It's... Still Alive

Remember the Alaskan Bridges to Nowhere, the poster child for congressional pork-barrel waste? With much fanfare, the Republican leadership a while back announced that the bridges to nowhere had been killed? Well, when these guys speak, grab your wallet and whatever else is valuable to you. Here's what really happened: They de-funded the bridges. That still sounds good, right? Well, it turns out that the money didn't go back into the treasury for spending on Katrina relief, the deficit or funding student loans, it went into the Alaska general fund. The net effect is that the money went from being earmarked for the bridges to being earmarked for nothing. So, guess what, the bridges are back.

The bridge in question crosses the Cook Inlet from Anchorage to Port Mackenzie, population 50. These folks are connected to Anchorage now by driving around the inlet, takes about two hours. The 600 meter bridge would do two things: It would spare these people the drive and it would open land for development. One of these things is interesting to the Alaskan government and it isn't saving gas. Most Alaskans oppose the measure. I would, too. How is it going to do anything for anyone in Fairbanks unless they happen to be invested in the real estate on the far side of the inlet?

So Republican Representative Don Young's bridge - he claimed it in the CNN article reporting on the bridge's revival - will be built, $400 million will leave the treasury, my tax money paid in Denver, Colorado, and some developers will get rich. I wouldn't be surprised to see who benefits.