$20 million per year in Federal funds for 9/11 memorial

[Westside]

Sen. Tom Coburn To Block Federal Funding For 9/11 Memorial - Yahoo! News

1 senator is blocking federal funding for the 9/11 memorial in New York City. I support him and hope he doesn't back down.

 

[ZombieApocolypse]

Would love to see a breakdown on what 20 million dollars is needed for

 

[buckstopshere]

I'd like to know as well what the heck $20MM a year is for.

Such a tragic loss of life and equally tragic loss of freedoms as a result. And we keep saying we are winning the war on terror. With every new piece of legislation that restricts our civil liberties and with every TSA pat down, the terrorist (foreign or domestic, whatever you believe), win a victory.

Maybe the best way to honor the loss is to broaden civil liberties and get back to what makes this country special, freedom.

 

[Lex Concord]

I'd like to know as well what the heck $20MM a year is for.

Such a tragic loss of life and equally tragic loss of freedoms as a result. And we keep saying we are winning the war on terror. With every new piece of legislation that restricts our civil liberties and with every TSA pat down, the terrorist (foreign or domestic, whatever you believe), win a victory.

Maybe the best way to honor the loss is to broaden civil liberties and get back to what makes this country special, freedom.

Hey, don't you remember "they" hated us because we were free. It was just a grand strategic master stroke. Simply eliminate our freedom and "they" will no longer hate us. Truly genius.

 

[RMOR]

I'd like to know as well what the heck $20MM a year is for.

Such a tragic loss of life and equally tragic loss of freedoms as a result. And we keep saying we are winning the war on terror. With every new piece of legislation that restricts our civil liberties and with every TSA pat down, the terrorist (foreign or domestic, whatever you believe), win a victory.

Maybe the best way to honor the loss is to broaden civil liberties and get back to what makes this country special, freedom.

This^^^

His sound logic is not hard to understand; If you want to spend money to fund another "we can not survive without it" project then you better cut someone else's program to fund it! I believe we are numb/dumb to what $15.3 trillion actually means. I applaud the Senator from Oklahoma. This is the same kind of fiscal responsibility that attracts me to Ron Paul.

 

[Benny]

I believe we are numb/dumb to what $15.3 trillion actually means.

This is an average sized male standing next to 1M worth of 100 dollar bills:

Here's a billion:

This is that same person standing next to a trillion:

Multiply that times 15.3 and it starts getting hard to fathom.

 

[scttnieman]

I agree with the senator I'm going to contact him and let him know I think what he is doing is right and I'm in support of him and his choice to stand up against reckless spending

 

[RMOR]

I agree with the senator I'm going to contact him and let him know I think what he is doing is right and I'm in support of him and his choice to stand up against reckless spending

Good idea. For anyone else interested Here is his contact form.

 

[RMOR]

This is an average sized male standing next to 1M worth of 100 dollar bills:

Here's a billion:

This is that same person standing next to a trillion:

Multiply that times 15.3 and it starts getting hard to fathom.

Thanks for the visual. I think I'm gonna be sick...

 

[40calPUNISHER]

We could just borrow more money from China!

 

[scttnieman]

We could just borrow more money from China!

I think that is the best solution to this problem.

 

[Benny]

Thanks for the visual. I think I'm gonna be sick...

You're welcome for the upset stomach...I'm just passing on the favor from the person who showed me.

 

[scttnieman]

here is some more info that i got from another forum i go to
The Washington Times

NEW YORK — Sen. Tom Coburn, a Republican from Oklahoma who isn't afraid of questioning federal spending for popular projects, is challenging $20 million a year in new funding for the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York City.

Mr. Coburn makes it clear that he's not taking issue with the museum itself, which he says will help those still in pain with their healing process and serve as a reminder to all Americans not to take their freedom for granted.

Instead, in tough budget times, Mr. Coburn questions the rationale behind a bill that would authorize $200 million over the next 10 years for the museum and memorial without finding a way to offset those costs. He also wonders why private contributions from thousands of individuals and numerous corporations, which have flowed to America's 9/11 Foundation Inc., during the past decade, aren't enough.

"The legislation creates a permanent duplicative federal funding stream for a privately operated facility," Mr. Coburn wrote in a Wednesday letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican. "The museum has received more than $75 million in federal assistance over the past two years and remains eligible to apply for additional funds from a variety of federal programs if necessary."

The bill would authorize the new $200 million federal funding stream even though the memorial and museum have already received more than $123 million in federal grants since 2009 and ended 2010 with more than $584 million in net assets.Mr. Coburn said he came up with those figures by looking at the foundation's 2010 tax filing with the Internal Revenue Service, which showed $69.4 million in government grants, as well as an audit on the museum's website showing $53.5 million in grant funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2009.

"I would like to receive additional information as to why the multiple existing federal funding sources available are insufficient to support this effort," he wrote in his letter to Mr. McConnell. "I would also like to see a breakdown of the budget justifications from the foundation and the committee for the amounts authorized by this bill."

Debra Burlingame, who chairs the foundation's board, said the federal funds are needed to help secure the museum and memorial from potential terrorist attacks. BULL****

The 9/11 families also were outraged by recent reports that executives running the memorial and museum paid themselves a total of $6.5 million in salaries, including $300,000 in severance for Joan Gerner, the former vice president of design and construction. As the highest-paid executive, Ms. Gerner made $439,463 in 2010, including the severance.

Among those earning the highest salaries are President Joseph Daniels who makes $378,288; Executive Vice President of Development Cathy Blaney, who makes $332,149; and Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Communication Lynn Rasic, who makes $217,533.

In his letter to Mr. McConnell, Mr. Coburn also pointed out that the foundation spent $82,000 on a conference, conventions and meetings and $27,141 on lobbying efforts in 2010.

 

[ZombieApocolypse]

That just blew my mind

 

[ikky68]

Unbelievable...

 

[strahd71]

what bugs me is that they didnt build it back the way it was. the terrorist won just by changing the skyline. i agree that there should be something there but it should have been put back the way it was, and our rights and freedoms should be restored as well. but the amount of money for this thing is way too much

jake