that builds and improve the nations highways and rails which actually serves to improve commerce, transportation efficiency and trade does have a worthwhile purpose. Directing the flow of shit from the good citizens of Wasilla seems to fall short of this criteria.

Also, support for the bridge was dropped as it was a growing embarrassment to Alaska which endangered the granting of future earmarks. Her support/non-support was self-serving and political pandering and opportunism. Not only that, she never gave the US taxpayers their money back. Reform my ass.

She used the issue to launch her self to greater office, and is using the guise of reform to get her own cronies into higher office so she will have more control of earmarking, and away from the Stevens/Young center of power, who is left vulnerable because of all the federal corruption charges. Under her leadership, Alaska is still a Republican earmark whore.

McCain is harolding the wolf the Champion of the Henhouse because she chased off the foxes.

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: Fern
Until now I was under the impression that those on both the right and the left here feel investment in our infrastructure is a worthwhile priority.

Its an Investment to Nowhere.

It's a $398 million bridge to an island with 50 inhabitants. That's only $7.96 million per head; probably cheap by Fern's standards.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: Fern
Until now I was under the impression that those on both the right and the left here feel investment in our infrastructure is a worthwhile priority.

Its an Investment to Nowhere.

It's a $398 million bridge to an island with 50 inhabitants.

That's only $7.96 million per head; probably cheap by Fern's standards.

Don't forget borrowed on future generations too, the Republican way.

 

[idiotekniQues]

this should be getting more attention than the pregnant teen story

same with the fact that palin never really realized how international affairs and war can affect us until just this year.

 

[dahunan]

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: Fern
Until now I was under the impression that those on both the right and the left here feel investment in our infrastructure is a worthwhile priority.

Its an Investment to Nowhere.

Just like voting Bush in for his 2nd term and then his 3rd with McCain

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: Fern
Until now I was under the impression that those on both the right and the left here feel investment in our infrastructure is a worthwhile priority.

Its an Investment to Nowhere.

Originally posted by: eskimospy
Are you kidding me? That's not infrastructure, it's stupidity and you know it. Infrastructure doesn't mean it's just any road built anywhere, or any bridge. It has to link useful things.

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: Fern
Until now I was under the impression that those on both the right and the left here feel investment in our infrastructure is a worthwhile priority.

Its an Investment to Nowhere.

It's a $398 million bridge to an island with 50 inhabitants. That's only $7.96 million per head; probably cheap by Fern's standards.

Am I the only one to read the article?

You all are a bunch of god damn idiots.

Read the article:

After her election, however, she killed the project

These are clearly infrastructure projects (below) in the article, and thus the (legitimate) topic of dicussion. No one but you fools are talkin about the bridge.

the city obtained funding for several projects, including a city bus facility that received an earmark valued at $600,000 in 2002. That year a local water and sewer project received $1.5 million in federal earmarks, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense,

Reading just the thread title and reponding with stupid erroneous posts FTL :thumbsdown:

Fern

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: Fern
Read the article:

After her election, however, she killed the project

You should read more than just that:

Governor Sarah Palin also supported the project, but canceled the bridge when the Alaska delegation was unable to prevent changes to federal funding levels that more than doubled Alaska's portion of the bill from $160M (40%) to $329M (82%) of the bridge's cost.

When the "bridge to nowhere" got famous, Congress changed the earmark so that Alaska's portion of the bridge's budget would double. That forced Palin to kill the project. Had the earmark stayed intact, it would have been under construction by now.

And the earmark might be gone, but Palin still took all that juicy federal funding anyway, divvying it up to other projects and keeping her state near the top of the list of per-capita federal spending.

 

[XZeroII]

Originally posted by: Fern

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: Fern
Until now I was under the impression that those on both the right and the left here feel investment in our infrastructure is a worthwhile priority.

Its an Investment to Nowhere.

Originally posted by: eskimospy
Are you kidding me? That's not infrastructure, it's stupidity and you know it. Infrastructure doesn't mean it's just any road built anywhere, or any bridge. It has to link useful things.

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: Fern
Until now I was under the impression that those on both the right and the left here feel investment in our infrastructure is a worthwhile priority.

Its an Investment to Nowhere.

It's a $398 million bridge to an island with 50 inhabitants. That's only $7.96 million per head; probably cheap by Fern's standards.

Am I the only one to read the article?

You all are a bunch of god damn idiots.

Read the article:

After her election, however, she killed the project

These are clearly infrastructure projects (below) in the article, and thus the (legitimate) topic of dicussion. No one but you fools are talkin about the bridge.

the city obtained funding for several projects, including a city bus facility that received an earmark valued at $600,000 in 2002. That year a local water and sewer project received $1.5 million in federal earmarks, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense,

Reading just the thread title and reponding with stupid erroneous posts FTL :thumbsdown:

Fern

I couldn't have said it better. You can tell exactly which people here just read the title and posted.

 

[FuzzyBee]

Originally posted by: Lemon law
But imagine that, Palin another pandering politician trying to spin her actual record, just like the other three rascals on the the top ticket, neither total devils or total angels.
Humans with faults and virtues, it still comes down to holding our noses and voting for the lesser of two evils come November 4.

True, true.

 

[Dari]

Palin is a fraud "reformer". She bankrupted her home town and she supported waste. Now she thinks America will by what she's selling? No thanks. She is no different from all the others.

 

[Pepsei]

So Palin was against the United States,before she was for it too?

 

[jpeyton]

Kyra Phillips on CNN just reported that she spoke to the head of investigation for Troopergate, who told her that they have uncovered e-mails and a phone conversation between Palin and her former public safety commissioner that provides strong evidence of wrongdoing.

Will Palin withdraw herself before the investigation goes live, will Johnny give her the boot, or will they risk sinking the entire campaign (which is already halfway underwater)?