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Audacity of Truth
Gaffetastic:
Vice President Joe Biden had his “oops” moment Wednesday speaking in a 49er-crazed SF when he told a crowd at a city political fundraiser that “the Giants are on their way to the Super Bowl.” - SF Chronicle, 1-18-12
The wrong issue on which to make a stand re: federal funding
The Washington Post reports on a stand that Rep. Charles H. Taylor (R-N.C.) is making over federal funding for land that would be used for the permanent memorial to the heroes of United Flight 93:
For emotional wallop, there are few rivals to the windswept, grassy field outside of Shanksville, Pa., where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed on Sept. 11, 2001.
But for three years, that field has made do with a makeshift monument while one member of Congress, Rep. Charles H. Taylor (R-N.C.), has blocked a $10 million request to buy the land for a permanent memorial to the 40 passengers and crew members who overpowered hijackers bent on crashing their jet into the Capitol or the White House.
The families of the Flight 93 passengers and crew will be in Washington tomorrow, this time intent on challenging the chairman of the House Interior Appropriations subcommittee, who oversees funding for federal acquisition of property. With a major motion picture on the doomed flight premiering tonight, a showdown on the issue is the last clash that embattled Republicans want.
“We need to build a memorial for these people,” said Rep. William Shuster (R-Pa.), whose district includes Shanksville. “These 40 people were the first counterattack of the war on terror, and they were victorious. We owe them a great debt of gratitude.”
For Taylor, a large landowner in the mountains of western Carolina, the issue comes down to principle: The federal government is already the largest landowner in the country, and he believes that no additional tax dollars should go to more land buying for this or any other memorial. Beyond that, the families have committed to raising half the $60 million needed to build the memorial but so far have raised $7.5 million. Taylor is concerned that the federal government will be left holding the bag.
Neither Taylor nor his press secretary returned phone calls and e-mails yesterday. His chief of staff, Sean Dalton, would not comment.
GOP aides familiar with the issue said Taylor’s resolute stance made sense shortly after passage in 2002 of an act authorizing the memorial. The original designs were expansive, the acreage perhaps excessive, and there were real questions about how many tourists would visit the remote site in Somerset County. Taylor infuriated some Flight 93 family members by suggesting a more fitting tribute would be a scholarship fund.
I can understand a Congressperson having spending priorities – heck, we need more in Congress to pay closer attention to the budget and cut massive amounts of wasteful spending accordingly. But this isn’t wasteful spending, nor is it the type of spending issue on which to take a stand. This reminds me of, back in 2004, when Sens. Kerry and Edwards voted against the $87B supplemental appropriation for the troops. They were taking a stand on where the money was coming from. Right stand, but wrong budget issue.
This is just dumb, dumb, dumb.
Jack Fowler at NRO’s “The Corner” blog has more.
Related Toldjah So posts:
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10 Responses to “The wrong issue on which to make a stand re: federal funding”
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I don’t have a problem with building a memorial. I do have a problem with it costing $60,000,000. How much does land in PA cost, anyway?
Last I saw, the plan for this memorial was a Red Crescent design out of, well… basically… out of trees and shrubs.
Maybe I should go into the landscaping-of-memorials biz.
No disrespect about the memorial is intended. Just a commentary about what seems to be more wasteful government spending.
Good God! You can build the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial for that kind of money.
$10 mil for the land! You can buy all the land you want in the Shanksville/Somerset area for 20 to 30K an acre. Do they need 400 acres for this memorial??
OK, so his district just got a little less competitive. Hope we can still hold on to the 8th!
Cowgirl. Just chalk it up to good old yankee inginuity….Cashin’ in…. Wheeeeeeeeee
- Bang
Land ain’t that expensive in Pennsylvania.
I absolutely agree with Mr Taylor’s stated principle. Actually, I think that the federal government needs to sell a lot of the land it owns back to the people of the United States. I’m guessing that Mr Taylor would be perfectly willing to support this memorial (although it is overblown in size) if there were to be a concomitant sale of other federal property.
I live near the site of the Brown’s Chicken murders took place a few years ago. Perhaps you’ve heard of it. The couple who owned the place and several of their employees were herded into a cooler and executed. I felt terrible for the relatives of the victims and wondered if the perps were nearby as I passed the place earlier that evening. One parent of one of the victims thought the place should be torn down and a memorial park set up so that people could reflect on the tragedy. I couldn’t help but wonder why anyone would care to to so. I feel the same about a memorial for 93. At least not $60mil’s worth. The passengers are indeed heroes and deserve some acknowledgement. This seems excessive monetarily, and over the top emotionally. I can’t think of a better way to acknowledge their sacrifice at this time, but I felt the best tribute to those in the towers were to rebuild the towers. Perhaps not practical, but a sure message about what we’re made of and how insignificant the attackers. I don’t know if this is the wrong issue to make a stand, but it is an easy one to get emotional over. Maybe that’s reason enough to say no, at least for now.
“These 40 people were the first counterattack of the war on terror, and they were victorious. We owe them a great debt of gratitude.”
This, to me, is the “bottom line”. The price tag does sound rather exorbitant, however…
A good article on Republican liberalism
If it were my land, I’d just build the thing myself. I have a feeling that this Taylor guy is somewhat anti-gov. hence the price tag is an attempt to price them out of the market.
I think as usual there is misinformation. My guess this price tag includes not just the land but the building and price of a few other things like maintenance and facilities (not just a few trees). Like every government purchase there is more involved in it than just 1 item (like land). Government purchases usually think of the entire package or what is comprehensively involved.
Listen to myself. I sound like a liberal trying to justify government spending. All I’m saying is that I don’t think we know enough.