Alaskan Builds Road In Florida

Don Young, the republican congressman from Alaska who became infamous for his "bridge to nowhere" earmarking bamboozle, is so intent on worthless road projects that he's trying to build one in Florida. What does Florida have to do with a congressman from Alaska? Nothing but money.

The road, a stretch of pavement near Fort Myers, Fla., that touches five golf clubs on its way to the Gulf of Mexico, is the target of a $10 million earmark that appeared mysteriously in a 2006 transportation bill written by Representative Don Young, Republican of Alaska.

The congressman from Florida in this district is not interested, neither is the local republican commissioner. Local authorities have voted twice not to use the money and then they were warned by Young and their local congressman, Connie Mack, to just shut up and spend the money or jeopardize future federal funds. So just who is interested?

The Coconut Road money is a boon, however, to Daniel J. Aronoff, a real estate developer who helped raise $40,000 for Mr. Young at the nearby Hyatt Coconut Point hotel days before he introduced the measure.

Mr. Aronoff owns as much as 4,000 acres along Coconut Road. The $10 million in federal money would pay for the first steps to connect the road to Interstate 75, multiplying the value of Mr. Aronoff’s land.

Mr. Aronoff is a major republican contributor, giving over 200,000 to republican candidates in 2006.

When congressman Young was approached by a reporter asking questions about this Mr. Young flicked him off. What a great guy.

There are a lot of examples of corruption in government but this is one of the most blatant and again brings up the need for term limits. I know, I know, it will never happen but these guys like Young have been there too long. The money has corrupted them and after a while they think they are not above the law, they think they are the law.

Mr Young is a republican, but that is just a sign of how long they have been in power. Just remember back the early 1990's and it was the democrats in this kind of trouble. The republicans swept into power in 1994 promising reforms the same as the democrats last year, but you can't reform money or the power of it.

The entire system needs to be changed, but how? To get the congressmen who owe their jobs to big contributors to change the system would be like getting fish to ban water.

Jim Martin