{"id":1443013,"date":"2022-04-18T08:15:08","date_gmt":"2022-04-18T12:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1443013"},"modified":"2022-04-18T08:15:13","modified_gmt":"2022-04-18T12:15:13","slug":"sen-murkowski-cashes-in-big-on-democrats-1-5-trillion-spending-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sen-murkowski-cashes-in-big-on-democrats-1-5-trillion-spending-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Sen. Murkowski Cashes in Big on Democrats\u2019 $1.5 Trillion Spending Bill"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsen-murkowski-cashes-in-big-on-democrats-1-5-trillion-spending-bill%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1443013&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/justthenews.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/social_media_share\/public\/2020-03\/GOLDEN%20HORSESHOE%20v21%20TP%20proof.png?h=78d1e665&#038;itok=SdnGZoOP\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p><em>The Golden Horseshoe is a weekly designation from Just The News intended to highlight egregious examples of wasteful taxpayer spending by the government. The award is named for the horseshoe-shaped toilet seats for military airplanes that cost the Pentagon a whopping $640 each back in the 1980s.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This week&#8217;s Golden Horseshoe is awarded to Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who <a href=\"https:\/\/justthenews.com\/accountability\/waste-fraud-and-abuse\/sundemocrats-lead-9-billion-pork-barrel-spree-through-revived\">placed fourth among U.S. lawmakers in earmarked funding<\/a> for home state pork projects in the $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill passed in March \u2014 despite representing the 48th most populous state in the nation.<\/p>\n<p>Among the earmarks secured by Murkowski, a liberal Republican facing a conservative primary challenge in her bid for reelection this year, was $10 million for the city of Fairbanks to tear down the abandoned Polaris Hotel.<\/p>\n<p>The Polaris was built in 1951 and renovated as recently as 1996, according to government waste watchdog site <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolicy.com\/articles\/2022\/04\/12\/us_spends_10_million_funded_by_taxpayers_to_demolish_alaskan_hotel_826023.html\">OpentheBooks.com<\/a>. Vacant since 2002, the structure is covered with mold, asbestos and green fungus, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.webcenterfairbanks.com\/2020\/10\/04\/polaris-building-in-downtown-fairbanks-scheduled-for-demolition-in-2021\/\">KTVF, NBC Fairbanks<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n<p>The building posed &#8220;significant health and safety risks to the Fairbanks community,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.murkowski.senate.gov\/press\/release\/murkowski-delivers-big-wins-for-alaska-in-interior-appropriations-bill\">according to Murkowski&#8217;s office<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Aside from the $10 million hotel demolition, Murkowski&#8217;s earmarks also included $1.1 million to study marine animal health and changing oceans in Seward and $500K to &#8220;create a trail of totem poles and storyboards representing Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian clans along the Juneau waterfront.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Through this omnibus bill, I&#8217;ve again used my leadership role on the Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee to address many of Alaska&#8217;s needs, while holding off riders that would have harmed our state&#8217;s resource industry,&#8221; Murkowski boasted in a press release touting her earmarks.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We fully fund the PILT program, direct significant funding to clean drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, provide for wildfire mitigation and natural hazards monitoring, and invest in our public lands,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I secured continued funding for public safety and to tackle the ongoing crisis of missing, murdered, and trafficked indigenous women and girls. And, to create a healthier, safer Alaska, we provide crucial resources to help prevent suicide, substance misuse, and alcohol abuse.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;As we rebuild and strengthen our economy, the programmatic and congressionally directed funding I&#8217;ve secured in this measure will provide greater certainty, hope, and support for Alaskans as we work together to realize our state&#8217;s unrivaled promise,&#8221; Murkowski added.<\/p>\n<p>Murkowski&#8217;s earmarks include:\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Statewide (Rossia): $350,000 to provide funds to repair and rehabilitate sites listed on the National Register for Historic Places;<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Statewide (Fish and Wildlife Service): $750,000 for an Invasive Species Early Detection Rapid Response Strike Team in southcentral Alaska;<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Chugach National Forest: $5.77 million for the maintenance, construction, and restoration of portions of the Iditarod Trail;<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Klawock: $1.22 million to purchase needed landfill infrastructure and associated maintenance costs for the cities of Klawock, Craig, and Coffman Cove to comply with new garbage removal requirements;<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Kodiak: $3.25 million to replace a failing wastewater lift station;<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Juneau (Sealaska Heritage Institute): $500,000 to help support the Kooteeya Deiyi project, which will create a trail of totem poles and storyboards representing Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian clans along the Juneau waterfront;<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Matanuska-Susitna Borough: $385,000 to implement the community&#8217;s fire reduction initiative to address spruce bark beetle infestation, which can lead to catastrophic wildfire;<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Seward: $1.1 million for the Alaska Sealife Center to study marine animal health and changing oceans.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Golden Horseshoe is a weekly designation from Just The News intended to highlight egregious examples of wasteful taxpayer spending by the government. The award is named for the horseshoe-shaped<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":498,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1443013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1443013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/498"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1443013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1443013\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1443013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1443013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1443013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}