KENNEDY SHOWS HIS TRUE COLORS, CAMPAIGNS WITH “KING OF PORK”

09/27/2006

“Bridge to Nowhere” Poster Boy Ted Stevens Headlining D.C. Fundraiser for Kennedy Today

(ST. PAUL) 9/26/06 – Today, Minnesotans are getting yet another example of Mark Kennedy’s campaign-trail hypocrisy, as he raises campaign cash with the “King of Pork” himself, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), after claiming to oppose pork-barrel spending. Stevens once threatened to quit the Senate if he didn’t get millions of dollars for Alaska’s infamous “Bridge to Nowhere.”

“Once again, Minnesotans are getting a rare glimpse of the real Mark Kennedy,” Minnesota DFL Chair Brian Melendez said. “This fundraiser shows that Mark Kennedy will compromise his values for the sake of political opportunism. The supposed small-government independent he’s tried to make himself into is just an election-year sales pitch. How can we believe that he’s going to rein in out-of-control congressional spending when he’s taking money and support from the King of Pork? Mark Kennedy is nothing more than a reckless, big-spending Washington hypocrite.”

Last Week, Kennedy Criticized The Bridge To Nowhere In Alaska. In the AARP debate last week, Kennedy said, “I’m the author of the line item veto in the U.S. House. I don’t understand why we want to build a bridge to nowhere in Alaska or a rainforest in Iowa. I think we out to give the President whether Republican or Democrat the ability to cut the junk out of there, hold Congress accountable, get spending under control. I am also the leader in the House that says, I don’t understand why we are spending a billion on AMTRAK frankly.  This is something that local and states can come together and keep the lines that make sense alive.” [TPT-AARP Debate, 9/19/06]

Kennedy Voted For $231 Million To Fund The Famed “Bridge To Nowhere” In Alaska. In 2005, Kennedy voted for a transportation bill which included $231 million for the Gravina Island “bridge to nowhere” in Ketchikan Alaska. [HR3, Vote #453, 7/29/05; Taxpayers For Common Sense; The Hill, 9/5/06]

· Kennedy Trashed Projects He Once Supported – Like The Bridge To Nowhere.  This month, The Hill reported that, Kennedy said, “Washington doesn’t have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem.  That’s why I have been leading the effort in the House to give the president, whether Republican or Democrat, the ability to cut out pork-barrel spending with the line-item veto.” He continued, “I don’t understand why we would spend money on a bridge to nowhere in Alaska or a rainforest in Iowa.” The Hill continued, “It seems, though, that Kennedy was for those pork-barrel projects before he was against them: He voted for the two laws that carried those projects.” [The Hill, 9/5/06]

Today, Kennedy Campaigns With Bridge to Nowhere’s Biggest Backer. Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens is the “special guest” at a Kennedy fundraising luncheon today in Washington D.C. [Kennedy/Stevens Invite]

STEVENS’ HISTORY OF PROTECTING PORK-BARREL SPENDING:

Sen. Ted Stevens Was The Poster Boy For Wasteful Government Spending With His “Bridge To Nowhere.” Last October, Sen. Ted Stevens threatened to quit the Senate if federal funding was not provided for Alaska’s so-called “Bridge to Nowhere.” The Alaska bridge project added to the Highway Bill was dubbed the “Bridge to Nowhere” because it would connect one small town in Alaska to a tiny island—costing taxpayers $223 million. On the Senate floor, Stevens said, “I will put the Senate on notice – and I don’t kid people – if the Senate decides to discriminate against our state, to take money only from our state, I’ll resign from this body.” [Anchorage Daily News, 10/21/05; Washington Post, 10/21/06]

Stevens Put An Anonymous Hold On Pork-Barrel Transparency Bill.  In August, we learned that Ted Stevens was the Senator “who secretly held up action on a bill to create a searchable online catalog of federal grants and contracts aimed at helping the general public find out who receives government support… Many activists believed the catalog would make it easier to root out pork-barrel spending.” [Los Angeles Times, 8/31/06]

Stevens Is Called the “King of Pork.” Keith Ashdown of Taxpayers for Common Sense has described Sen. Ted Stevens as the “King of Pork” [ABC News, 10/4/05]