Repubs want to spend $1 million on Ronald Reagan's hundredth birthday party.

[BurtWorm]

And the guy's not even here to enjoy it!

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_03/017229.php

THEY'RE SPENDING HOW MUCH?.... Let me get this straight: $650,000 for beaver management is outrageous, even if it helps prevent extensive property damage. $200,000 for a gang-tattoo-removal program is ridiculous, even if it helps prevent crime. $951,500 for the Oregon Solar Highway is absurd, even if it's a pilot program for a no-emissions alternative energy initiative.

But $1 million for a birthday party committee, honoring a president who died years ago, is the kind of spending that enjoys broad, bipartisan support.

The House voted Monday night to approve the creation of a panel to plan a celebration of the centennial of Ronald Reagan's birth in February of 2011.

Earmark opponent Jeff Flake and former presidential candidate Ron Paul were the only Republicans who did not vote in favor of the measure, which passed 371-19.

The 11 members of the Reagan Centennial Commission will not be compensated, but the Congressional Budget Office estimated last month that reimbursement for travel expenses and other associated administrative costs would bring the eventual price tag for the project to roughly $1 million.

The Reagan Centennial Commission couldn't have raised $1 million privately for this? Rumor has it, the former president had some admirers in the corporate world. They may have been willing to chip in a few bucks.

Mike Lillis added, "<The $1 million is> nothing, of course, relative to the trillion dollar figures we're hearing out of Washington these days. Still, in the middle of a deepening recession, when deficit spending is flirting with $2 trillion in 2009 alone, is this really the best way to be spending taxpayer dollars?"

Truth be told, I don't much care about the money for a Reagan birthday party. The misplaced hero worship strikes me as kind of silly, but predictable. I'm struck, though, by the context. Republican lawmakers can't scream "Pork!" loud enough, even on spending measures that make sense and save us money. But $1 million for a committee to plan a birthday party for someone who isn't even alive anymore strikes these same people as a great idea.

If I didn't know better, I might think Republicans love their version of Reagan more than they hate dubious spending measures.

—Steve Benen 12:40 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (17)

[bluestateguy]

1. Go for it!

That's 1 million $ not being spent on their nasty TV ads smearing our candidates.

[SpiralHawk]

20. "The stars are auspicious" - Ronald Reagan's Dead Republicon Astrologer*

"And Republicon occultists want to take advantage of the Planets SMIRK"

- Ronald Reagan's Dead Republicon Astrologer*


* Courageously channeled by the intrepid Spiral Hawk from the Vast Netherworld of Republicon OCCULTISM

[Earth Bound Misfit]

24. .....

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Auggie]

22. Couldn't agree more

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. It's only right. Now that the drooling idiot has been demoted to #2 worst president.

[izquierdista]

3. I'll vote for it

A million dollars will buy a lot of prunes, then we can all go shit on his grave.

[EFerrari]

4. We can have a week of Welfare Queen for a Day and honor a CEO

who got a bonus from our TARP money. We can have games, too, with Reaganesque team names, Death Squads v. Assassins, Gun Runners v. Drug Dealers. What a fun week we could have.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. Don't forget the "Shoot the Students" Arcade.

Harking back to his glorious days as governor and threatened blood in the streets if the leftist students kept demonstrating.

[EFerrari]

12. We could play Reagan Jeopardy! with categories like

Perfect Unions (name that defunct), Year of Living Homelessly, Cookin' with Catsup!, Where R They Now (find the IranContra)? Shoot, we could raise millions on the board game!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

14. Drooling for Dollars? Candid CameraHog? Make Room for Duncy?

Saturday Night Dumb?

[jwirr]

5. What other presidents had this kind of celebration? FDR? JFK? Lincoln?

Since when do we (the government) celebrate this way?

[EFerrari]

6. If they go with it, we have to organize alternate events

and a counter PR campaign. I'm NOT sitting through another delusional week celebrating that criminal.

[anigbrowl]

11. We did spend quite a bit on Lincoln's bicentennial, actually

I'm not particularly in favor of dropping $1 million to celebrate Reagan, but since the cost to every American is under 1c, I'm not going to get bent out of shape about it.

[bdamomma]

7. that is all they have.

what an obsession they have over Reagan.

[Javaman]

9. sure why not? as long as the dig up the old bastard and parade him around the room. nt

[madrchsod]

10. COOL !!!! more pork for illinois!

tampico and dixon il will standing in front of the hog trough waiting for the slop!

here i thought there were drawbacks in living in ronnies hometown. we`ll finally get the 25ft statue of ronnie on a horse.

[The Wizard]

13. Any Democras

who vote to fund a Republican propaganda campaign should be cut off from DNC campaign funding.

[Cheap_Trick]

15. Who will be the official sponsor of this momentous occasion?

Depends?

[sinkingfeeling]

16. Where was the centennial birthday celebration of LBJ last year?

[WI_DEM]

17. Reagan is the only thing they have to cling to.

[Autumn]

18. It has been well over three days,

and the SOB is still dead. Will the idiots ever get over it? I sure don't remember any thing he did that was so great.

[Aristus]

19. It's Reagan, so they'll budget it at $1,000,000, it will end up costing $475,000,000,

and they'll borrow the whole shebang.

There's spending St. Ronnie could recognize...

[Cleita]

21. Fine as long as it isn't taxpayer's money. I'm sick of all the money

they stole from taxpayers in the last eight years. Let's not let them keep doing so. Maybe all that money that RW think tanks spend buying up Ann Coulter's books so that they make the best seller list could be spent for this instead.

[shadowknows69]

23. DEAD PEOPLE DON'T HAVE BIRTHDAYS!!!

That is all. I go now.

[ColbertWatcher]

26. Pfft. Reagan is undead. n/t

[ColbertWatcher]

25. Only a million? Will they be asking for TARP funds to cover it? n/t

[damntexdem]

27. Can't they buy a cake cheaper than that?

After all, the 100 candles could do much of the baking.

[Earth Bound Misfit]

28. Celebrating the centennial b-day of the man who is considered the

repukes' "Conservative Idol", the man who gave us supply-side "trickle down" economics, while we are in the midst of a SYSTEMATIC, WHOLESALE, WORLD-WIDE SPECTACULAR MELTDOWN of the aforementioned failed policies, as they attempt to "rebrand" conservatism after two consecutive election cycle ASS-KICKINGS...?

GREAT IDEA!!!

[Earth Bound Misfit]

29. Common sense prevails:

Update: CNN and Glenn Thrush are now reporting that the initial reporting on this was mistaken, and that the Centennial Commission will not spend federal funds. I'm not sure how the reports could have gotten this story backwards, but it appears there's nothing to see here. Move along....

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/03/10/house-votes-to-create-panel-to-plan-reagan-centennial/ The estimated $1 million cost of the project will not be covered by federal funds, according to a provision added to the bill before final passage by the House.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

30. ZOMG! Did anyone check McCain's Twitter!?!??!

I'm sure Captain NoPorkulous is up in arms about this!