Political Quotes

“Usually when something is killed, it stays dead. But just like in a bad zombie movie, some bad earmarks refuse to die and return to life time and time again as wasteful spending. That's what's happened with this bill and what this amendment corrects. There isn't an American taxpayer out there who hasn't heard of the Bridge to Nowhere. The Bridge to Nowhere has become synonymous with government waste. What Americans may be shocked to find out is a significant portion of the $454 million that Congress provided through eight separate earmarks in SAFETEA-LU is still available in Alaska to build these bridges. We fix that with this amendment and eliminate these return-from-the-dead earmarks with this amendment to save taxpayers money and restore credibility to Congress. Although Congress has tried to stop these bridges to nowhere by giving Alaska the authority to use its earmarked funds on other transportation projects, Alaska has still used $71 million of Federal funds provided under SAFETEA-LU to continue work on two bridges to nowhere. Sadly, Alaska's earmarked bridges to nowhere, like zombies eating the brains of taxpayers, refuse to die. Frankly, like most Americans I thought Federal funding for the bridges to nowhere was a thing of the past. ABC News reported in 2007 the Bridge to Nowhere is gone. This bridge had collapsed even before it was built after an onslaught of angry editorials, furious anti-pork citizen groups, and caustic jokes on late-night TV.…”