Remembering Ike

The United States last balanced its budget in 2001. Since then, revenues have gone down and government spending has gone through the roof. And yet, we sure don’t seem to have much to show for it, do we? That is, unless you work on Wall Street or Capitol Hill.

Congress and the President waste more of our money every year and approval polls make it clear that the American public has had enough. Obama’s job approval is around 44% and Congress’s is an absolutely dismal 13%. Surely they’ve gotten the message, don’t you think? Surely they’re trying to establish a lower profile and to cut back on unnecessary spending.

Think again.

Congress has approved a $112.5 million budget to build a memorial in the Washington D.C. mall to our 34th president, Dwight D. Eisenhower. At least 80% of that budget will come from taxpayers. No, you weren’t asked to vote on this expense. The wonderful folks on Capitol Hill decided for you. To put that cost in perspective, the recently opened Martin Luther King Memorial only cost taxpayers $10 million.

One might debate that honoring Eisenhower with a new memorial is a worthy cause despite how unpopular our current leaders are. After all, he is one of the major American heroes of World War II and is considered by many to be one of the top ten Presidents of our nation’s history. He is credited for the Interstate Highway System which changed our road system into the modern cross-country mode of transportation that it is today, he approved the act that founded NASA, and he signed two Civil Rights acts that helped desegregate our schools. Of course, he also got us involved in the Korean War in an effort to stave off Chinese aggression and is the man responsible for putting us in the middle of Middle Eastern conflict. Oddly enough, his area of expertise during his time in office was considered foreign policy rather than domestic.

Consider for a minute if we had been asked to vote on the decision. Perhaps we would have approved it just as Congress did. If you believe he was one of our country’s greatest leaders and that our need to glorify our past is more important than using that $100+ million dollars to create jobs or lower taxes, then we just need to make sure that the project’s budget is legitimate despite its size and get the blessing of the Eisenhower family on the design before we break ground. Those sound like appropriate next steps, don’t they?

That’s where things get really interesting.

The Eisenhower family hates the design and doesn’t approve of the architect, Frank Gehry or the sculptor, Charles Ray. Gehry was chosen without having to submit an actual design and Ray is known for his sculptures of naked children. Originally part of the commission overseeing the project, Ike’s grandson David resigned in protest of the design. Gehry’s vision calls for Eisenhower to be depicted as a barefoot seven-year-old boy sitting in the midst of four acres surrounded by eight-story tall pillars that hold up steel mesh tapestries that show images of the Kansas plains he grew up on. David’s sister Anne has argued that the mesh is likely to collect debris and require a great deal of maintenance to avoid looking uncared for. David and Anne’s sister Susan has also voiced her objections, stating that the design should be simple and should represent the fiscal responsibility her grandfather was known for.

All told, it seems difficult to believe that the project is moving forward, yet it is scheduled to break ground this summer. It seems Congress just doesn’t care what the public or even the great man’s family thinks. One more reason to vote your incumbent Congressmen out of office at the next opportunity.