Alaska's 'Stevens money'

If Stevens was transformed by his extraordinary power in Washington, so were Alaskans -- from constituents to supplicants. This transformation not only distorted Alaska's political system, it distorted our economy. Alaska receives more federal dollars per capita than any other state. We rely on Stevens money (a wag said our currency should be the "Ted") to keep the economy humming, to keep our taxes low. We're certainly not going to pay for "little projects" out of our own pockets as long as we have Ted Stevens shoveling federal dollars at us.

Stevens had the Midas touch, and if he brought corruption to Alaska, it came in this form: too many people developing easy access to the U.S. Treasury. For example, Jim Hayes, the former mayor of Fairbanks, is now awaiting federal trial for alleged misuse of earmarks -- earmarks generated by Stevens.

Yet if you asked Stevens about his intentions for any of his actions, I am sure he would insist he's interested only in the public good. Stevens is rapidly becoming a media caricature -- the angry, snarling, curmudgeon at the center of what one New York tabloid calls a "perks-for-pork" scandal. A writer in the New York Times recently went so far as to compare him to Louisiana's famed Kingfish, Huey Long -- an absurd comparison because as governor and senator, Long ran a gang in the 1920s that fixed elections and corrupted every major institution in Louisiana, including the judiciary. Stevens has never applied his power in that way.

It is rare for the federal government to investigate a U.S. senator for corruption. This investigation and its aftermath could drag on for years. But here's something we can say with certainty: Stevens, through the appropriation of federal funds, transformed himself into the most powerful elected official in Alaska history while transforming Alaska -- and Alaskans.

Michael Carey, a freelance writer, is a former editorial page editor of the Anchorage Daily News. E-mail: mcarey@adn.com