The Odyssey of the Bridges to Nowhere
by: Dan Auger

Taxpayers were almost given an early Christmas present when Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) threatened to quit the Senate, saying he would become a ???wounded bull on the floor of this Senate??? and that he would have to be ???taken out of here on a stretcher.??? His histrionics were in response to an amendment offered by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) to H.R. 3058, the Transportation, Treasury, HUD, Judiciary, and District of Columbia Appropriations Act (THUD), which would have eliminated $452 million earmarked for two bridge projects in the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (P.L. 109-59). Unfortunately, the Coburn amendment failed by a vote of 15 to 82.

A Monopoly of Cosmic Proportions
by: Jessica Shoemaker

The Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program was established by the Air Force in 1995 to design, build, and launch new rockets to lift medium and heavy satellites into space. Since the beginning of the program, the Air Force has been awarding contracts on a competitive basis. However, starting in the spring of this year, everything changed.