Comments (21)

Dr. Wu wrote on August 8, 2007 11:07 AM:

"I know you're interested in the items that have been in the media recently. I wish I could discuss those in detail. But to reduce the likelihood of my saying something that will land my lying, whorish, bought-and-paid-for ass in prison, I simply cannot talk about it," he said at the start of his speech before The Anchorage Rotary Club at the Anchorage Hilton.

Nelly Bly wrote on August 8, 2007 11:18 AM:

"Audience members were too polite to ask about the federal investigation, sticking instead to topics such as Iraq and the Denali Commission."

I had never heard of the Denali Commission which is part of the Commerce Department. Stevens, of course, is on the Senate Commerce Committee.

From ExpectMore.gov:

Denali Commission
The program's purpose is to provide critical utilities, infrastructure and economic support to distressed rural communities in Alaska. This effort includes the program's own competitive grant process and partnerships with tribal, Federal, state and local governments involved in investment to areas of high distress.

Performing
Adequate

*The program serves a clear purpose as 27 percent of rural Alaskan households are below the poverty line and many communities lack basic water and energy infrastructure. However, the program's activities are duplicative of other federal programs that address the same needs and provide the same types of assistance.

*The program has improved performance measures and has focused limited resources to address critical energy and health care infrastructure needs. While the Commission has established long-term outcome measures, the extent to which its investments are having an impact on economic development in rural Alaskan communities is unclear. The program lacks adequate evaluations that assess program impact.

From HRSA.gov:

Statement of the Budget Request - The FY 2008 Budget does not request funding for the Denali Commission. This is $39,283,000 below the FY 2007 Continuing Resolution (CR).

Program Description - The Denali Commission, an Agency of the Department of Commerce, is modeled on the Appalachian Regional Commission and directed by Federal and State (Alaska) co-chairs. Its core mission is economic development in rural Alaska. The $39,283,000 million appropriated to HRSA for the Commission in FY 2006 was combined with other resources for planning, designing and constructing primary health care facilities in the State. Resources were also used to assist other facilities, such as hospitals and facilities that provide mental health services.

Rationale for the Budget Request - There is no FY 2008 Budget for this program. The need has largely been met through prior investment.

Funding:
2003 27,321,000
2004 34,793,000
2005 39,679,000
2006 39,283,000
2007 39,283,000

2006 - 35 grants
2006 - 35 grants

Who got the grants?

Jethro Q Walrustitty MP wrote on August 8, 2007 11:28 AM:

The list of all of the Denali Commission projects is at
http://www.denali.gov/dcpdb/index.cfm?fuseAction=ProjectSearch.BasicViewAll

Geezergate! wrote on August 8, 2007 11:31 AM:

What about Barbara Smyers Flanders, the $150k Senate Commerce Committee financial clerk who did personal bookkeeping for Senator No!?

What exactly does Flanders do for the Senate Commerce Committee? She earns as much as the committee's legislative counsel, according to Legistorm.com and none of the other committees appear to have a financial clerk.

We know that Senator Daniel Inouye is Uncle Ted's best friend and it appears that Flanders got her biggest raise when Inouye became chairman of the committee.

Is Flanders, 54, romantically linked to Stevens or Inouye? Inquiring minds want to know.

TheraP wrote on August 8, 2007 11:36 AM:

Anybody know why Mrs P's blog is now blocked? You can't even read it. Access denied to her user profile. And no way to go back and make use of the info provided in the blog.

Too bad. So sad.

Nelly Bly wrote on August 8, 2007 11:47 AM:

Thanks, Jethro. I like this one:

At-a-Glance for Norton Sound Health Corporation Project #0103-DC-2003-I16
Nome: Nome Hospital Design

Denali Commission Funding - $11,180,000

"The Commission is providing funding to NSHC to undertake conceptual planning and design efforts for the new facility. These funds will be used to identify appropriate hospital programmatic space requirements, layout and configuration of the building, permitting and environmental clearance, and site layout/construction development concerns."

$11 million bucks just for planning? Can't wait to see the estimate for the cost of construction.

C-92 wrote on August 8, 2007 11:55 AM:

I feel Mrs. P's spirit in the room, even if her blog is blocked.

Mike Conwell wrote on August 8, 2007 11:56 AM:

>Is Flanders, 54, romantically linked to Stevens or Inouye?

Or is Stevens romantically linked to Inouye?

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

Anonymous wrote on August 8, 2007 12:37 PM:

No sycophant in the Rotary room would say anything to Ted out loud. Most of the people there are the Good' Old Boys club of Anchorage
Some of them are direct recipients of Pork Dollars

Old Geezers might have to work for a living now

anon wrote on August 8, 2007 12:39 PM:

...Denali Commission Funding - $11,180,000..

That's roughly $3050 per resident of Nome just for planning a hospital. Dang. (Not sure what it works out to per tax payer.) I don't have any problem with Nome receiving all sorts of Federal aid but, based on that estimate for planning, building the hospital is going to be almost as expensive as day of the Iraq Surge and, hey, we need to keep our priorities straight, donchathink?

