A Monitor article this week looks at the proposed construction project of two bridges in Alaska, in addition to other transportation improvement measures, totaling $2 billion. The project is testing lawmakers and voters' sensibilities.

Sen. Stevens and Rep. Young, (both R-AL), claim building the bridges will boost much-needed economic development. Criticism is heated, with Sen. McCain (R-AZ) calling them 'bridges to nowhere.'

Other states have bridges of their own that they want refurbished. The argument against these sort of projects is that they will 'only benefit a few people' or that they are 'special interest projects.' A taxpayers' watchdog group, Citizens Against Government Waste, uses the former to declare Alaska the most egregious pork project state, because of its spending per capita.

How to find out about these so-called pork barrel projects? The aforementioned group puts out an annual 'Pig Book' on state by state spending.

Back to Sen. McCain – his Senate home page has a link upon entry to Pork Barrel Spending updates. A closer look at some of the differences he had with the Omnibus Spending Bill, where many of these measures are inserted at the last minute, does reveal some interesting proposals, like $325,000 to the city of Salinas, California for swimming pool construction?

Aw. Pools provide a lot of affordable summertime pleasure for a lot of folks. Then there is $7.3 million for sea turtles and $6 million for sea lions. More information needed on this, but they ARE beleagured. And adorable.

It is when you get down to a few hundred thousand for refurbishing local history sites, like the first Coca-Cola factory in Macon, Georgia, or restoring the opera house in Traverse City, Michigan, those seems to pale in comparison to the larger line items. These little things do add up, but these are important parts of our common history, that give people a sense of pride in place. That's priceless.

But the improvements should be on budget, as should more of these massive transportation measures.

A peace institute that tracks arms production and military expenditures has just released its global report on military spending for this past year. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, commonly known as SIPRI, reports a dramatic increase in spending due to the war in Iraq. The United States was the largest spender, as it has been in recent years, at 47% of the $956 billion in world military expenditures.

This could make one wistfully think of the old bumper sticker about the day when schools have all the funding they need, and the military has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber. But speaking of the bake sale, it has become a form of grassroots activism recently. The Democratic political action committee, MoveOn.org, held a series of these sales across the United States in April, allegedly raising $750,000. On the other side of the political spectrum, conservatives held a series of bake sales at campuses and other locations last year to protest affirmative action.

But back to spending for bombers vs. schools. Clearly, a lot is spent on education. But a look at page 37 of the Military Almanac for 2002, released by the Center for Defense Information, a military watchdog group, has a very easy to read graph: The largest category of discretionary spending - the funds requested by the adminstration that must be approved by Congress - is military spending, at $343 billion dollars. Second to that, is education, at $45 billion. Heathcare, Justice, Housing Assistance, and a host of others trail behind. But half of total spending is reflected in military-related expenditures.

A trade gap is increasing in high-tech industries as the United States imports more computers and peripherals, airplane parts, and other electronic and communications devices, according to a recent Monitor article. This is the latest news prompting concern about US competitiveness in these important sectors.

The Department of Commerce's press release on International Trade in Goods and Services reflects import increases in such items as automotive parts, industrial machinery, and advanced technology products.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, a labor-oriented, progressive think tank, much of this is due to increases in foreign production - mainly from China - of electronics and office equipment. The EPI, while describing their mission as providing research and ideas for working people, portray China's progression from producing low- to high-tech goods as negative, that it is taking jobs from Americans.

An excellent description of the global economy can be found in the newly-released essay: Job Anxiety - It's Real and It's Global, by Sandra Polaski of the Carnegie Endowment. Polaski reminds the reader that there is a labor surplus at present, that economies such as China and India, as well as former Communist countries, are now competing in the global labor market, instead of being restricted for working for the state.

While this contributes to 'job churn,' it will be better in the long run, as production will lift living standards in other countries and integrate workers and nations into the global economy. Also mentioned: the US consumes more than it produces. Coordination of local economic policies is called for, as well as elimination of incentives for American companies to locate their operations on foreign shores.