We're on a Road to Nowhere

1) Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens, recently indicted on seven counts of failing to disclose thousands of dollars in services he received from companies, fought vigorously for federal funding to build the now-infamous "Bridge to Nowhere". In 2006, Sarah Palin ran for governor with a "build-the-bridge" plank in her platform, and criticized the use of the word "nowhere" as political spin insulting to local residents. She urged speedy work on building the bridges "while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist." Campaigning for governor, Palin visited the town of Ketchikan to promise action on the bridge. She “said the bridge was essential for the town’s prosperity,” and that “she could feel the town’s pain at being derided as a ‘nowhere’ by prominent politicians.”
2) The bridge, a span from the city to Gravina Island, home to only a few dozen people, secured a $223 million earmark in 2005.
3) The pricey designation raised a furor and critics, including John McCain, used the bridge as an example of wasteful federal spending on politicians' pet projects, causing Congress to remove the earmark designation, but Alaska was still granted an equivalent amount of transportation money to be used at its own discretion.
4) Under political pressure, Palin announced last year that she was stopping state work on the controversial project, earning her admirers from earmark critics and budget hawks from around the nation. The move also thrust her into the spotlight as a reform-minded newcomer. Palin opted not to return the transportation funds Alaska had received for the canceled project.
5) Palin's recent assertion that she rejected Congressional funds for the so-called "bridge to nowhere" has upset many Alaskans. During her first speech after being named as McCain's surprise pick as a running mate, Palin said she had told Congress "'thanks but no thanks' on that bridge to nowhere." On Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace tried to pin down a straight answer on Palin’s bridge position from McCain campaign manager Rick Davis. When Davis refused to acknowledge Palin’s misleading statements, Wallace detailed her support for millions of dollars in earmarks, including the bridge: "During her 1.5, 2 years as Governor, Alaska continued to get more federal money for pork-barrel projects per capita than any state in the country and… she supported the Bridge to Nowhere. And it was only after the federal government dropped it out, killed it, the Congress killed it that she then opposed it. And in fact she still got the money for the approach, the ramp to the Bridge to Nowhere."
6) Reported by The Associated Press a couple days ago, "[Alaska] last week completed a $25 million gravel road that was intended to lead up to the bridge linking the city of Ketchikan to its airport on a neighboring island... Ketchikan Mayor Bob Weinstein says the road is ideal for road races and hunting. But with no bridge to serve it, that's probably about it.