Political Discussions

Palin STILL for the 'Bridge to Nowhere'

Posted by Wisco • 9/14/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: alaska, bridge to nowhere, earmarks, hypocrisy, john mccain, propaganda, sarah palin

From ProPublica (feeds.propublica.org/~r/propublica/main/~3/391691525/):

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has portrayed herself as a foe of pork-barrel spending, pointing in particular to her role in killing the $398 million “Bridge to Nowhere” between Ketchikan (pop. 7,400) and its airport on Gravina Island (pop. 50). I “told the Congress, ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’” she said in her speech accepting the Republican vice presidential nomination [elections.nytimes.com/2008/president/conventions/videos/20080903_PALIN_SPEE...]. “If our state wanted to build a bridge, we were going to build it ourselves.”

But Gov. Palin’s administration acknowledges that it is still pursuing a project that would link Ketchikan to its airport—with the help of as much as $73 million in federal funds earmarked by Congress for the original project.

“What the media isn’t reporting is that the project isn’t dead,” Roger Wetherell, spokesman for Alaska’s Department of Transportation, said. In a process begun this past winter, the state’s DOT is currently considering (PDF) a number of alternative solutions (five other possible bridges or three different ferry routes) to link Ketchikan and Gravina Island [dot.alaska.gov/stwdplng/projectinfo/ser/Gravina/images/alternative_11x17_v4...].

She wasn't just "for it before she was against it," she was for it before she was for it and lied about being against it.

User Comments

9/14/08

timethief

She wasn't just "for it before she was against it," she was for it before she was for it and lied about being against it.

Agreed and you can also add to that the fact that she kept the federal money. Thanks for the links. The more I learn about this woman the more contempt I have for her and the more fearful I am that Americans may be stupid enough to elect McCain and her.

[reply]
1. 9/14/08
  
  thewriterspulse
  
  "...the more fearful I am that Americans may be stupid enough to elect McCain and her."
  
  Trust me, we are. And it scares the hell out of me.
2. 9/14/08
  
  Wisco
  
  Agreed and you can also add to that the fact that she kept the federal money.
  
  Dang, I didn't even think of that. So she took the original $398 million and now she wants $73 million more. I guess she really is the Queen of Pork.
3. 9/14/08
  
  Anok
  
  Yup - yup, and yup....
4. 9/16/08
  
  WapitiWaters
  
  How can the American people take this woman's words for truth when everything about her, from her, for her, is a lie. Why did McCain sell his soul for a prop? Why are they going down this immorral road when our country needs serious help and focus on real issues. I really hope we, as a nation, get feed up with this diversion and realize that Obama and Biden are our ONLY hope. I might have been able to accept McCain as President before this, but now I am hell bent to campaign against him. He has lost my trust and has me running scared because of his Palin pick. She is a disgrace to women, heck, to Americans.
9/14/08

DrowseyMonkey

Funny how she removed that from her speech while in Alaska, and now that she's no longer there she's put it back in. Does she think people in Alaska don't have cable or the internet? Or newspapers?

[reply]
1. 9/14/08
  
  clioandme
  
  She removed it for Alaska? Too funny.
2. 9/14/08
  
  Anok
  
  Seriously? Does anyone have a link that can support that?
  
  hehehehe
3. 9/14/08
  
  Wisco
  
  Seriously? Does anyone have a link that can support that?
  
  Palin Brings Back Phrases She Got Rid of in Alaska - embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/09/14/palin-brings-back-lines-she-got-rid-of-...
  
  Should be FOXy enough to satisfy those so far right that they don't trust any other source.
4. 9/14/08
  
  clioandme
5. 9/16/08
  
  Anok
  
  Thanks Wisco You are fantastic
  
  Is it just me, or is Fox news starting to abandon the Republican party?
  
  Maybe it's just me.
9/14/08

jan4insight

"Bridge to Nowhere" - now that's an apt summary of the entire "Republican revolution"

:-P

[reply]
9/16/08

clioandme

Obama said he had a bridge for sale in Alaska for those who believed McCain.

(I forget what the specific policy issue was.)

[reply]
1. 9/16/08
  
  MadameX
  
  It was something to the effect that if people believed that all those lobbyists were pouring money into McCain's campaign just to put themselves out of business, he had a bridge in Alaska he'd like to sell them.
2. 9/16/08
  
  clioandme
  
  Exactly. Thanks for jogging my memory.