Bridge to nowhere defunded????

[underdog]

Today's Drudge Report carries a headline titled "Congress to Defund Infamous Bridge to Nowhere in Alaska." When I clicked the link to read I was surprised that it lead to a press release from the Sierra Club.

A quick Google of 'bridge to nowhere' doesn't reveal any other news source reporting that the Senate Appropriations Committee has removed earmarks for two controversial "bridges to nowhere" in Alaska: the Gravina bridge, which would connect Ketchikan to an island of 50 people, and the Knik Arm bridge, which would link Anchorage to a sparsely populated area.

I checked Sen. Tom Coburn's website and not a word there. Coburn was the freshman senator who broke the unwritten politician's rule by asking in public that this bridge and other pork be removed from unrelated bills.

I did find a link reporting that in Sunday's Ketchikan Daily News Gov. Frank Murkowski reports that the amount needed to actually build the bridge will be a hundred million more than the bill provides and he doubts Alaska can come up with the difference. This sounds suspiciously like a politician helping his Senator out of a bad situation.

I guess today's news will tell the story. I just found it odd that Sierra, of all people, would scoop a story like this.

Kudos to Sen. Coburn if true. He may have been bloodied on the Senate floor, but maybe he won the battle after all.

[rick_reno]

Didn't Sen. Stevens (Alaska) say he'd quit the Senate if his pet project (the bridge) got yanked? I hope it true, maybe we'll get to see if he's a man of his word or just another blowhard jerkoff.

[underdog]

I'm pretty sure we know the answer to that one!

Here is a link to the Fairbanks News-Miner that explains the situation. It's somewhat complex and still up the air to some degree. But it appears that the Alaskan senators didn't understand the complex funding provisions contained in the bill. It turns out that the earmarked funding for the two bridges was going to come out of $1B in pork already going to Alaska, so now they want to remove the bridge earmarks and just keep the money!

http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7244~3131972,00.html

Also interesting that Sierra's complaints regarding conflict of interest by AK Sen. Murkowski because her family owns land on the island where one of the bridges was to be built has resulted in the Senate Ethics Committee taking a look at the charges. But the Ethics Committee is composed equally of Dems and Repubs by design so it's almost impossible to get a censure. Probably the most feckless committee in Congress.