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Line 1: − A '''Bridge to nowhere''' is an American political term popularized in 2005-2008 meaning a large government project of little worth. It angers Americans who believe that wasteful government spending is a form of [[corruption]].+ − [[Image:BRIDGE.JPG|thumb|400px|Tom Toles (Dec. 1, 2008) cartoon lampoons Federal bailout efforts as a badly designed bridge to nowhere; note the multiple changing designs.]] − Senator [[Ted Stevens]], Republican of Alaska, and Congressman Don Young, Republican of Alaska, insisted upon and got a large Federal appropriation for a $398 million bridge to an island in Alaska. The island has few people but does have the airport for the town of Ketchikan (population 7400). The Gravina Island Bridge was designed to replace a ferry that works just fine. The project was widely ridiculed by both parties but Stevens and held firm. A compromise was reached whereby Alaska got all the money but the governor could decide how to spend it. Gov. [[Sarah Palin]] took the money but spent it on worthwhile projects and the bridge was never built. Democrats alleged that she supported he bridge in the first place because she officially signed off on Steven's request. She explained she never wanted the bridge but in January 2007, she sent a budget to the state legislature that canceled the proposed $185 million state share of the bridge funding. Palin was on the right side of this argument, working to have killed the bridge project and rescued the money.
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'''Gravina Island Bridge''' sometimes refered to as the '''Bridge to nowhere''' was a disparaging term used to criticize a congressional [[earmark]] project sponsored by [[Alaska]]n Senator [[Ted Stevens]] during a [[partisan]] [[whitch hunt]] to remove the Senior [[Republican]] Senator from office.
[[category:politics]]
[[category:politics]]