Okay, we at Independent Sources acted like complete losers this weekend. While you were out barbecuing hot dogs and drinking Star Bock Beer, Independent Sources was hunkered down reading the reauthorization of the Transportation Equity Act. This was not nearly as dull as one might think thanks to the breakdowns supplied by Taxpayer’s For Common Sense.

First off, to no one’s surprise, the bill is rather laden with pork (insert BBQ pun here). In fact, the 2003 winner of Taxpayers for Common Sense’s Golden Fleece Award is still alive and still being pushed by Rep. Don Young (R-AK).  Rep Young is still trying to sell America’s taxpayers a $315 million “bridge to nowhere” in rural Alaska. As Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, he is in a very good position to selfishly use his political clout to force federal taxpayers to pay for a bridge that is ridiculous in its scope, unjustified on its merits, and far too expensive for taxpayers to swallow at a time of record federal deficits.

What could be so bad about this bridge, you ask? Well, if Rep. Young succeeds, tiny Ketchikan, Alaska, a town with less than 8,000 residents (about 13,000 if the entire county is included) will receive hundreds of millions of federal dollars to build a bridge to Gravina Island (population: 50, yes fifty!). This bridge will be nearly as long as the Golden Gate Bridge and taller than the Brooklyn Bridge. (For what its worth, Google Maps doesn’t even recognize “Gravina Island” but here is a satellite picture of Ketchikan where it is apparent that this bridge is literally in the middle of nowhere).

Furthermore, if built, the Ketchikan bridge would result in a taxpayer subsidized cost per trip of  $43.15, which compares quite unfavorably to the existing cost of ferry ride $6.00. What makes this even more ridiculous is its lack of need. Few local residents are on record complaining about the short ferry ride to Gravina, and many tourists love the ferry ride from the airport to town

As we have said this before, at a time where the government claims there is not the money to secure our ports (and other targets) or properly service the infrastructure that we already have, Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee believes that the highest and best use of money available is to build an expensive bridge to an uninhabited island, which incidentally no one wants.

Technorati:transportation bill pork spending Gravina Island Alaska

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 21st, 2005 at 12:52 pm by Insider and is filed under I knew I'd use my Econ major, Your Tax Dollars In Action. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.