The 500 MILLION dollar * library. Why is there no outrage?

[Maraya1969]

I wrote in a previous thread that I think he should be forced to use the money to rebuild New Orleans if that is possible. At any rate I think people should be screaming about this waste of money for this man who has managed to destroy just about everything he has touched. I think if he raises money it should be forced to good use.

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/475052p-399492c.html


BY THOMAS M. DeFRANK
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF

WASHINGTON - He may be a certified lame duck now, but President Bush and his truest believers are about to launch their final campaign - an eye-popping, half-billion-dollar drive for the Bush presidential library.

Eager to begin refurbishing his tattered legacy, the President hopes to raise $500 million to build his library and a think tank at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Bush lived in Dallas until he was elected governor of Texas in 1995.

Bush sources with direct knowledge of library plans told the Daily News that SMU and Bush fund-raisers hope to get half of the half billion from what they call "megadonations" of $10 million to $20 million a pop.

Bush loyalists have already identified wealthy heiresses, Arab nations and captains of industry as potential "mega" donors and are pressing for a formal site announcement - now expected early in the new year.

"You can't ask people in Dallas for $20 million until they can be sure the library won't be in Waco," one Bush source noted.

The rest of the cash will come from donors willing to pony up $25,000 to $5 million.

"It's a stretch," said another source briefed on the plans. "It's so much bigger than anything that's been tried before. But the more you have, the more influence you can exert."

The half-billion target is double what Bush raised for his 2004 reelection and dwarfs the funding of other presidential libraries. But Bush partisans are determined to have a massive pile of endowment cash to spread the gospel of a presidency that for now gets poor marks from many scholars and a majority of Americans.

The legacy-polishing centerpiece is an institute, which several Bush insiders called the Institute for Democracy. Patterned after Stanford University's Hoover Institution, Bush's institute will hire conservative scholars and "give them money to write papers and books favorable to the President's policies," one Bush insider said.

More at link:

[movonne]

1. I am outraged...what can we do???

[Maraya1969]

19. First off keep this kicked and nominated so it gets to the first page!

[HereSince1628]

2. To be filled with signing statements and exec orders restricting access

to his and every other Republican presidential records since Hoover?

How many copies of MY PET GOAT will people want to see?

[eallen]

3. Waco seems an appropriate site.

:eyes:

[meganmonkey]

4. It's private donations, isn't it?

If people want to waste their money on it, well, it's f*cked up but there's nothing anyone can do about it.

That's the joy of unfettered capitalist greed and absurdity :shrug:

[melm00se]

6. yup...

its private money and if people want to contribute they most certainly can...

[Maraya1969]

20. Because I think that we can force him to use the money constructively.

Like rebuild New Orleans. I don't know how but I believe it can be done. Ariana Huffington said that if the donors were forced to disclose themselves it would help.

Plus why wouldn't he want to funnel the money somewhere else? As long as it has his name on it he'd be happy.

[meganmonkey]

25. We can't 'force him' to follow the laws of the United States

We can't 'force him' to represent the people of this country.

We couldn't 'force him' not to have the most obnoxious, expensive, hideously inappropriate inauguration celebration ever.

I think if we ever finally stand up and try to 'force him' into anything, it should be by storming the White House and forcing his whole administration the f*ck out, but maybe that's just me :shrug:

[WCGreen]

58. If the Library "Institute" apples and recieves Non-taxable

status, all those donations would be tax deductable...

[BlueManDude]

5. Who cares. The story makes him look even worse.

If idiots want to be shaken down to build a memeorial to this corrupt jackass fine by me.

[Maraya1969]

21. I care. Because I just watched an interview with Whoopi Goldberg

Robin Williams and Billy Crystal re their comedy charity event for NO and they told how it is a ghost town and there was a snip about a man who was rebuilding his house all by himself but there was NO ONE else around. All of his friends and neighbors were gone.

So what if there is a George Bush section of town. It would be a great place to get drunk.

[madinmaryland]

7. He's building it within Gitmo?

:shrug:

[BushOut06]

8. Bush, library, and think tank in the same sentence?

Who would have thunk it. Betchya that * thinks that by building a mega-library, it will make him look smart?

You think there will be one single book in this library that Bush has actually read? Maybe he can frame the book he was reading on 9-11! ;)

[Fire Walk With Me]

13. lol

[Quantess]

41. My Pet Goat, you mean.

Give the simpleton a break. He just started reading books. He wants to share his new discovery of reading.:dunce:

[EVDebs]

52. Marvel Comic Books ! nt

[roamer65]

9. The 500 million dollar copy of...

My Pet Goat.

[Buttercup McToots]

10. Sorry, I'm in overload...

:banghead:

[AllegroRondo]

11. Its not taxpayer money, so no outrage

if private citizens really want to donate their money to build that thing, thats their business.

[Horse with no Name]

26. Actually it SHOULD have been taxpayer money

You do realize the ones who are likely to donate have profited greatly from his tax cuts and cronyism?

