Alaska Senator Defends Public Record

[Judi Lynn]

12/19/2003 5:33:00 PM
Alaska Senator Defends Public Record

By RACHEL D'ORO Associated Press Writer



Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska dismissed calls Friday from activist groups that he resign as chairman of the Appropriations Committee and disputed a newspaper report that said he used his powerful position to enrich himself and others.

"If they think I am going to resign because of a story in a newspaper, they're crazy," he said at a news conference here.

Stevens, a Republican who has been in the Senate nearly 35 years, said he had done nothing illegal, immoral or unethical.

The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that the senator has grown wealthy from investments with people who benefited from legislation he helped write.
(snip/...)

http://www.620ktar.com/news/article.aspx?id=278499


Stevens!

"Get him on the run," flush him out!

[WillParkinson]

1. I'm all for rooting out the bad guys...

Republican and Democrat alike.

HOWEVER...I insist on proof of them having done wrong.

A newspaper article is not proof, yet. If they DO get proof by all means get rid of him.

[stevedeshazer]

8. Here ya go, defend this

An attempt Thursday night to provide more money to the Army so soldiers deploying to Iraq don’t have to buy their own combat gear failed after the Senate Appropriations Committee chairman showed little sympathy for the idea.

“I remember going overseas and on the way, I bought boots because I did not like my boots. I bought shirts. I did not like my shirts. I bought gloves I would rather wear,” said Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, during debate on the $87 billion Iraq supplemental budget.

“Kids are kids, and they are going to buy what they want,” said Stevens, an Air Force veteran who served in China in 1944.

His remarks came as Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., tried to divert money from the reconstruction part of the Bush administration request to boost the Army’s supply budget. There is money in the Bush request to cover supplies, but Dodd said the $112.5 million is only enough to cover three months of purchases.

http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=0-292925-2271903.php

You can start here.

[WillParkinson]

11. Defend...

I don't defend him. Heck, I don't even know him. You have, however, given me more information on him than a single article.

If he (obviously) doesn't care about the troops that are dying for a war that most people did not and do not want and use rhetoric to cover it then by all means people should dig deeper into his past.

[stevedeshazer]

9. And more:

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) on Thursday named Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) its July Porker of the Month for promising to filibuster a resolution, if it reaches the Senate floor, which would reduce pork-barrel spending. As the top porker per capita in the U.S. Congress, Sen. Stevens is staying true to form by trying to deny a vote on a reasonable budget reform measure designed to end abusive earmarks in appropriations bills.

According to a CAGW news release, the resolution, S. Res. 173, would allow any senator to raise a point of order against appropriations earmarks. Such items are not specifically authorized by law, and also skirt the competitive process. Introduced by the Senate's number one pork-barrel critic, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz), and co-sponsored by Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), the resolution would require 60 votes to keep an earmark in a bill after a senator objected to it. S. Res. 173 would give all senators the opportunity to object to provisions inserted by members of the Appropriations Committee into the spending bills and subject them to a separate vote.

Citizens Against Government Waste stated in a news release that Sen. Stevens has vowed to defend his oft-exercised ability to bring home the bacon by tying up the Senate in knots with a filibuster. In fiscal 2003, CAGW awarded Sen. Stevens the Gold Rush Award for smuggling a whopping $393 million in pork back to Alaska, making it the national leader in pork per capita at $611 for each person in his home state. CAGW says using money he filched from federal taxpayers this year, Stevens' allocations included $2,000,000 for the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, $750,000 for sea otter research in Alaska and $225,000 for the Beluga Whaling Committee. Over the past three years alone, Sen. Stevens has brought home $1.3 billion in pork. Citizens Against Government Waste says Stevens is already looking to set another pork per capita record this year, Sen. Stevens has added $42.3 million to the fiscal 2004 Military Construction Appropriations bill, including $1.4 million to replace a working dog kennel at Elmendorf Air Force Base. It is going to be a ruff year for taxpayers according to a CAGW news release.

In a news release CAGW said, while lawmakers like Sen. Stevens bark about the constitutional prerogative of Congress to determine how to spend money, appropriators should not be the final word. Pork projects are disproportionately distributed to members of the appropriations committees, and therefore do not benefit all representatives and senators. Instead of railing about Sen. McCain's resolution, Sen. Stevens should be asking, which is more important: studying Alaskan sea otters or ensuring that no American military family qualifies for food stamps?

Quoting CAGW's news release, "due to his lack of respect for government accountability and apparent indifference to the reality that federal money comes from taxpayers across the country, not just Alaska, CAGW names Sen. Ted Stevens July Porker of the Month."

http://www.sitnews.net/0703news/071103/071103_cagw_porker_month.html

[Just Me]

10. I've merely watched him debating on the floor,...

,...heavily reliant upon pure rhetoric or propaganda-style encroaches. He never actually engaged in a real debate or intellectual discourse. As I watched him,...red flags were all over his propositions. In my humble view, he has become a cynical and stingy and angry man who is out to grab for himself all lost and anticipated "receipts", at this point in time. I don't know what he was like or what his endeavors or passions used to be. But, I have seen what he is in most recent days,...and it has little to nothing to do about what best serves the American people.

[barbaraann]

2. New GOP excuse: "It's in a newspaper."

Gov. Rowland of Connecticut was using that one, too. WELLL, OF COURSE THAT MAKES IT OK!!!!

I hope Sen. Stevens' wife write a poem, too!

[Judi Lynn]

3. If Stevens were a Democrat, the Republicans would get a lot of mileage

with this factoid:

(snip) In one instance examined by the Times, Stevens invested $50,000 in real estate partnerships that have grown in value since 1997 to between $750,000 and $1.5 million.

Stevens was made a partner in those investments by Anchorage developer John Rubini. Stevens helped Rubini keep a $450 million contract with the Defense Department for housing on Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage, the Times reported. (snip/)

[Thor_MN]

5. Do you think that the GOP would buy my house for $1.65M to $3.3M?

just to prove that there were no wrongdoings? I bought it for $110K in 1997 - shouldn't it have appreciated at approximately the same rate?

[rumguy]

4. Stevens stinks to high heavens

He should be hung out to dry like the crook he is!

[jbfam4]

6. It will be interesting

to see what Senator Byrd has to say about this.

[roguevalley]

7. Senator Ted is a complete skank.

He and his boy and the sons and daughters of the rest
of our repug delegation make tons of money selling us
all out to the world.

He needs to go. He's the meanest bastard around. he
said about those who didn't vote his way, "I know who
you are and I don't forget."

He's a total scummy skank.