The $10M "Gift" Nobody Wanted

South Florida Returns Money To Washington For Highway Interchange Off Dead-End Street

(CBS)  This earmark mystery stretches all the way from the Alaskan tundra to the warm beaches of South Florida.

“Basically, we were given a gift that we didn’t want,” Estero Council of Community Leaders chairman Don Eslick told CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson. “And it was for the wrong thing.”

The “gift” was $10 million tax dollars earmarked from Congress for traffic needs. But not just any traffic need. The money had to be used to connect Coconut Road, a deadend street, with the major Interstate I-75.

The question was why?

A Coconut Road interchange was hardly an urgent priority in the area's traffic plan.

“If one is the least need and ten is the greatest, I would give it a zero,” says Lee County commissioner Ray Judah.

Even stranger, the earmark, a grant of money without the normal public review, began as money for badly-needed improvements to I-75. But at the eleventh hour, it was changed to the Coconut Road project by a congressman whose constituents are 5.000 miles away: Don Young of Alaska.

And then in a mistake nobody can explain, it became law without a congressional vote.

Young is infamous for trying to use hundreds of millions of tax dollars to fund a so-called "Bridge to Nowhere." He’s under FBI investigation in a separate public corruption case.

He wouldn't agree to an interview but denies any wrongdoing.

According to Eslick, everybody was wondering why a congressman from Alaska was so interested in an interchange in South Florida. He believes the answer lies in a fundraising trip Congressman Young made to the Sunshine State just three weeks before the earmark.

There was a "reception" in his honor at the Coconut Point Hyatt where guests had to pay to get in. Young netted more than $40,000. Among the contributors: A friend and developer.

This developer owns 4,000 acres of prime property where the Coconut Road interchange would be.

The landowner wouldn't agree to an interview. But a spokesman says others in the community wanted the interchange, too.

The way the earmark worked, the money cannot be diverted to the county's actual urgent needs.

So the transit board took a stand.

They voted to send the money back to Washington.

“We rejected the $10 million earmark because we felt it wasn’t warranted,” says Judah.

It may be a cold day before they turn down that kind of money again. But in South Florida, they're taking the sunny view, hoping Congress will return the money under different conditions for something they actually need.

[kansas1946]

The best part of this story is the Florida people sent it back. What a nice thing to hear. One of the Republican crooks managing to get money sent to a campaign contributor. How novel. Alaska must be really proud of this guy.

[antoniof123]

I am amazed in 12 years the Republicans did a worst job then the Democrats did in 40 years.

Just goes to show you that you don''t know what you got till it is gone.

[rowdytexan2]

Hahahahaha! What a dust up! Wonder which developer down there needed a road cut thru there? And wonder how much he paid Mr. Republican Young to get it for him? Finally, trying to sneak something in just didn''t work!

[amazedd]

The Famous Louse!

[gmond]

Since nobody wants it, I''ll take it.

[famulla-2009]

The Bush Era gave; I use the same words as the TV, of 1.3 billion American dollars, subject to the congress, to be given to the taxpayers. This is about 1,500+ American Dollars to each taxpayer to boost the economy that is very low. The other side of the coin albeit is, the economist recommend, %u201CPlease spend on the American Product soothe money stays in USA%u201D The Chinese seem to be everywhere and may take a chunk out of these in the form of toys and America still will bleed
This is on 19th January 2008-
I thank you
Firozali A Mulla MBA PhD
P.O.Box 6044
Dar-Es-Salaam
Tanzania

[alaska49th]

Read what the rest of the story since CBS was too lazy to investigate it fully.

http://alaskanabroad.typepad.com/071007.
doc

http://thehill.com/leading-t
he-news/mack-letter-supported-coconut-ro
ad-2007-10-17.html

[fstop100]

These politicians need to be prosecuted. Time for taxpayers to send a message that we are tired of the corruption in Washington.

[watcher269-2009]

Oh, and you notice the money is for Florida - right before Election time.

[watcher269-2009]

When will we remove all these Cheating Lying Republicans.

They call themselves conservatives - wow there''s an Oxymoron. All they do is Spend money - just look at how much our government has grown the last 7 years.

Where have all the TRUE conservatives gone.

The republicans have treated our economy like their own little ENRON Party. Time for it to stop before our country goes belly up like ENRON.

Questionable journalism when they omit that this "earmark" was in the 2005 Highway Bill.
That in itself would explain how Young, from Alaska, (who was then House Transportation Committee Chairman) got involved with highway funds for Florida. Duh.

I wish somebody would re-incarnate that "Golden Fleece" award that some congressman had goin'' years ago.
Sharyl Attkisson, you just keep it up, honey. Take no prisoners and grant no timeouts.

[caribousteak]

By the way, that wasn''t necessarily a shot at you, Katie. You just do as you''re told and read from the teleprompter.

Most folks don''t understand that, however. So for your own sake, if you don''t want a repeat performance of the joke of a story you ran tonight, I''d suggest firing the folks that do write your "news" stories.

[caribousteak]

Wow. I am truly impressed.

Never before have I read something so rife of veritable plagiarism. The degree of utter laziness, carelessness, and/or stupidity that went into the "author''s" decision to regurgitate only that which has been written and read about a dozen times by thousands of people is absolutely astonishing.

No wonder your ratings are in the tank.

There''s some very obvious questions out there. How come I haven''t read anything about Connie Mack?

I''m no Harvard grad but i have a hard time believing that Connie Mack -- after hosting and inviting Young to a townhall meeting on the transportation needs of his district in which he and Young, together, were given a presentation on the interchange project -- went back to DC to sit a few chairs downs from Young on the same Committee that wrote the bill, but never spoke a word to Young about the project they were both briefed on by Floridians who supported it, and has absolutely no idea whatsoever how or why it ended up in the bill...

I dug up that info in 20 minutes online. How long did it take you to cut and paste? How bout redeeming yourself by looking into the questions above. I''d do it myself but I have a day job.

[alaska49th]

Seeing as how CBS is too busy to be bothered to fact check this story, I would suggest you finish the job that they couldn''t be bothered to do. Below are links to stories done by 2 reporters who actually took the time to investigate this issue.
This from the Fairbanks News-Miner: http://alaskanabroad.typepad.com/071007.doc
This one from Capitol Hill''s own The Hill newspaper:
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/mack-letter-supported-coconut-road-2007-10-17.html

You''ll notice that both of these articles are from October of last year. Glad to see that CBS and Katie Couric are providing their viewers with old news. Too bad there isn''t a war, rising health care costs, genocide or out of control energy prices for them to report on.

[candide777]

You''d think the voters would demand accountability and stop this madness, but they twice elected GWB, so I guess they haven''t got the common sense of a two-year old.

[akkahu]

Hey CBS. Welcome to the world! This stuff has been out for over a year and a half -- including folks that have done a LOT more research than you''ve even reported to get "the rest of the story." Like -- did you talk to Florida Gulf Coast University. Did you look at the April 2004 study recommendation. Did you watch your own coverage of Hurricane Rita evac from Houston? Did you think that maybe the Chairman of the Transportation Committee might have been at a public hearing and received the request to preclude the evacuation debacle we all witnessed in Houston over TV/cable? Other reporters have dug and dug and found the truth finally -- and reported it. This is old news!!
Do your homework -- not your agenda!

[sgtrds]

A blatant attempt by a corrupt congressman to kickback taxpayer money to a croney. Pathetic and disgusting. In other words, classic republican behaviour.