A Bridge Too Far...Expensive

It's almost as long as the Golden Gate Bridge. It is higher than the Brooklyn Bridge. It will cost $223 million dollars. It is unofficially called "The Bridge to Nowhere." Congress just appropriated the money for it.

Where is it? Who does it serve? What is it? Ah, there's the rub. It is a bridge which will connect the population of Alaska's Gravina Island (population 50) with the giant city of Ketchikan (population 8,000).

As to what it is, well it is one of the biggest pork boondoggles this side of the Big Dig in Boston. Thanks to Rep. Don Young (R), who happens to chair the Transportation committee & who happens to represent the district where the bridge will be built, the $286 billion dollar transportation & highways bill was passed. Don was sure to get his share of the bacon.

The residents of those bustling communities have till now had to travel by ferry, at $6 a clip. But thanks to good ol' Don Young they can now use the money to buy a pack of cigarettes.

This bridge has to be the most unnecessary thing in the world. Considering that New Orleans reconstruction is going to cost a whopping amount, the $223 million would be better spent there. Or feeding the poor. Or housing the homeless.

It just goes to show you, folks, that Congressmen are in it for the pork. Not for the national good or what's best for the people. Congressmen & Senators are thieves, a legalized Mafia, where they cut the booty - aka tax dollars - amongst themselves. It cuts across both parties. There are no red states or blue states with them - it is only a state of green.

Delve deeper into the transportation bill & you'll see what the $286 billion is really being spent on & who's getting the goodies. Well, the term "pork" is fitting, since your elected officials are pigs.

A sample list of pork in the $286 billion bill.