News
Dec 04 2007
Editorial: Government must set limits
SURE, by federal standards, it wasn't a lot of money - $1 million in a $600 billion spending bill, in fact.
But the failure of New York's federal senators, Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton, to get federal funding for a museum on the site of the 1969 Woodstock concert is instructive in many ways.
The Senate was right to block the attempt. The two Democrats wanted to earmark $1 million for the Museum at Bethel Woods, part of a larger development that incudes an amphitheater in the Sullivan County town where hundreds of thousands flocked to the infamous three-day gathering 38 years ago.
Some would say the museum pays tribute to what became a defining moment of a generation's rebellion. Others would say it wrongly celebrates a drug-laden hippie festival that drew so many it shut down the New York Thruway.
No matter your perspective on Woodstock's significance, the government must question its spending priorities, and cutting back on congressional earmarks is a good place to start. These are smaller spending items tucked into larger pieces of legislation. Congress is bringing more transparency to these dealings, but rarely are earmarks killed.
Without question, developer Alan Gerry has done a fabulous job creating the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, which is developing the museum as the the latest feature of its 2,000-acre performing arts venue. Already, the performing center has featured major concerts, from rock 'n' roll bands to The New York Philharmonic. Gerry, who made a fortune as the founder of Cablevision, started to buy lands around the Woodstock concert site more than a decade ago and has contributed $85 million to the Bethel project through a family foundation.
But the project also has been aided by about $15 million in state money. While the venue is a boon to the struggling Sullivan County tourism industry, the government's help must have limits.
Moreover, the Associated Press noted that shortly after the congressional "earmark" was placed in the bill in June, Gerry family members contributed to Clinton's primary and general election campaign funds - and have made significantly more contributions to the Democrats' Senate campaign committee, led by Schumer.
Spokespeople for the senators said the donations were unrelated to the earmark, and that might well be true. But, without question, Congress should be cutting back on the hundreds of earmarks packed into big spending bills.
Tellingly, a Bethel Woods spokeswoman said the museum project has not been jeopardized by the budget cut. That, too, should be a lesson to the government of what should constitute essential spending.
But the failure of New York's federal senators, Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton, to get federal funding for a museum on the site of the 1969 Woodstock concert is instructive in many ways.
The Senate was right to block the attempt. The two Democrats wanted to earmark $1 million for the Museum at Bethel Woods, part of a larger development that incudes an amphitheater in the Sullivan County town where hundreds of thousands flocked to the infamous three-day gathering 38 years ago.
Some would say the museum pays tribute to what became a defining moment of a generation's rebellion. Others would say it wrongly celebrates a drug-laden hippie festival that drew so many it shut down the New York Thruway.
No matter your perspective on Woodstock's significance, the government must question its spending priorities, and cutting back on congressional earmarks is a good place to start. These are smaller spending items tucked into larger pieces of legislation. Congress is bringing more transparency to these dealings, but rarely are earmarks killed.
Without question, developer Alan Gerry has done a fabulous job creating the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, which is developing the museum as the the latest feature of its 2,000-acre performing arts venue. Already, the performing center has featured major concerts, from rock 'n' roll bands to The New York Philharmonic. Gerry, who made a fortune as the founder of Cablevision, started to buy lands around the Woodstock concert site more than a decade ago and has contributed $85 million to the Bethel project through a family foundation.
But the project also has been aided by about $15 million in state money. While the venue is a boon to the struggling Sullivan County tourism industry, the government's help must have limits.
Moreover, the Associated Press noted that shortly after the congressional "earmark" was placed in the bill in June, Gerry family members contributed to Clinton's primary and general election campaign funds - and have made significantly more contributions to the Democrats' Senate campaign committee, led by Schumer.
Spokespeople for the senators said the donations were unrelated to the earmark, and that might well be true. But, without question, Congress should be cutting back on the hundreds of earmarks packed into big spending bills.
Tellingly, a Bethel Woods spokeswoman said the museum project has not been jeopardized by the budget cut. That, too, should be a lesson to the government of what should constitute essential spending.
