August 3, 2008 5:43PM 

# Ted Stevens: Bridge to the Taxpayers 

By [David Boaz](https://www.cato.org/people/david-boaz) 

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An Alaskan author [explains](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/01/AR2008080102870.html) Ted Stevens’ continuing popularity:

> In Haines alone, Ted has helped fund our public radio station, new library and Native-run health clinic.

Wrong. As far as I know, Ted Stevens didn’t contribute a dime to any of those projects. (True, some Alaskans helped fund his house, but the reverse isn’t true.) Rather, Stevens was a sort of Bridge to the Taxpayers of the lower 48. We’re the ones who paid for all the projects in oil-rich Alaska, not Ted Stevens.

##### Related Tags 

[Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) 

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