Redshift wrote on August 8, 2007 12:42 PM:

"Stevens also spoke about earmarks during his 30-minute speech in Anchorage. Saying he dislikes the term, he vigorously defended the practice, saying that if he didn't earmark money for Alaska that taxes would not be lower but that the money would just go to other states."

Well, isn't that just modern Republican fiscal philosophy in a nutshell?

Nelly Bly wrote on August 8, 2007 1:02 PM:

anon, According to the Norton Sound Healthcare Corporate website, NSHC is the primary source of healtchare for 9,000 residents of the Bering Strait region so the cost of planning for a Nome hospital works out to a mere $1300 per person.

Be interesting to know how the $11.8 million was awarded. How much of it went to a single contractor etc?

Scanning the Denali Commission grants, it is apparent that much of the money went for construction rather than services - rural health clinics, teacher housing, laundromats etc.

I wonder how many different construction companies benefited from the Denali Commission.

Nelly Bly wrote on August 8, 2007 1:30 PM:

Can this number be right?

Below, I linked to a page on the Denali Commission website that states that the planning phase of the 143,000 sq ft Nome hospital will cost $154,622,254.00.

I think someone ought to be looking into what is going on in Nome with this hospital. Supposedly, the planning pahse began in 1995 and is expected to be completed in 2012.

Where did that $154 million number come from?

Nelly Bly wrote on August 8, 2007 1:30 PM:

Can this number be right?

Below, I linked to a page on the Denali Commission website that states that the planning phase of the 143,000 sq ft Nome hospital will cost $154,622,254.00.

I think someone ought to be looking into what is going on in Nome with this hospital. Supposedly, the planning pahse began in 1995 and is expected to be completed in 2012.

Where did that $154 million number come from?

moondancer wrote on August 8, 2007 2:14 PM:

Nelly Bly@130PM

LOL thats the figure to supply every Alaskan with their own personal physician.

Speechless wrote on August 8, 2007 2:35 PM:

Not to raise a red herring, but in response to TheraP's observation on his TPM blog page, that possibly the Dems were beingpushed into signing the new FISA provision by fear of hoisted on the pitards by the FISA spying effort (that perhaps this is the stuff Karl Rove is doing in his corner office): is there any thought that Stevens might have been the sort of sacrificial Republican cow, thrown to the wolves of the legal system as a way to show others what will happen to them if the info (dug up through the various new forms of surveillance) the legal system's got on them is put to use. ??

Is the timing of the Stevens business significant in itself?

TEL wrote on August 8, 2007 6:00 PM:

Nelly Bly:

As a former Alaskan I can tell you, construction/material costs in Alaska are HUGE. The further north the location, the larger the cost, and Nome is pretty far north. I remember (more than 20 years ago) reading a comparison of what a $100,000 house looked like across the country. In Fairbanks, $100,000 bought a tar-paper shack with a tin roof. The only way most of us could afford our own place was to build it ourselves (usually a log cabin). We would then have "chinking" parties throughout the summer (where you push bits of insulation between the logs in the walls) to make it ready for winter.

Monica the seal barbie wrote on August 8, 2007 6:53 PM:

So Ms. Flanders, do you like all the sea otter products given to you by the ANHSC Executive Director? I hear the ED of that Commission goes around braggin about her connections with you and Mr. Stevens.

Let me guess, you demand the NMFS to give ANHSC funds and bypass the tribes.

Nelly Bly wrote on August 8, 2007 8:04 PM:

TEL, My original comment had to do with the $11 million allocated by the Denali Commission for planning the construction of the Nome hospital, not building it.

To date, $4 million of the $11 million has been spent. If we knew how that $4 million was spent, we'd have a better idea of what "planning" means and why it will cost $11 million.

I don't know if the federal government is going to pick up $154 million in construction costs for the Nome hospital. If it is, I'm not sure that is a good or even fair use of taxpayer dollars.

At $154 million for a 143k sq ft building, we are talking about a cost of $1100 per sq ft which seems high to me even if it is Nome. That $154 million translates to spending $17k for every man, woman and child in the Bering Strait region who will be served by the hospital.

anon wrote on August 8, 2007 8:16 PM:

Thank you, Nelly, I stand corrected. I was guessing the Nome population. A regional hospital would serve significantly more people.

However, just for fun, assuming that the hospital serves 9k and that the whole planning phase is going to run $150,000,000 and change, well that works out to $16k and change per head.

Now, that's some health care coverage I can get behind. Free personal banyas for all!

Stuff costs a lot more in AK, esp. in remote areas with all kinds of building issues, permafrost, extreme weather, no roads, etc. But assuming that the planning cost is, say, 15% of the total construction cost, you're talking a billion dollar hospital.

TEL wrote on August 9, 2007 1:10 AM:

Nelly:

I wasn't commenting on the wisdom of the actual project. I agree that the planning costs seem exorbitant (to say the least).