[Vision2020] pork

Tue Nov 8 14:45:36 PST 2005

Roger,
 I would love to bit on this one.  First I do have to explain how the
highway bill works.  It is really easy to point to projects in the bill and
scream pork, your two bridges below are a great example.  But..and this is
the big but...this money would have gone to Alaska anyway as part of the
state's allotment from the Federal Highway Trust Fund that receives revenue
from the federal gas tax.  What the Taxpayers From Common Sense will not
openly share with you and the nation is that federal highway projects are
one many items that has its own funding source.  Other federal budgets with
their own dedicated funding sources include the FAA of which all aviation
projects are based on revenues from federal aviation fuel taxes; all boating
infrastructure programs, paid out of taxes on marine fuel collected under
the Dingle-Johnson Act;  and you naturally know of social security, Medicare
and so forth.

Up until the early 1990's Congress did not dedicate highway funds to
specific projects, it was assumed that state governments would take care of
the mechanism to divide highway funds throughout the state.  Pork barreling
highway projects began in earnest under the Clinton Administration (and I am
not blaming either party for this) when rural communities in mid-eastern,
western, and southern states started to complain that highway money was not
flowing their direction.  As you may remember, IDT was just as guilty of
this sin, remember the completion of unneeded freeways around Idaho Falls?
Twin Falls?, and the famous Flying Y intersection on Boise?  Can you recall
Governor Andrus complaining to IDT and the state GOP that Highway 95 was a
goat trail?

This type of behavior within state government lead us down the road of the
creation of the "High Priority" list within the various highway bills.  If
you read the law (and I guarantee that TFCS, and other eastern organizations
that really hate spending in the west will not tell you this) the dollar
amount of "High Priority" projects is subtracted from the state's formula
allotment.  For example, in 2005 the Federal-aid highway and highway safety
programs will be funded at $34,422,200,000 and this is regardless of the
existence of any pork projects, or other lists.  Of that only $2,966,400,000
(8.6%) is assigned to High Priority projects in 2005.  If the High Priority
list did not exist, that $2,966,400,000 for 2005 would have been spent
anyway elsewhere.  

The real issue is how the state allotment works, large rural states like
Alaska, Idaho, and Montana receive far more in highway funds than we pay
into the trust fund; smaller urban states like New Jersey, Ohio, and the
like pay far more into the  Highway fund than the receive back.  But
remember history, at one point the U.S. Congress funded projects such as the
National Road, the Erie Canal, and so forth to open up development of the
former colonies and the then western territories. These developments
consumed a large part of the federal budget in their day (far larger as a
percentage than today)  Really, the question to TFCS is, why will you not
allow younger frontier states (that unlike their eastern partners are mostly
owned by the federal government) to construct the highways, airports, and
ports that our eastern brethren were allowed to construct using federal
money?

On to the two bridges:  the bridge at Ketchikan has been proposed to satisfy
a outside corporation (Princess Cruise lines) who would like to start and
end more of their cruises in Ketchikan.  Currently, if you cruise Alaska you
will either start in Bellingham, Wa, or up on this end.  The cruise from
Bellingham, by definition, has to pass through Canadian waters to get to
Alaska, guess what? Starting January 1, 2007 passports will be needed to
cross this path.  So the cruise lines are really interested in developing
Ketchikan has the southern base of operations.  The runway is great, Alaska
Air serves the airport well, but the airport is a ferry ride away from the
port.  Add in the need to construct hotels to support the cruise ships (on
the same island as the airport) the poor weather which lead to frequent
delays in the ferry and you have a need for a bridge.  Remember the whole
Tongess anti-logging movement?  The end of wholesale harvest from Tongess
has forced Ketchikan into developing an alternate economic base, tourism is
it and a southern base of operations for the cruise lines will really help;
so what do you want, a $400 million bridge and a thriving tourist based
economy or wholesale logging in the Tongess? 

On to Anchorage..some factors: 
1) as you may know development of Anchorage has filled in all of the
non-federal land in that basin, there is nothing left;
2)the Corps of Engineers spend millions each year dredging the port of
Anchorage to try and keep it operational; however the many species of whales
that live in Knik Arm within the shallow and fertile waters of Anchorage do
not like the operation that much;
3) Pt. McKenzie is a natural deep water port that does not silt in like
Anchorage does - no dredging needed;
4) The thousands of acres around Pt. McKenzie is permafrost free and
relatively dry (easy to develop);
5) Pt. McKenzie is only a mile from Anchorage.
Thus the need for the Knik Arm Bridge.  Granted the bridge right now would
take you to nowhere in a hurry, within a few years of the completion of the
bridge there will be a somewhere to go. 

One other point Roger, all those other projects you mention (with the
exception of the paint job) have similar projects within the confines of
Idaho...who paid for the new ag building at Idaho? (the feds)  How about the
millions of $ of fed pork heading to the Lionel Hampton School of Music?
The 4 lane highway 95 from Moscow to Lewiston?  Agriculture research at UI
and WSU? WSU grizzly bears?  I know you just copied the text from the TFCS,
however I think we all should be reminded that western states really are
sucking tax revenues from eastern states; the TFCS wants that to stop - it
is a New York organization.

Hope all is well,
Chris

-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com
[mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]On Behalf Of lfalen
Sent: Tuesday, November 08, 2005 12:19 PM
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] pork

The following is from an article by Stephen Spruiell in the November 7, 2005
issue of National Review. Any typo's are mine.

Rep. Don Young stuffed two bridges in to the highway bill recently passed
into law. Combined the bridges will cost taxpayers $454 million just
slightly less than the amount Alaska will give away in PFD checks this year.
Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) checks are paid to Alaskans out of state'd
royalties on oil and gas. This year the state will distribute roughly $510
million to Alaska's 600,000 residents or about $845 apiece. Alaska has no
stae personal income tax or sale tax.

On top of this payment they are getting two unneeded bridges. one is
designed to connect the town of Ketchikan  (population 8,000) to its airport
on nearby Gravina  Island (pop. 50), supplanting a ferry service that
currently makes the trip in about seven minutes for a fare of $5 t0 $6. The
other is the infamous bridge to nowhere. It is a bridge between Anchorage
and a small rural area called Point MacKenzie ( pop. 11). Citizens Against
Government Waste ranks Alaska firs in per capita pork spending. 

Here are just a few of the goodies Young and Stevens have steered toward
alaska in recent years: $1.8 million for berry research; $1.8 million for
sea-otter recovery; $10 million for a pyschiatric treatment facility; $48
millions subsidies for the timber industry; and $500,000 to paint a giant
salmon on an Alaska Airlines jetliner. 

A study by Taxpayes for Common Sence revealed that the $285.5 billion
highway bill contained 119 special projects for Alaska, totaling almost $1
million. Of the $24 billion worth of pork in the bill Alaska got 4%. Don
Young compared it to hunting. " i'm always looking for a bigger Head" He
said about Ted Stevens " i'd lkie to be a little oinker, myself. If he's
cheif porker i'm upset."

My comment: I thought Robert Byrd was bad. These guys make him look like a
piker. Maybe Chris would loke to comment on Alaskan politics

Roger

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