"All this spending adds up, and has to be paid back -- by our children and their children." -- Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, in her Feb. 14 national media address criticizing the federal stimulus package as too large

Nine days after airing that complaint about the federal stimulus, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski issued a six-page press release bragging that Congress is working on a bill that shovels $180 million into more than 100 Alaska projects and programs.

Alaska's haul includes some things that look like the "pork" that Republicans assailed in the stimulus legislation.

The spending bill touted by Sen. Murkowski has $332,500 to redevelop an abandoned cannery in Craig and $665,000 for a bigger bus bay in the Mat-Su Borough. The PTA will get $238,000 to "train parents" and a nonprofit group will get $150,000 to "advocate for small boat community-based fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska."

During the stimulus debate, Republicans made a huge fuss over the possibility that the federal money might be used for recreation projects or museums or other alleged frills. Sen. Murkowski supported the successful move to bar any stimulus money from any "aquarium, zoo, golf course, swimming pool, stadium, community park, museum, theater, art center, and highway beautification project."

But lo and behold, it turns out those types of projects are worthy of good ol' ordinary federal dollars.

The new federal spending bill includes $380,000 for recreation and fairgrounds work in Kotzebue and $475,000 for the same purpose in Wrangell. "Adaptive and therapeutic" recreation efforts in Alaska stand to get $571,000 of federal money.

As Sen. Murkowski asked in critiquing the stimulus, "Where is all of this money going to come from?"

Her press release doesn't answer the question.

She might want to remind Alaskans what she told the nation Feb. 14:

"Well, the government pays its bills by selling promissory notes and by printing money. Who will buy these notes? They will be bought by countries that already hold enormous sums of U.S. debt -- countries like China."

The federal dollar that the stimulus might have spent on recreation projects is no different from the federal dollar spent on recreation in the pending appropriations bill. It all comes from the same pot of borrowed money.

As the new spending measure moves through Congress, it will be interesting to see if Sen. Murkowski takes the same tack as she did with the stimulus. On that one, she was able to have it both ways. She voted no, looking tough on spending but safe in the knowledge the bill would pass and bring plenty of benefit back home.

BOTTOM LINE: Sen. Murkowski doesn't have a consistent stand on the supposed evils of big federal spending.

Heavy kids

Alaska, we've got a problem

What has happened since the Anchorage School District got rid of junk food machines and added more physical and health education?

Kids in city schools haven't gotten any fatter.

These days, that qualifies as good news.

Anchorage has maintained the same level of obese and overweight students for five years, according to a joint state-School District study of thousands of local students.

Unfortunately, though, we've held the line at a spot in which a huge number of Anchorage students -- 36 percent -- weigh too much.

That compares to a national rate of 32 percent and leads to all kinds of health problems. Dr. Jay Butler, the state's chief medical officer, points to one as an example: State Medicaid expenses for what used to be known as "adult onset" diabetes have doubled for children over four years and now stand at $2.5 million.

Butler is convinced it will pay off economically for the state and other entities to put more money into preventing childhood obesity.

The state proposes to attack the problem with an anti-obesity program modeled after successful anti-tobacco campaigns -- with training for school and health care workers, advertising to promote healthy nutrition and exercise, and other initiatives.

Gov. Sarah Palin's budget includes $923,100 to tackle childhood obesity. The state effort will replace a smaller program run with federal money, which is expected to disappear. Good for the governor and state health leaders for making this a priority.

Will it be enough to reverse the horribly high obesity rates among Alaska's children?

No. The state effort is clearly just a start.

For example, the state says the budgeted amount would allow it to go to one additional school district and assess the students' weights, as it has done for the Anchorage district.

All districts need to get a handle on how students' weights are affecting their health and their futures. We would like to see a more comprehensive proposal.

But still, the fact that state administrators and the governor have proposed spending almost $1 million in a year when cuts are being proposed for other programs shows they know the state needs to be a leader in anti-obesity efforts.