Alaska lawmaker quiz (Hint: Be cynical)

On a day identified with cold turkey, Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, is an ideal column subject. He's a turkey, and he's spent the past few years soliciting cold campaign cash from those seeking federal highway money.

		AP / 2006
	Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska

With aid from a recent, superlative Anchorage Daily News investigative project, here is a quiz on the self-titled "congressman for all Alaska":

1) Rep. Don Young has not faced a serious challenge in this decade, yet he and his political action committee have taken political contributions from highwaymen and others totaling:

a) Just over $2 million

b) $6.5 million

c) $5.5 million

d) $4.5 million

2) As chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Young put in a $72 million earmark for a highway link between Pine Bluff, Ark., and a future Interstate 69. Did he get anything?

a) No. He told Arkansas business interests that he didn't need out-of-state donations.

b) Yes. Arkansas business interests became fixtures at Young's fundraisers in Washington, D.C.

c) Yes, and then some. Young made two fundraising swings to Arkansas, taking in $60,000 in 2004 and $147,000 in 2005.

3) True or false: Executives of Arkansas-based Wal-Mart gave $24,000-plus to the congressman from Fort Yukon, Alaska.

4) When Young became chairman of the House Transportation Committee in 2001, the last highway bill had 1,850 "earmarks" -- specific grants for lawmakers' pet projects -- totaling $9.35 billion. The 2005 highway-spending bill, written by Young:

a) Pared back earmarks to fewer than 1,000, totaling just over $5 billion.

b) Capped earmarks at 2,000, worth about $10.1 billion.

c) Had earmarks for 6,371 projects valued at $24.2 billion.

5) True or false: Corporations seeking to influence the high-spending bill welcomed Young aboard company aircraft for at least 20 trips and stays at such luxury resorts as the Four Seasons Hotel in Newport Beach, Calif., and the Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas.

6) Defending his decision to earmark $200 million for a bridge connecting Ketchikan, Alaska, to nearby (population 50) Gravina Island, labeled by critics as a "bridge to nowhere" and pork-barreling, Young said:

a) "I'd like to be a little oinker myself. If he (Sen. Ted Stevens) is the chief porker, I'm upset."

b) "It's a bridge to somewhere."

c) "This is the time to take advantage of the position I'm in, along with Senator Stevens."

d) All of the above.

7) A man renowned for his temper, Young has during 35 years in Congress:

a) Waved an oosik, the penis bone of a walrus, at the first woman head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at a hearing.

b) Loudly argued, during a hearing on trapping and animal cruelty, that leg-hold traps are neither painful nor dangerous -- and put his hand into a trap.

c) Reacted to the effort by a Republican colleague to cut one of his pet projects by yelling across the House floor: "There's always another day when those who fight will be killed, too, and I am very good at that."

d) All of the above.

8) True or false: Young inserted a $10 million earmark into the 2005 highway bill to study a ramp sought by a Florida real estate developer. Young took a trip to Bonita Springs, Fla., to inspect the site and was feted with a $40,000 fundraiser.

9) Young is known for his colorful fundraisers, including:

a) An annual pig roast at the Anchorage home of former Alaska Gov. Bill Sheffield.

b) An annual golf tournament at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va.

c) A golfing outing at the famous Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Va.

d) A retreat to Camp Denali in Alaska, near North America's highest peak.

10) The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, a work involving 300 scientists, was published in November 2004. It concluded that "human influences" had become the "dominant factor" in global warming and rapid temperature changes in the North. Young reacted by:

a) Immediately co-sponsoring legislation to set a cap on U.S. carbon emissions.

b) Toured Arctic villages to inspect erosion caused by fall storms, the result of protective ice packs not forming.

c) Demanded a crash federal study on how the retreating ice pack threatens survival of the polar bear.

d) Ridiculed the climate assessment, declaring: "My biggest concern is that people are going to use this so-called study to try to influence the way and standard of living that occurs within the United States. I don't believe it is our fault. That's an opinion. It's as sound as any scientist's."

11) The percentage of Young's political contributions coming from people and interests outside Alaska, 2001 to 2006, was:

a) 35 percent

b) 50 percent

c) 85 percent

d) 90 percent.

Correct answers: 1) b. 2) c. 3) True. 4) c. 5) True. 6) d. 7) d. 8) True. 9) a, b and c. 10) d. 11) c.