[piedmont]

12. So Dubya's gonna get a library. How many coloring books does $500 mil buy? nt

[mcg]

36. Reading Mastery Level 2 Storybook 1 including "The Pet Goat"

will need to be in this library.

George will want "The Pet Goat" included in the library.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pet_Goat

[Brazenly Liberal]

14. It's all private money, not from taxes

No, you can't force anyone to spend their own private money to rebuild New Orleans. In this case, it's not even HIS private money, but money other people are spending to build a library he won't own.

Yes, I do think it's obscene, but so much money is spent on so many obscene things these days, it's hard to be outraged over this.

[Fire Walk With Me]

15. Anyone less narcissistic would indeed spend the money on New Orleans

and have a living monument to doing the right thing. Deplorable.

At minimum it should have bas reliefs of all the oil companies.

[sinkingfeeling]

16. His true supporters and donors will be paying for this....not you and me..unless you

live in the city where the monument to failure will be built. Then, your city will fork over money for bringing this 'tourist magnet' there.

[bryant69]

17. Cause it's standard outrage that provokes the standard yawn

Freepers have been bitching about the Clinton Library for years now - and we'll be bitching about the Bush Library. It's hard to convince people that this is anything more than partisan bullshit.

Because it is, to a certain extent, partisan bullshit.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Vogon_Glory]

18. I Confess That I Have No Shame

I confess that I have no shame. I think that the Dubya Bush Presidential Library ought to be built right where it is. Dubya is a prize specimen of the sort of insular, thoughtless Republicanism that prevailed in the wealthier parts of Dallas County and other parts of North Texas, and putting his presidential library there is entirely fitting.

I also confess bias. I'm an SMU graduate (Sorry, I'm not providing a class year or a major) :evilgrin: and I think that putting the presidential library there will do SMU a lot of good.

When I was a student at SMU. I believed that you could get a good education there if you really wanted to learn. I see the Dubya Presidential Library as being an ironic example of what happens if you choose to blow off such opportunities.

After all, despite the right-wing denials, the Duck Soup Posse will not be remembered fondly the way that we remember FDR's and--those people--remember Ronald Wilson What's-his-name's. We also know that the incumbent mal-administration is going to provide enough materials--and why--to keep American historians and political scientists busy for decades to come. Academicians will have reasons to visit SMU other than to leer at the pretty sorority girls.

[Octafish]

22. My Pet Goat

The Fart Book



Something else, but I forgot.

[Cleita]

23. "hopes to raise" the desired money should be key.

I guess there are fools who will fund him, but I doubt it will be that much.

[Liberal In Texas]

24. I'm outraged.

Also outraged one of the older la Madeleine restaurants adjacent to SMU will be bulldozed for it.



Maybe he could move it to Waco or that nice South American country I keep hearing about.

[lectrobyte]

27. If his wealthy donors are up for it, why not? Are their donations tax-deductible?

If they are, then that would be my only complaint, otherwise it's just private money and more power to 'em. As for fixing the "tattered legacy", as my grandfather used to say, you can't put lipstick on a pig, and I've got a feeling no library, no matter how grand, will make the Bush years smell any better... But wait, though, they did turn Ronnie into a saint or something, so I guess anything is possible.

[in_cog_ni_to]

28. It should be a prerequisite that one must first READ A BOOK

before one can open a damn $500 Million Library! What a waste of money.:grr:

[onecent]

29. Kicked and Recommended.

Too many Americans are apathatic about Anything **** does.

[Limelight]

30. Talk about irony...

forget what it costs. How in the world is an asshole who's probably never even read a book allowed to have a library?!

:spray:

[ThoughtCriminal]

31. Think Tank! - That's Perfect

If the "Bush Institute" endorses a policy idea - forget it.

I'd rather rely on policy from the "Ponds Institute"

[Alamom]

32. #5 & OBSCENE is the best description....n/t

[SnowGoose]

33. public money will fund operations

From MediaMatters (article about conservative "outrage" over Bill Clinton's library)
http://mediamatters.org/items/200411190004

NARA's website explains that according to a 1986 law, presidential libraries must be maintained in part by endowments funded by private donations and in part by public money: "The Presidential Libraries Act of 1986 also made significant changes to Presidential libraries, requiring private endowments linked to the size of the facility. NARA uses these endowments to offset a portion of the maintenance costs for the library."

[StraightDope]

34. How much did Clin-ton's cost?

Because I have no idea. $500 million sounds like an obscene figure in any case.

[mnhtnbb]

50. Clinton's library cost $165 million. Here's a link

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2006/11/daily_news_says.html

Maybe Bush is going to have some solid gold toilet seats for his fancy donors to sit on when visiting!

[robinlynne]

35. I think it's great. let the neocons and tehir supporters stay busy using their time and money

for this; less time and moeny for evil empirebuilding feats...

