“The Golden Fleece Award is as much a part of the Senate as quorum calls and filibusters.”— U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia), paying tribute to U.S. Sen. William Proxmire (D-Wisconsin) for his monthly selection of Golden Fleece Awards recognizing wasteful or ludicrous expense of U.S. taxpayer funds.

Maverick U.S. senator William Proxmire took to the well of the Senate 168 times from 1975 to 1988 to call attention to and in effect embarrass the monthly recipients of his Golden Fleece Awards. Taxpayers for Common Sense, a non-partisan federal budget watchdog organization revived the practice in 2000, while Proxmire served the organization as Honorary Chairman. Mr. Proxmire passed away in 2005.

Bring back the Fleece!

We may all loosely remember the $300 hammers and $600 toilet seats from some inflated Reagan-era defense contracts, but as witnessed more recently by General Services Administration (GSA) “conference weekends” in Las Vegas that might make even Vegas blush, it appears that spending our tax dollars wastefully and without care knows virtually no end in Washington.

The amount will be spit in the ocean against our multitrillion-dollar deficit, but the arrogance and mindset involved in this next asinine boondoggle is mind-boggling. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, who was appointed by President George W. Bush during his second term, was an avowed fiscal conservative, former mayor of Boise, Idaho, and later an Idaho governor and U.S. senator.

In December 2007, following a long-term investigation, resulting in the resignation of Deputy Assistant Interior Secretary Julie MacDonald, the then inspector general found “abrupt and abrasive, if not abusive management” at the Interior Department during Kempthorne’s tenure.

The U.S. Department of the Interior is responsible for the management and conservation of federal lands and natural resources, the administration and oversight of all programs related to Native Americans and the management and protection of all federal parks. The Interior secretary is a member of the president’s cabinet.

During 2009, CNN Washington Bureau correspondent Campbell Brown reported that Secretary Kempthorne had approved and authorized the expense of $235,000 for the renovations of his private office bathroom in his Washington, D.C. office. The “old bathroom” apparently had a few leaks, so that 10-by-10 foot space was gutted to be replaced by a 100-square-foot “private space” which might rival the palace at Versailles.

Offered as defense of the project at the time, Donald Swain, chief of the Interior Department’s National Business Center, stated that the final project came in $10,000 under budget, at just under $225,000, and the project was approved by the GSA (the Vegas boys). Swain also disputed the existences of reported “DK” monogrammed towels.

Subsequent reporting in 2012 by the Cox Newspapers Washington Bureau, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, details the following, the plush head sports $26,000 of custom hardwood cabinetry, a refrigerator ($3,500), matching hardwood panels (each costing more than $1,500), a luxurious and plated sink faucet ($689), custom granite sink basin and a $65 vintage toilet tissue holder. This will come in handy when Warren Buffet drops by to explain how the wealthy should donate some of their massive land holdings, as well as pay higher income taxes.

David Williams, president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, said the Interior Department, then under the direction of Kempthorne, should have settled for a more humble office bathroom. “First and foremost the country is broke….We can’t afford, as taxpayers, the remodeling of bathrooms or any rooms that don’t need to be remodeled.”

Spending almost as much to renovate a private executive bath as the average price of an American home in 2007—$247,900—and now down to $221,800 (according to U.S. Census data) is insensitive if not bordering on insane by most any measure. It is also troubling that an investigation begun in 2009 by a news media organization is only finally being closed, with complete results made public in 2012.

The U.S. Interior Department is also charged with managing the nation’s wild Buffalo herds. Perhaps Mr. Kempthorne should be sentenced to picking up all those Buffalo chips for a few years, to be converted into fertilizer for the improvement of other federal lands in the future. He should by now certainly have the nose for the work.

Bill Crane also serves as a political analyst and commentator for Channel 2’s Action News, WSB-AM News/Talk 750 and now 95.5 FM, as well as a columnist for The Champion, Champion Free Press and Georgia Trend. Crane is a DeKalb native and business owner, living in Scottdale. You can reach him or comment on a column at billcrane@earthlink.net.
“The Golden Fleece Award is as much a part of the Senate as quorum calls and filibusters.”— U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia), paying tribute to U.S. Sen. William Proxmire (D-Wisconsin) for his monthly selection of Golden Fleece Awards recognizing wasteful or ludicrous expense of U.S. taxpayer funds.

