Gold Plated Bus Stop

File this under Are You F*cking Kidding Me?

Tom Wilson is faced with a problem many city administrators would envy: How to spend $1.5 million on a bus stop.

Wilson, Anchorage's director of public transportation, has all that money for a new and improved bus stop outside the Anchorage Museum of History and Art thanks to Republican Sen. Ted Stevens - fondly referred to by Alaskans as "Uncle Ted" for his prodigious ability to secure federal dollars for his home state.

Wilson is prepared to think big.

The bus stop there now is a simple steel-and-glass, three-sided enclosure. Wilson wants better lighting and seating. He also likes the idea of heated sidewalks that would remain free of snow and ice. And he thinks electronic signs would be nice.

Much like West Virginia and Robert Byrd, Alaska is becoming one giant monument to Senator Uncle Ted Stevens.

It's senseless spending like this that is really making a lot of people disillusioned with the Republican party.

What ever happened to fiscal restraint?

Sure, it's great if you're an Alaskan, but for the rest of us, I say, "what the f*ck?"

The party of smaller government starts with cutting taxes. But it shouldn't end there. Cutting spending is the next step.

We're not seeing it. The Democrats certainly aren't going to provide it. The Libertarians are far too academic and weird to get it done.

Where's the party of financial restraint?

"We have a senator that gave us that money and I certainly won't want to appear ungrateful," he said. At the same time, he does not want the public to think the city is wasting the money. So "if it only takes us $500,000 to do it, that's what we will spend."

Oh, well that's a relief. Only $500,000 for a bus stop. Glad to know that they're going to show self-control.

Thanks to Alaska-born ATG, who writes "The current bus stop works fine, I drive by it every day!"

We're from the government, and here to help. Posted by AlexC at May 19, 2005 6:00 PM