Last week Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain introduced Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. And a lot was made of the fact that she rejected 233 million dollars in Congressional funds for a bridge from Ketchikan, Alaska to an airport on Gravina Island. John McCain reiterated the point on FOX News Sunday with Chris Wallace. But during the Alaskan Gubernatorial campaign in 2006 the Anchorage Daily News reported that she was in favor of the bridge: On October 20, 2006, the Associated Press reported that "Republican Sarah Palin's spokesman, Curtis Smith, said Palin supports the Ketchikan bridge project." Reuters reported that Ketchikan Mayor Bob Weinstein, a Democrat, and Mike Elerding, her Republican campaign coordinator in the area, said that she was insulted by the term “bridge to nowhere”. The 233 million dollars had been earmarked specifically for the bridge by congress in 2005. In August 2007 after political pressure over pork barrel projects brought national attention to the so-called “bridge to nowhere”, Congress removed the stipulation - that the money be used for the bridge to the airport, but gave the money to the state anyway, to use in whatever way they wanted.
therealnews.com
