Obama Camp Release on Palin's Bridge to Nowhere Claims
Numerous Independent Sources Have Debunked Governor Palin's Claims
Wall Street Journal Headline: “Record Contradicts Palin's ‘Bridge' Claims.” “The Bridge to Nowhere argument isn't going much of anywhere. Despite significant evidence to the contrary, the McCain campaign continues to assert that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told the federal government ‘thanks but no thanks' to the now-famous bridge to an island in her home state… But Gov. Palin's claim comes with a serious caveat. She endorsed the multimillion dollar project during her gubernatorial race in 2006. And while she did take part in stopping the project after it became a national scandal, she did not return the federal money. She just allocated it elsewhere.” [Wall Street Journal, 9/9/08 <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122090791901411709.html?mod=googlenews_wsj> ]
Chicago Tribune Blog: “The McCain-Palin Campaign Keeps Up the Misleading Line That She Was the Main Palyer in Taking Out the Bridge.” “Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin keeps saying she stopped the infamous ‘Bridge to Nowhere' in an attempt to burnish her credentials as a pork-fighting reformer. And reporters keep pointing out that her claim is exaggerated. Still, the McCain-Palin campaign keeps up the misleading line that she was the main player in taking out the bridge. And still reporters keep shedding light on the inexactness, to put it politely, of that claim. One of the latest journalistic efforts to separate fact from fiction comes from PolitFact, a service of the St. Pete Times and CQ. Yet, the McCain campaign has cut a TV ad that pushes the line that Palin stopped the bridge. It's as if they've decided to go with that first two parts of that famous Lincoln quote: ‘You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time...'” [Chicago Tribune Blog, 9/9/08 <http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/09/sarah_palins_bridge_too_far.html> ]
Factcheck.org: Congress Had All But Killed Bridge to Nowhere When Palin Killed It, Was Sharp Turnaround From Position During Gubernatorial Campaign. “Palin may have said “Thanks, but no thanks” on the Bridge to Nowhere, though not until Congress had pretty much killed it already. But that was a sharp turnaround from the position she took during her gubernatorial campaign, and the town where she was mayor received lots of earmarks during her tenure.” [Factcheck.org, 9/4/08 <http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/gop_convention_spin_part_ii.html> ]
Politifact: Palin's Stance On “The Bridge To Nowhere” Is “A Full Flop.” Politfact, a service of CQ and the St. Petersburg Times wrote, “McCain said Palin has ‘stopped government from wasting taxpayers' money on things they don't want or need. And when we in Congress decided to build a bridge in Alaska to nowhere for $233-million of yours, she said, we don't want it. If we need it, we'll build our own in Alaska. She's the one that stood up to them.' Nevermind that Alaska didn't give the money back. It spent the money on other transportation projects. The context of Palin's and McCain's recent statements suggest Palin flagged the so-called Bridge to Nowhere project as wasteful spending. But that's not the tune she was singing when she was running for governor, particularly not when she was standing before the Ketchikan Chamber of Commerce asking for their vote. And so, we rate Palin's position a Full Flop.” [Politifact <http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/680/> ]
AP FACT CHECK: Palin's Broader Story on the Bridge to Nowhere is “Misleading,” Her Self-Description as a Champion of Earmark Reform “Is Harder to Square With the Facts.” “Palin did abandon plans to build the nearly $400 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport. But she made her decision after the project had become an embarrassment to the state, after federal dollars for the project were pulled back and diverted to other uses in Alaska, and after she had appeared to support the bridge during her campaign for governor. McCain and Palin together have told a broader story about the bridge that is misleading. She is portrayed as a crusader for the thrifty use of tax dollars who turned down an offer from Washington to build an expensive bridge of little value to the state. ‘I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere,' she said in her convention speech last week. That's not what she told Alaskans when she announced a year ago that she was ordering state transportation officials to ditch the project. Her explanation then was that it would be fruitless to try to persuade Congress to come up with the money… Her self-description as a leader who ‘championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress' is harder to square with the facts.” [AP, 9/8/08 <http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ici5RhMkh6-9V07yckpLBEEjzf6QD932MU100> ]
USA Today Adwatch Headline: “A Disconnect on Palin's Bridge Claim.” “It's the claim that Palin ‘stopped the 'Bridge to Nowhere' that sparked the dispute. The reference is to a proposed bridge to a remote Alaskan community that would have cost the U.S. government more than $200 million. Palin has said repeatedly that she told the federal government: ‘Thanks, but no thanks.' As a candidate for governor, however, Palin supported the bridge.” [USA Today, 9/8/08 <http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-09-08-adwatch_N.htm> ]
