Instead of protecting likely targets in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and Chicago -- your homeland security money could end up protecting Alaska (right).Native son, Rep Don Young (R-AK) -- who brought home near record amounts of pork in the Highway Bill -- is in line to take over the Homeland Security Committee. That has watchdog groups worried that he'll divert homeland defense dollars to Alaska -- the same way he did with road money.
In the Highway Bill, Rep Young was able to send nearly $1 billion to his home state -- including more than a quarter-billion for a bridge to an island with only 50 people living on it. He also got another bridge renamed "Don Young's Way" -- and got the Highway Bill itself named after his wife.
Homeland Security money has already been a funnel for pork barrel spending and waste.
1 comment:
I must correct you all down in the lower 48 states about the Knik Arm Bridge, there are hundreds of thousands of people who will be directly affected in a positive way by the construction of the Don Young's Way Bridge. Two thirds of the population of Alaska live in the Anchorage/Matanuska bowl area. Currantly we have only one highway with two lanes going each direction, every year we have far too many fatal crashes on this thin stretch of roadway. The Matanuska Valley and the cities of Wasilla and Palmer are growing faster than we can give them roads as it is. Each and every day the commute between Anchorage and Wasilla is 70 miles of congestion, if we had the bridge we could cut the comute time in half and save as many lives from the long drive the other direction. Please stop spreading lies about the need of the bridges in Alaska.
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