It's Nelson (D-Ne) vs. McCain (R-Az)

Source: Omaha World Herald

By Joseph Morton

WASHINGTON — It was a little after 5 p.m. Monday when Sens. Ben Nelson and John McCain took to the Senate floor, but it felt more like high noon.

The two legislative gunslingers — the moderate and the maverick — squared off over a $200,000 earmark to preserve historic photos, many of which document the country's Western history.

Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat, sponsored the earmark for the Durham Museum in Omaha. It was the only earmark in a bill to fund the government's legislative operations, and it raised the ire of McCain, a Republican from Arizona and a sworn enemy of earmarks.

As chairman of the relevant subcommittee, Nelson spearheaded the writing of the bill and shepherded it through the Senate.

Read more: http://www.omaha.com/article/20090707/NEWS01/707079934

If you have to pay dollars to get something named after you it is a distortion not an honor, and that money, as McCain says, could be used for better causes in a competitive enviroment.

So self naming is arrogance and dishonor.

That includes, in my view, corporate naming, although said to be for brand name awareness, its more for subtle indoctrination, making people think the name is the person or thing that gives the rewards or fun from the service.

So a stadium with a corporate name wants people to think the corporate people are giving the people the stadium, when actually the money came from the work of the very people, so it should have their name not the name of some corporation.

And a library named after a sitting congress person wants people to think he got the money for the library, when actually the money came from tax payers.

oh, please. :eyes:

...got a nice little archive of my own, I gotta go with McCain on this one.
I think it's irresponsible right now.
There are hungry people who could use that money to eat.
It seems inappropriate.

And both dead eye shots..

Can we give out Oscars for political theater?

He and Rahm should make sweet music together.

I agree, and I'm an Omaha resident and a Democrat, that this is fluff at this time. I'm not sure what it takes to digitize old photos, but I can do it on my scanner at home for cheap. Find more donors.

McCain is doing what he does best though. Think about how is hourly wage works out given his salary and other perks, and I would venture to guess between he, Nelson and the rest of Congress having to listen to this little 'battle' we have wasted well more tax dollars than the $200k that is being asked for here.

I also agree with Johanns, though I didn't vote for him (but respect him because he and his Democratic Competitor, Scott Kleeb, ran a clean, mudslinging free race. Kudos to those men.) We need crystal clear transparency on ear marks. I'm not against them on principal alone, but they must be pertinent. They are almost without a doubt always self serving to the locality, but it if betters our country, somewhere, than I'm okay with it. But this was rammed through in short order, and not very necessary at this particular point in time. I live of of a street that could really be widened given the traffic flow, and near an intersection that is needed for an upgrade to a nice, lighted, interchange. That will employ more people and at this time more beneficial.

Those are my thoughts.

:boring: