« previous | MUCK HOME | next »
Construction Kicks Off in Arkansas, Thanks to Don Young Earmarking
Rep. Don Young (R-AK) didn't just look out for Alaska when he chaired the House transportation committee. He saw the big picture, keeping in mind the myriad of needs across the country, particularly in those districts that hosted fundraisers for Young's campaign fund. For example, after voters in Arkansas donated thousands to him and his PAC, he helped channel some $415 million in earmarks to the state, situated about 4,000 miles away from his district.
The Arkansas Democrat Gazette reports that this week the town of Pine Bluff kicked off construction of a highway interchange project. Pine Bluff residents donated $66,000 to Young's campaign fund just before their needed-earmark appeared in the pork-filled highway bill of 2005:
...the connector has seen more than its share of congressional attention over the years. It started with a $ 100 million earmark in 1998 as well as an additional $ 40 million six years later. In 2006, Congress set aside $ 72 million more for the project.Many credit U. S. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., and his predecessor, Rep. Jay Dickey, R-Ark., as well a grass-roots lobbying effort that included throwing fundraisers for a former influential chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska.
When Young's tenure as transportation committee chair ended, he offered the Anchorage Daily News his thoughts:
"Now I can say this is for Alaska and not have to be worried about, you know, Arkansas," said Young with a grin.
Comments (3)
Crust wrote on October 30, 2007 12:01 PM:"a grass-roots lobbying effort that included throwing fundraisers for a former influential chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska"
That's some remarkable grass-roots they've got in Arkansas, running lobbying efforts that include fundraisers for out-of-state pols. I wonder what would constitute an insider lobbying effort in Arkansas.
NitPicker1 wrote on October 30, 2007 12:34 PM:Well, hey, it's not like Rep. Don Young and company are the *only* ones who confuse Alaska with Arkansas...
Paul, Spencer - yes I'm referring to some of your old posts that make reference to e.g. Mark Pryor D-AK, lol! Or this one, still uncorrected, which starts off with a mention of "Rep Vic Snyder (D-AK)":
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004131.php
BTW I notice that in the clip from the news article above "Alaska" and "Ark" are used instead of the postal abbreviations. Maybe TPM should take a page from that paper's style sheet. Just a thought. :-)
moquiti wrote on October 31, 2007 5:33 AM:The I-69 Arkansas interchange project is part of the Trans-Texas Corridor, precursor of the North American Union.