A third of Alaska's jobs can be traced to federal spending
Washington Post
Derek Kravitz
July 31, 2008

The fallout from the federal corruption indictment of Sen. Ted Stevens, the once-powerful Alaska Republican who helped the state snag millions in pork-barrel projects, is being felt from Anchorage to Washington.

A third of Alaska's jobs can be traced to federal spending, according to the latest study by the University of Alaska's Institute of Social and Economic Research, and many spring from military expenditures that Stevens encouraged during decades of service on the appropriations subcommittee that oversees defense spending, The Post's Karl Vick reports today.

The 84-year-old Stevens, dubbed "Uncle Ted" by the friends and constituents who have reaped the benefits of his nearly 40 years in the Senate, secured or played a significant role in 891 earmarks worth $3.2 billion to Alaska between 2004 and 2008, the watchdog group, Taxpayers for Common Sense said yesterday.

The group documented Stevens' "reach in this vast and lucrative realm" in a database and analysis of his Defense spending projects, also released yesterday.

Michael Barone of U.S. News & World Report called Stevens' indictment the most "recent state-shattering tremor in an earthquake of change in Alaska politics."

Politico reported that Senate Republicans greeted their colleague yesterday with hugs and smiles, even as they dumped campaign contributions the Alaska senator had given them.

The mixed message: We love you, Ted, but we won't let you bring us down.

The outlook for Stevens was bad even before the charges: He trailed his Democratic challenger, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, in November's election by nine points, according to a Rasmussen poll released last week.

Despite the idea of innocence until proved guilty, his allies in the Senate were quick to distance themselves from him as their re-election bids move full speed ahead, CNN reported.

"Two years ago was a horrible election for Republicans in a horrible environment. The environment is now worse for Republicans than it was two years ago, and that means the election results could be as bad or even worse," Stuart Rothenberg of the Rothenberg Political Report told CNN.

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