In Response: Biden, Obama helped keep 'Bridge to Nowhere' alive

Original Article

Dear Media Outlets and Journalists Worldwide,

Stop it. Research your own work. We'll wait a day for the truth. It's OK. If you're going to make remarks that may be considered inflammatory, do us the service of writing the full story.

Today is the day of my first blog posting because today is the day that I finally decided I had enough politics. I demand accountability.

The above article is the one that drove me over the edge. It seems like a harmless enough article. It seems true enough. And it is. Kind of. Here's the problem, it erroneously assumes a general understanding of the political process by its readers. The information in the following sentence is so misleading that the political impact stretches far beyond the simple assertion that Biden and Obama helped keep "Bridge to Nowhere" as the title implies.

"Both Biden and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama voted to kill a Senate amendment that would have diverted federal funding for the bridge to repair a Louisiana span badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina, Senate records show."

Gross.

The problem is that while they voted to KILL a Senate amendment that would have diverted federal funding for the bridge to repair Louisiana, that does not mean they voted FOR the Bridge To Nowhere. In fact, this article does not mention anything about the other earmarks in the bill that may have caused its dismissal. All of this talk about this bill implies that on the senate floor someone said "I move to pass a bill that will give 223 million to Alaska for a bridge that goes to a city of less than 50" and everyone, unanimously, without conviction raised their hands and said "Aye"...except John McCain. The media is filling us with half truths, through no agenda of their own, but through laziness and because of word counts. Here is the full story.

The bill in question provided more than $286 billion over six years to upgrade our nation's network of roads and bridges and mass transit systems. The Transportation Act financed needed road improvements, and attempted to ease traffic congestion in communities all across this country.

Why did Barack Obama vote for this bill? Because he was supporting his constituents. One of the key projects in this same bill that included the so-called Bridge to Nowhere is what they call the "Prairie Parkway" which connect Interstate 80 and Interstate 88. The Prairie Parkway is crucial for economic progress for Kane and Kendall counties, which happen to be two of the fastest growing counties in the United States. (source: whitehouse.gov)

Not to mention the fact that whether or not it was truly a “bridge to nowhere” is debatable: Gravina Island, while it has almost no permanent population, is also home to the Ketchikan International Airport, which processes about 200,000 passengers a year. Alaskan officials hoped that the bridge would simplify airport access and allow development on Gravina, according to Alaska’s Department of Transportation. The bridge was not the only or the most expensive project attached to the transportation bill, and it may not have been the most frivolous. But it became a symbol for government pork. (source: factcheck.org)

If our political process is to work, the people reporting on it have to be held accountable. The fact that there are no equal time restrictions is an absurd problem that needs to be addressed. The candidates, their records and the American desire should be choosing our elected officials, not accidental comments and suggestive remarks by members of the press.

America is sick and tired of being lied to. We are confused by the meanderings of the press as they try to annoint their next king. On a side note, I have news for all of you conservative talk show hosts who lambast the liberal media...YOU ARE PART OF THE MEDIA!!!

I beg of you media people, report the full story or don't report it at all. It is your duty to keep America informed. It has been your mission of late to keep America misinformed. A change is coming.

This is why I started a blog. If I wasn't moved to write, believe me I would be sitting like you are, incredulous about the state of American politics. Instead, I write to correct the wrongs that no one else seems willing or able to correct and to inform the misinformed. Hell, someone has to do it.