The View From ‘Nowhere’

Bravo! But, I don't know what "stanch" means. Is it a contraction of "stanchion"? Can it be Alaskan slang?

Sorry ???Joe from Ketchikan???. What it all boils down to is that ferries and ships are more than adequate for a town such as yours; and if you need a bridge that bad ask Alaska to foot the bill. After all it was their blunder in the first place.

Before citizens of Alaska start complaining about a bridge you indicate is needed to get to an airport but tentatively labeled the bridge to nowhere you should consider yourselves lucky that you are all recipients of a fund by the oil companies called Alaska Permanent Fund (APF) created in 1976. The first dividend check was issued in 1982 and every citizen who resided in Alaska for over a year received $1,000. Every year since then each Alaskan citizen has bee issued a check bringing the total to more than $23,000 per citizen. In 2003 the amount was $1,107 and the all time high was 2000 when the amount was $1,964. What other states reward its citizens in such a fashion? Surely not mine where I am being taxed to death, many of the roads are toll roads, local government are bloated and corrupt, and the whole infrastructure from roads, to public transportation, crime, foreclosures, and unemployment is at an all time high. I think pork projects where the rest of the nation is broken should be attended to first.

I have comments to make to people who never knew, maybe because they didn't pay attention in class, that ALASKA is part of the United States. Wow. It's the 49th STATE, not some separate entitity from the rest of you. We live up here far away from the rest of you, but we still are entitled to the same considerations as the rest of you people down there in the Lower 48. Here's a newsflash for you. Hundreds of thousands of you tourists don't mind steaming up here on the cruise ships, hopping on a bus and stomping down the streets of these places like Ketchikan and making it ridiculously hard for those of us who live here in Alaska to even walk down our sidewalks that FEDERAL tax dollars did not build. You don't mind flying into our airports and making it difficult for the residents to get their opportunity to book a flight out because we have limited flights in here every day. No, you want to come here litter our streets and then move on back down to the slum of the Lower 48 and complain if we need a bridge or something up here. Face it, you didn't even know we existed other than to tour, until Sarah Palin came along. No, I'm not a fan of Palin's, but I am a fan of my state. To the person who didn't want their tax dollars spent on a bridge in Ketchikan, maybe WE up here don't want our tax dollars spent on your roadways either. We don't have a big conniption about that, and maybe WE don't want you Wall Streeters bailed out either with OUR tax dollars. And just maybe next time you go to start your engines, be aware that OUR OIL in Alaska is probably in your tank. If you don't like us, don't come here. But do NOT pretend to know anything about this state unless you educate yourself, and you can start by learning that we are the 49th State in the United States. We have a saying up here: "If it's tourist SEASON, does that mean it's legal to kill them?"

The top 6 states to get earmarks for fiscal year 2008 to date are: #1 California 554 earmarks for $ 460,667,000,000; #2 Texas 299 earmarks for $ 344,137,000,000; #3 Pennsylvania 445 earmarks for $ 343,273,000,000; #3 New York 381 earmarks for $ 201,370,000,000; #5 Illinois 252 earmarks for $ 286,470,000,000. The candidates' states: Senator Obama #5 Illinois; Govenor Palin Alaska 119 earmarks for $ 154,865,000,000; Senator Biden, Deleware 45 earmarks for $ 37,287,000,000; and Senator McCain, Arizona 72 earmarks for $ 65,616,000,000. There are still 4501 earmarks for $ 9,367,573,000 still pending for 2008. These figures do not include earmarks shared among multiple states.

So, a town of 14,000 needs a $400,000,000.00 bridge? With that amount of money every citizen in Ketch could ride the ferry to the airport every day for fifteen years. Perhaps We The People should pass on this one.

I have been to Ketchikan a few times and find the people living there great and friendly. ( Does it always rain there?)
About the bridge, if my town wants something, there is a ballot measure vote for a bond, raise the sales or house tax . The folks in Alaska don???t pay any sales or state tax as we do down here, they are a lot better off as we are. So why don???t they establish a sales tax in Ketchikan to pay for the bridge? Or take some of the few thousands $ of oil dividend all Alaskans get paid out every year. I can???t see why we lower states tax payers have to fund the bridge.

So, a community of 14,000 needs a $400,000,000.00 bridge?

OK, I lived in Ketchikan, Alaska from 1989 to 2004 when I retired from the Alaska State Ferry System. Yes, it's inconvient to take a ferry across the narrows to town, but spendin $350 MILLION of taxpayers across the country isn't in the public interest either.
Mr. Mayor, you say that 250,000 passengers pass through the airport, and 1 million more visit on cruise ship each year. If you charged each cruise ship passenger a buck or two, and a small surcharge for each airport passenger, Ketchikan could have paid for the bridge themselves.
Another solution is to take a couple hundred million out of the BILLIONS in the Alaska Permanent fund and the State of Alaska could fund it's own projects.
This year EVERY Alaskan, man woman and child got over $3,200 from the state of Alaska. Why not reduce that a couple hundred bucks and pay for some projects?
I live in Idaho now, why should my tax dollars build you that bridge?
I was an Alaska resident for 37 years. One of the things Alaska value is independence. If you want that bridge, build it yourselves! Most of the Island the airport is on is Federal land anyway.
By the way, Gov. Palin lied to the national press. She favored the bridge all along until it was cancelled by congress. She never said, "Thanks, but no thanks". The project was cancelled but she kept the money.

TO DEBBIE GRITS, ALASKA IS THE ONLY STATE THAT YOU ARE PAID TO LIVE THERE, YOU RECIEVE MORE OF EVERYONE ELSES TAX DOLLARS OTHER THAN VIRGINIA. wHY SHOULD THE REST OF US KEEP PAYING YOU. WE PAY FEDERAL TAX STATE TAX GASOLINE TAX PHONE TAX CNTY TAX PROPERTY TAX SALES TAX WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM US. WHY DONT ALL OF YOU GIVE YOUR OIL MONEY AND TAX CREDITS BACK AND BUILED YOUR OWN BRIDGE, SO YOU DONT HAVE TO RIDE THE FAIRY.

Posted By: informed.voter&mom @ 10/25/2008 5:44:59 PM
Comment: To phoke @ 10/25/2008 4:37:00 PM: Why doesn't anyone question what the other candidates spend on wardrobe, hair, etc... Example: Hillary during campaigning for herself, as well as when her husband ruled the liberal kingdom. How about the china, (furniture? and who knows what else?) that disappeared from the White House when they left office? How about Mrs. Obama? Just because she showed up on The "Liberal" View in a $100 frock - you honestly think that's all she spends on herself? And she's (thank the good Lord) not even running for office. And do you honestly think Palin's daughter is the first teen child of someone in office to get knocked up or in any other kind trouble? And are you judging this family when you don't know them and your only source of info is the liberal media? It seems to me that the Palin's are being incredibly forthcoming and honest. If she wasn't keeping an eye on her now, we'd hear about that, too. And I have a feeling she probably got preg. in the back seat of a car (not the first teen) and not under the desk of the Oval Office. I wouldn't have taken issue with that incident, either, if it hadn't taken place in a place that should be thought of with respect - not yuck...If liberals can't find anything to tarnish Sarah Palin's image, they make things up or draw attention to issues that are irrelevant. She can't win for loosing.Remember what they say about when you are pointing the finger at someone else (or someone else's party)...You need to put some thought into you thoughts before spewing them out loud (or on-line).