[Az_lefty]

37. bush is like a little Saddam building palaces to honor himself...

what a shallow fool of a man. This thing sounds an awful lot like that ridiculous embassy we are building in Baghdad. Nothing but show, that's the real bush legacy.
:puke:

[mopinko]

38. is this how they will buy their pardons?

one last impeachable act- selling presidential pardons.
"Bush loyalists have already identified wealthy heiresses, Arab nations and captains of industry"
Arab nations
Arab nations
Arab nations
argh- my head is exploding.


go ahead, fat cats, get it while you can.
hope to see them all in prison, for bribery.

[Kelly Rupert]

39. Because it's private donations, and every president does it?

Bush just spends more because, as the article points out, he has a horrible legacy.

[w4rma]

40. Let Republicans waste their money and time on this. I have no outrage at all about that. (nt)

[EvolveOrConvolve]

42. Bush won't earn a favorable legacy

so he's going to attempt to buy one.

It sounds to me like a giant think-tank to "catapult the propoganda" of conservatism.

[Hepburn]

43. You know if this had been the first of many outrages...

...I think that it would have drawn a hell of a lot more attention. However, consider the setting:

Corruption, scandals, lies leading to war, the mess as to Katrina relief, suspension of habeas corpus and on and on and on and on....

IMO, most people are so shell shocked at this point in time, that this is just another in a long, long and unfortunate line of shit that has come out of the WH and DC since the first day Monkey Boy came into office. IMO, it's like being punch drunk and getting hit again and again. Yep, ya can clearly feel the first couple o' punches ~when the game first started ~~ but after awhile...well, you know. Somehow, I think the shock value of BushCo has just worn thin ~~ and most are to the point of anger, witness November 7th.

JMHO

[petgoat]

44. Don't complain. It's cheap at the price. It's going to have to

hold all the records of the Congressional investigations, the Hague trials, the
new 9/11 investigations. It's going to be a museum to the great embarrassment
that Bushcism was.

[Beelzebud]

45. 6 years of Bushism has left me Outrage Fatigue. Sorry.

[maxrandb]

46. You've got to wonder what it's going to take

to make people go to pitch-forks and torches.

[never cry wolf]

47. They need that much money

Think of all the locked vaults they will need to keep his papers secret and all the shredders required for the ones that leak out.

[huskerlaw]

48. That's an expensive coloring book collection

But seriously, as far as wasting money goes, $500 million is NOTHING to this administration.

[A Simple Game]

59. True, and at least most of the money should be spent

in this country for the building materials and the labor.

Halliburton into building libraries now?

It would be a hoot if they got caught using illegal immigrants for labor.

[GreenTea]

49. The more liberals scream about it the more likely it will get done...it's their money

and donations (that they've made off of imperialism & death to do as they please)...These are republicans, fascist...they are vindictive insects, they have the bucks to do as they please, we scream and all the more reason why they will get it done to shove it down our throats...you doubt this?

Bush made so many corporations filthy rich, with tax breaks, government no-bid contracts, outsourcing for cheap labor and allowing corporation as much price gouging as they pleased... All it would take is for two of those corporations to kick in the bucks needed...It will get done, the fascist & the powerful & rich Bush family need a shrine to prove how superior their ideology is over progressives...

And who knows maybe the Saudi royal family will pay for the whole thing...a lot of fascist got unspeakably rich with Bush while 95% of the American people got fucked over, with them using our own tax dollars to stick it to us.

It'll get built IMO!

[badgerpup]

51. This is the bit that pisses ME off...

"...Bush's institute will hire conservative scholars and "give them money to write papers and books favorable to the President's policies," one Bush insider said."

and I think this is where most of the money will have to go. :puke:
Paying whores money to write pretty lies about him to try to make him look good.
There ain't enough lipstick in the WORLD for that particular pig. :grr::argh:

[Sancho]

53. That's a hell of a lot of comic books...

One of the least educated presidents we've ever had...I don't care where he "attended". He's not a thinker, but more important, he doesn't have any desire to learn. A library of any kind is wasted on this guy, but it may be a blessing, we need to document this diaster for the future! If the pubs spends their money on this library, that's less for them for attack ads.

[Liberal Gramma]

54. Where are they going to get that many comic books?

[jmowreader]

55. I like this. Hear me out.

Five hundred million dollars would do a LOT of good. Or it would build a monument to a military leader that makes Rufus T. Firefly look good.

Unfortunately, it's going to aggrandize Shrub Bush.

You KNOW that the names of all the donors to this...someone come up with a word here...are going to be cast into bronze plaques and displayed on the wall, which will give us a permanent record of the most corrupt individuals in America, circa 2006.

He can't actually put anything substantive IN the library, because he's got that EO out allowing him to seal his records for all time. What's it going to be full of--copper statues of Shrub's Greatest Moments?

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

56. Bush writing his memoirs on Charmin tissue paper scrolls

Every morning he does a bit of writing while on the can. So far his arcane scrolls of writing look like unintelligible brown smears and streaks, but ChimpFluffers will spend years collecting his body of work and pouring over it to try to discover the great hidden meaning that it surely conceals.

[Tony Soprano]

57. Hell, Bushler doesn't even read

himslef by his own admission. With the Exception of My Pet Goat.