An Open Letter to Governor Palin

Governor Palin,

Please accept my sincere thanks for canceling the foolish and wasteful Gravina Island Bridge project. Questions of motive and timing be damned, killing the project was an act of fiscal responsibility, and we could use a whole lot more of that in these troubled times. Thank you!

There's just one small detail you overlooked. The federal government gave you two hundred and thrity-three million dollars to build that bridge. It seems to me, if someone gives you money to do something, and you don't do it, you should really give that money back. That's the way I do things, and tell my kids to do things. It just seems to be the right thing to do.

It's not like you need the money. With Alaska running a surplus in excess of five billion dollars, you've done things like suspending the gas tax, and giving an additional twelve hundred dollars to every man, woman and child in your state. Those are good and laudable things. When possible, government should stay out of the taxpayers' wallet.

Right now, you are in my--and the rest of the taxpayers in forty-nine other states--wallet. And it's money you clearly don't need. At the same time, there is much debt and need throughout this nation.

So I am asking you to do for the rest of us what you did for your constituents in Alaska. Do the fiscally responsible thing. The conservative thing. The right thing. Give it back.

Please.

If you want, you too can ask Governor Palin to do the right thing. Her email address is: governor@gov.state.ak.us