That's not a bridge we can believe in

OK, so Sarah Palin was for the bridge before she was against it. I get that. But the larger question is, why does Alaska need federal funding for a bridge? Alaskan oil generates more wealth per capita than any other state. What was once called Seward's Folly could rightly be called the Saudi Arabia of North America, and not just because it's run by religious nuts. While most states go begging for funds year after year, Ketchikan Tea generates surplus revenue year after year - $5 billion in 2008. Palin even forced an oil windfall profits tax through the Alaskan legislature last year that netted $6 billion. That's enough dough for 18 bridges to nowhere, with change left over to spay the governor's daughter.

For all their talk of fiscal restraint and personal responsibility, Republicans line up at the federal trough with everyone else.