Can We Get this Deal in Rhode Island?

The good news is that Alaska’s bridge to nowhere is going to be defunded (h/t Instapundit). The bad news is that the consensus seems to be that Alaska now gets to spend the money that would have gone to the bridge anyway it wants. That’s right, Alaksa -- a state with no sales tax and no income tax -- is getting a $223,000,000 subsidy from the federal government.

Can we get that deal here in Rhode Island? Check out this list of federal money earmarked for Rhode Island. Now consider Rhode Island’s $60,000,000 fiscal year 2006 shortfall.

Yesterday, I read quotes from State Representative Steven Constantino, Ocean State Action Director Marti Rosenberg, and Rhode Island Poverty Institute Director Kate Brewster saying that the state’s human services programs should not be cut. Today, we’ve found a source for the money! Will Constantino or Rosenberg or Brewster call on our federal representatives to redirect funding from bike paths and the purchase of conservation land so that the “poorest kids and families” don’t have “to bear the brunt of any cuts” because of the budget shortfall?