Following the recent indictment of Alaska senator Ted Stevens on corruption charges, his constituency has been driven into a near panic at the thought of no longer being the most Federally blessed place in the country.
The watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense said Wednesday that Stevens secured or played a significant role in 891 earmarks worth $3.2 billion to Alaska between 2004 and 2008. Divided among the state's 670,000 residents, the per capita figure of $4,872 is 18 times the national average of $263 over the same four years, the group said.
...and...
A third of Alaska's jobs can be traced to federal spending, according to the latest study by the University of Alaska's Institute of Social and Economic Research.
What do prominent party affiliates in the state have to say about this?
"There's no good that will come of this," said Jim Whitaker, a Republican who left the state legislature to combat the corrupt oil services company whose taint threatens to bring down Stevens. "For those of us who've been involved with politics in Alaska, one of the paradigms that we counted on in terms of funding public policy was the capability of Ted Stevens.
"It's not as though we don't have the capability to take care of ourselves," said Whitaker, now the mayor of Fairbanks's North Star Borough. "My concern is we're not used to it."
If nothing else ever does -- if the past seven or so years of no-bid contracts and procurement corruption don't -- this comment from a former Republican politician should tell us all that we have not earned all that we have, and that the party line of capitalism, small government, and self reliance falls by the wayside when a politician finds himself in a position to throw government money to his people.
Welfare reform clearly can begin first and foremost in Alaska. If nothing else, I prefer my tax money to go to needy kids with crappy healthcare and bad schools rather than subsidizing the high life in Anchorage.