Alaska Senator scores big for bus stop

Alaska Senator Ted Stevens has managed to "earmark" 1.5 million dollars for a new BUS STOP outside the Anchorage Museum of History and Art. That's $1.5 million, for a BUS STOP not a bus station. The bus stop there now is a simple steel-and-glass, three-sided enclosure. Tom Wilson, Anchorage's director of public transportation, gets to spend the money. Wilson wants better lighting and seating. He also likes the idea of heated sidewalks that would remain free of snow and ice. And he thinks electronic signs would be nice. I do not see how anybody could not agree that this is an outrageous abuse of federal taxpayer money. At a time when our sons and daughters are being mutilated for lack of armor in military vehicles this is an extraordinary waste of money. On April 14, 2005, Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) introduced the Obligation of Funds Transparency Act of 2005 (H.R. 1642), which would require earmarks to be included in the text of spending bills, thereby allowing members of Congress to more easily eliminate wasteful or unnecessary projects before approving appropriations bills. Congressman Flake points out that the reason that even the most wasteful and indefensible pork projects get funded is that they are tucked away in the reports that accompany bills, rather than the actual text of the bill. The full Congress does not get to see these pork projects until weeks after the bill is passed. The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), CAGW's lobbying arm, is currently lobbying the House and the Senate for passage of H.R. 1642. See CITIZENS AGAINST GOVERNMENT WASTE for more information on government waste. Write to your representative to support H.R. 1642 in the House. Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) has promised to introduce a similar bill in the Senate. At this time I have not seen a bill introduced.