Anchorage Daily News Headline: “Palin Touts Stance on ‘Bridge to Nowhere,' Doesn't Note Flip Flop.” “When John McCain introduced Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate Friday, her reputation as a tough-minded budget-cutter was front and center. ‘I told Congress, thanks but no thanks on that bridge to nowhere,' Palin told the cheering McCain crowd, referring to Ketchikan's Gravina Island bridge. But Palin was for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it. The Alaska governor campaigned in 2006 on a build-the-bridge platform, telling Ketchikan residents she felt their pain when politicians called them ‘nowhere.' They're still feeling pain today in Ketchikan, over Palin's subsequent decision to use the bridge funds for other projects -- and over the timing of her announcement, which they say came in a pre-dawn press release that seemed aimed at national news deadlines. ‘I think that's when the campaign for national office began,' said Ketchikan Mayor Bob Weinstein on Saturday.” [Anchorage Daily News, 8/31/08 <http://www.adn.com/sarahpalin/story/511471.html> ]
Daily News Miner: Palin Supported Bridge to Nowhere, Later Kept the Money – “That Was Hardly ‘Thanks, But No Thanks.' ” “In her introductory speech Friday as McCain's running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin picked up on the Ketchikan bridge that was never built as a symbol of bad federal policy… That is not how Palin described her position on the Gravina Island bridge when she ran for governor in 2006. On Oct. 22, 2006, the Anchorage Daily News asked Palin and the other candidates, ‘Would you continue state funding for the proposed Knik Arm and Gravina Island bridges?' Her response: ‘Yes. I would like to see Alaska's infrastructure projects built sooner rather than later. The window is now — while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist.' Palin's support of the earmark for the bridge was applauded by the late Lew Williams Jr., the retired Ketchikan Daily News publisher who wrote columns on the topic… The money was not sent back to the federal government, but spent on other projects. That was hardly ‘Thanks but no thanks.'” [Daily News Miner, 8/31/08 <http://www.newsminer.com/news/2008/aug/31/sarah-palin-supported-ketchikan-bridge-nowhere-dur/> ]
TIME: “Palin Has Continued to Repeat the Already Exposed Lie” About Her Opposition to the Bridge to Nowhere. “Palin has continued to repeat the already exposed lie that she said, ‘No, thanks,' to the famous ‘bridge to nowhere' (McCain's favorite example of wasteful federal spending). In fact, she said, ‘Yes, please,' until this project became a symbol and political albatross.” [Time Magazine, 9/9/08 <http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1839724,00.html> ]
AP: Palin Supported Bridge, Later Abandoned Project But Used the Federal Money for Other Alaska Projects. “Palin voiced support for the bridge during her campaign to become Alaska's governor, although she was critical of the size, and later abandoned plans for the project. She used the federal dollars for other projects in Alaska.” [AP, 9/9/08 <http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OBAMA_PALIN?SITE=CTDAN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT> ]
Washington Post's Kurtz: Palin's Assertion on Bridge to Nowhere a “Whopper.” “The senator from Arizona has made a crusade of battling pork-barrel ‘earmarks,' but the whopper here is the assertion that Palin opposed her state's notorious Bridge to Nowhere. She endorsed the remote project while running for governor in 2006, claimed to be an opponent only after Congress killed its funding the next year, and has used the $223 million provided for it for other state ventures.” [Washington Post, Kurtz Column, 9/9/08 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/08/AR2008090803047_pf.html> ]
When She Ran for Governor, Palin Was for the Bridge…
Palin Was for the Bridge to Nowhere Before She Was Against It. In 2006, Palin was asked, “Would you continue state funding for the proposed Knik Arm and Gravina Island bridges?” She responded, “Yes. I would like to see Alaska's infrastructure projects built sooner rather than later. The window is now--while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist.” [Ancorage Daily News <http://www.adn.com/sarahpalin/story/510378.html> , 10/22/06, republished 08/29/08]
· 2006: Palin: Don't Allow “Spinmeisters” To Turn Bridge To Nowhere Project “Into Something That's So Negative.” "Part of my agenda is making sure that Southeast is heard. That your projects are important. That we go to bat for Southeast when we're up against federal influences that aren't in the best interest of Southeast.' She cited the widespread negative attention focused on the Gravina Island crossing project. 'We need to come to the defense of Southeast Alaska when proposals are on the table like the bridge and not allow the spinmeisters to turn this project or any other into something that's so negative,' Palin said." [Ketchikan Daily News, 10/2/06]
· 2006: Palin On Bridge To Nowhere: “Would Not Stand In The Way Of The Progress Toward That Bridge.” According to the Ketchikan Daily News, "People across the nation struggle with the idea of building a bridge because they've been under these misperceptions about the bridge and the purpose,' said Palin, who described the link as the Ketchikan area's potential for expansion and growth…Palin said Alaska's congressional delegation worked hard to obtain funding for the bridge as part of a package deal and that she 'would not stand in the way of the progress toward that bridge.'” [Ketchikan Daily News, http://archive.ketchikandailynews.com/archive_results.php, 8/9/06, accessed 8/29/08]