Maverick U.S. senator William Proxmire took to the well of the Senate 168 times from 1975 to 1988 to call attention to and in effect embarrass the monthly recipients of his Golden Fleece Awards. Taxpayers for Common Sense, a non-partisan federal budget watchdog organization revived the practice in 2000, while Proxmire served the organization as Honorary Chairman. Mr. Proxmire passed away in 2005.

Bring back the Fleece!
We may all loosely remember the $300 hammers and $600 toilet seats from some inflated Reagan-era defense contracts, but as witnessed more recently by General Services Administration (GSA) “conference weekends” in Las Vegas that might make even Vegas blush, it appears that spending our tax dollars wastefully and without care knows virtually no end in Washington.
The amount will be spit in the ocean against our multitrillion-dollar deficit, but the arrogance and mindset involved in this next asinine boondoggle is mind-boggling. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, who was appointed by President George W. Bush during his second term, was an avowed fiscal conservative, former mayor of Boise, Idaho, and later an Idaho governor and U.S. senator.
In December 2007, following a long-term investigation, resulting in the resignation of Deputy Assistant Interior Secretary Julie MacDonald, the then inspector general found “abrupt and abrasive, if not abusive management” at the Interior Department during Kempthorne’s tenure.
The U.S. Department of the Interior is responsible for the management and conservation of federal lands and natural resources, the administration and oversight of all programs related to Native Americans and the management and protection of all federal parks. The Interior secretary is a member of the president’s cabinet.
During 2009, CNN Washington Bureau correspondent Campbell Brown reported that Secretary Kempthorne had approved and authorized the expense of $235,000 for the renovations of his private office bathroom in his Washington, D.C. office. The “old bathroom” apparently had a few leaks, so that 10-by-10 foot space was gutted to be replaced by a 100-square-foot “private space” which might rival the palace at Versailles.
Offered as defense of the project at the time, Donald Swain, chief of the Interior Department’s National Business Center, stated that the final project came in $10,000 under budget, at just under $225,000, and the project was approved by the GSA (the Vegas boys). Swain also disputed the existences of reported “DK” monogrammed towels.
Subsequent reporting in 2012 by the Cox Newspapers Washington Bureau, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, details the following, the plush head sports $26,000 of custom hardwood cabinetry, a refrigerator ($3,500), matching hardwood panels (each costing more than $1,500), a luxurious and plated sink faucet ($689), custom granite sink basin and a $65 vintage toilet tissue holder. This will come in handy when Warren Buffet drops by to explain how the wealthy should donate some of their massive land holdings, as well as pay higher income taxes.
David Williams, president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, said the Interior Department, then under the direction of Kempthorne, should have settled for a more humble office bathroom. “First and foremost the country is broke….We can’t afford, as taxpayers, the remodeling of bathrooms or any rooms that don’t need to be remodeled.”
Spending almost as much to renovate a private executive bath as the average price of an American home in 2007—$247,900—and now down to $221,800 (according to U.S. Census data) is insensitive if not bordering on insane by most any measure. It is also troubling that an investigation begun in 2009 by a news media organization is only finally being closed, with complete results made public in 2012.
The U.S. Interior Department is also charged with managing the nation’s wild Buffalo herds. Perhaps Mr. Kempthorne should be sentenced to picking up all those Buffalo chips for a few years, to be converted into fertilizer for the improvement of other federal lands in the future. He should by now certainly have the nose for the work.

Bill Crane also serves as a political analyst and commentator for Channel 2’s Action News, WSB-AM News/Talk 750 and now 95.5 FM, as well as a columnist for The Champion, Champion Free Press and Georgia Trend. Crane is a DeKalb native and business owner, living in Scottdale. You can reach him or comment on a column at billcrane@earthlink.net.