Bridge to Nowhere Anniversary

Thanks But No Thanks, Chuck

As the (last) 100 Days of Grassley continue, today is a particularly noteworthy milestone. As Roxanne Conlin kindly points out:

Five years ago, on July 29 (2005), the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere” was included in a pork-laden bill passed by the U.S. Senate and championed by Senator Charles Grassley. Fellow Republican John McCain, while campaigning for President, used that remote bridge in Alaska as an example of the worst types of pork barrel spending in Washington.

“At the time, Senator Grassley was pleased with the massive transportation bill that contained the Bridge to Nowhere and many other similar projects,” noted Roxanne Conlin, candidate for the United States Senate. “He even praised his staff for their work on the bill containing more than $286 billion in spending.”

The Bush Administration’s Secretary of Transportation said at the time that the bill was paid for using “accounting gimmicks” and “promised to spend money that did not exist.”

“Today, Senator Grassley depicts himself as a 'penny pincher' and 'tightwad' in television commercials. The Senator needs to explain how a tightwad can waste millions of dollars in taxpayer money on Bridges to Nowhere and other pork barrel projects,” added Conlin.

Stop by Prairie Lights tomorrow (5:30 - 7) to meet Roxanne. And there's still time today to get out to the Johnson County Fair for the mock election and vote "thanks but no thanks" on Grassley.