· 2006: Palin Said People Across the Nation Were “Under These Misperceptions About the Bridge and its Purpose.” According to the Ketchikan Daily News in 2006, “‘People across the nation struggle with the idea of building a bridge because they've been under these misperceptions about the bridge and the purpose,' said Palin, who described the link as the Ketchikan area's potential for expansion and growth. The Ketchikan community now needs to have a strong, unified effort to say whether it wants the bridge or not. ‘And if you want the thing, there needs to be good justification,' she said. ‘There needs to be the reasonableness that the rest of Alaska and the rest of the United States wants to see.' She said that reasonableness could include a compromise in design and cost, such as limiting the link to a single span instead of the two-span Revilla-Pennock-Gravina route. ‘It's pretty grandiose here, what is proposed,' she said. Palin said Alaska's congressional delegation worked hard to obtain funding for the bridge as part of a package deal and that she ‘would not stand in the way of the progress toward that bridge.'” [Ketchikan Daily News, 8/9/06]
Palin's Spokesman Said She Supported the Bridge to Nowhere. “Republican Sarah Palin's spokesman, Curtis Smith, said Palin supports the Ketchikan bridge project, but had no immediate response to Murkowski's plans.” [Ketchikan Daily News, 11/21/06]
As Governor Palin Turned Against It, But Kept the Money for Other Alaska Projects
In September, 2007, Palin Cancelled The Ketchikan Bridge Project Citing A Lack Of Federal Funding And Faltering Public Opinion – Redirected $36 Million in Federal Funds Already Secured for the Project to Other Road-Building Priorities in Alaska. In a press release from the governor's office, Palin is cited as saying, "Ketchikan desires a better way to reach the airport, but the $398 million bridge is not the answer. Despite the work of our congressional delegation, we are about $329 million short of full funding for the bridge project, and it's clear that Congress has little interest in spending any more money on a bridge between Ketchikan and Gravina Island. Much of the public's attitude toward Alaska bridges is based on inaccurate portrayals of the projects here. But we need to focus on what we can do, rather than fight over what has happened.” [Governor Palin Press Release, 9/21/07 <http://www.gov.state.ak.us/archive-28635.html> ]
· CBS NEWS REALITY CHECK: Alaska Still Got Full $233 Million for Bridge to Nowhere, Used It on Other Transportation Projects. “Congress killed off the earmark well before Gov. Palin formally abandoned it. And while the bridge is in fact a dead project, the state still kept the money — all $233 million in federal funds — for other transportation needs.” [CBS News, 9/2/08 <http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/02/eveningnews/main4408870.shtml?source=related_story> ]
· Politifact Noted That Palin Did Not Say “No Thanks” to the Money, She Just Spent it on Other Projects. “Today, when Palin says ‘I told Congress, ‘Thanks, but no thanks,' on that Bridge to Nowhere,' it implies Congress said, ‘Here's a check for that bridge' and she responded, ‘No thanks, that's wasteful spending; here's your money back.' That's not what happened. Fact is, Alaska took the bridge money, and then just spent it on other projects. Palin did make the final call to kill plans for the bridge, but by the time she did it was no longer a politically viable project. We rule Palin's claim is Half True.' [Politifact, 9/3/08 <http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/675/> ]
Now Palin Touts Her Opposition to the Bridge to Nowhere
JULY 2008: Palin - “We Canceled That Bridge To Nowhere…Earmark Wasn't In The Nation's Best interest.” On an appearance on Kudlow & Company, “And you know, I think Senator McCain is on the right track with the earmark reform that he's so adamant about. I'm right there with him. We, for instance, here in Alaska, our administration, we canceled that bridge to nowhere. You know, we know that that earmark wasn't in the nation's best interest. So we're going to be a part of that reform also.” [CNBC, 7/31/08]
AUGUST 2008: Palin Said She Told Congress “Thanks, But No Thanks” on the Bridge to Nowhere. “In fact, I told Congress, thanks but no thanks on that bridge to nowhere. If our state wanted a bridge, I said, we'd build it ourselves.” [Palin Speech, 8/29/08 <http://www.clipsandcomment.com/2008/08/29/transcript-sarah-palin-speech-in-dayton-ohio/> ]
SEPTEMBER 2008: Palin – “Thanks, But No Thanks” on Bridge to Nowhere. “I told the Congress, "Thanks, but no thanks," on that Bridge to Nowhere. If our state wanted to build a bridge, we were going to build it ourselves.” [Palin Speech to RNC, 9/3/08 <http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/president/conventions/videos/transcripts/20080903_PALIN_SPEECH.html> ]
Her Big Defender? Indicted Senator Ted Stevens
Indicted Senator Ted Stevens Claimed Palin Did Not Support the Bridge to Nowhere. “Stevens, who once threatened to resign his Senate seat in 2005 if $223 million for the bridge project was defeated, told reporters today that Palin was never a supporter of the project, which has quickly become a bone of contention in defining the GOP vice-presidential nominee's self proclaimed image as a maverick reformer who took on ‘the good ol' boys network' of Alaska Republicans. ‘I don't remember her ever campaigning for it. As a matter of fact, she was very critical of it at the time. And she took the money and did not use it for the bridge, so you're wrong, as far as I'm concerned,' Stevens said today… ‘She was never really behind this," Stevens said today, reminding reporters of his impassioned defense of the project in 2005: ‘I defended it in the Senate. She did not support that. She did not support that.'” [Washington Post Blog, 9/8/08 <http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/08/stevens_no_action_for_bridge_t.html> ]
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