M a r k D i l l e y

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"Ron Fournier of The Associated Press reported that the Army Corps of Engineers asked for $105 million for hurricane and flood programs in New Orleans last year. The White House carved it to about $40 million. But President Bush and Congress agreed to a $286.4 billion pork-filled highway bill with 6,000 pet projects, including a $231 million bridge** for a small, uninhabited Alaskan island." -- Maureen Dowd, NY Times

ACTION REQUESTED: **The author of the $231 bridge boondoggle is Rep. Don Young of Alaska, the Chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the House. You might contact him at 202-225-5765 / 202-225-0425-fax and ask him how he feels about spending twice as much for his pet bridge than was requested to shore up the levees around new Orleans. His District office numbers are: Anchorage, 907-271-5978, Kenai, 907-283-5808, Ketchikan, 907-225-6880, Juneau, 907-586-7400, Fairbanks, 907-456-0210, Mat-Su, 907-376-7665. If there were ever a living-breathing argument for term limits (he's now in his 16th term) he is the poster boy.

"Don't tell me 40,000 people [National Guard Troops] are coming here. They're not here. It's too doggone late. Now get off your asses and do something, and let's fix the biggest goddamn crisis in the history of this country." -- C. Ray Nagin, Mayor of New Orleans