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Thursday October 9, 2008
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If you watched Tuesday night's Town Hall Presidential Debate, you might have heard Senator McCain chastise Senator Obama over earmarks--especially an exorbitant earmark for an overhead projector.
""While we were working to eliminate these pork barrel earmarks he (Senator
Obama) voted for nearly $1 billion in pork barrel earmark projects. Including $3 million for
an overhead projector at a planetarium in Chicago, Illinois. My friends, do we need to spend
that kind of money?""
Surprise! That wasn't exactly the full story. What we're really talking about is the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, and that overhead projector is not something you place transparencies on in a classroom.
Adler Planetarium Press Release: The Adler's Zeiss Mark VI projector - not an overhead projector - is the instrument that re-creates the night sky in a dome theater, the quintessential planetarium experience. The Adler's projector is nearly 40 years old and is no longer supported with parts or service by the manufacturer. It is only the second planetarium
projector in the Adler's 78 years of operation.
Whoops. I remember as a kid going to the Hayden Planetarium in New York City and marveling at the nighttime sky. As a city dweller, it was something nearly impossible to appreciate without that "overhead projector." The Adler Planetarium predates New York's and was actually the first "sky theater" in the Western Hemisphere.
Well-intentioned people might disagree about whether this kind of project is a worthy use of taxpayer dollars. However, it's tough to even begin the discussion when the opening salvo is not quite the whole truth.
By the way, the earmark was not approved. My friends, Adler Planetarium did not receive that money.
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October 9, 2008 10:50 AM
It shows the image overhead.
It is a projector.
For them to say "not an overhead projector" is ridiculous. It's fine to discuss why it's worth 3.5 million, but to deny the obvious is insulting.
October 9, 2008 12:09 PM
Like whether the bill was passed makes a difference or not. The fact that Hussein voted up on this at all is absurd.
October 9, 2008 12:27 PM
Really? Is educating school children and the public such a bad thing. I don't think a penny of this would have been wasted had it passed. The last projector was 40 years old... a three million dollar investment makes sense to me... but some people don't care if their children learn or gain inspiration from field trips, etc. I know for a fact, that the people working in these facilities care more about the future of the children visiting these museums than many of their own parents. Lazy + Uneducated = No Future.
October 9, 2008 12:40 PM
I actually do care about my children's education that is why I use my OWN money to pay for it... Not yours or anyone's else's. By your talking point you are clearly stating that you support the usage of MY money to educate someone's else's kid. Why don't you go ahead and tell me whats wrong with all that...
We have more important issues to spend our tax dollars on...
October 9, 2008 1:12 PM
It shows the image overhead.
It is a projector.
For them to say "not an overhead projector" is ridiculous.
No. An "overhead projector," as commonly understood, is a device for showing simple transparent sheets on a wall or screen. That is what McCain's audience will think of when they hear him say that.
To say that the Adler's Zeiss is an overhead projector, while semantically correct, is wildly misleading. It is that misleading use of the term that is objected to here, not whether or not the thing is, technically, a device for projecting pictures overhead.
October 9, 2008 2:28 PM
Ned - you stole my thunder. Calling this an overhead projector is accurate but not illustrative. Facts are supposed to lead to understanding, not confusion. This is why I don't refer to my wife as "a girl from my street."
October 9, 2008 3:12 PM
@Patriot "By your talking point you are clearly stating that you support the usage of MY money to educate someone's else's kid. Why don't you go ahead and tell me whats wrong with all that..."
So, you propose we get rid of federal funding for education altogether? None of your tax dollars should go to any programs that help anyone but yourself? Wow, I'm a Republican and even I find fault in that logic...
October 9, 2008 5:54 PM
Patriot's attitude is illustrative of one of the reasons the US is falling behind other developed nations in science and technology, an unwillingness to invest in educating and inspiring young people to pursue science careers.
I can't think of anything more important than ensuring that the US doesn't fall by the wayside while up and comers like India and China develop space programs.
October 9, 2008 10:41 PM
No government funding for planetariums? Fine. Then to be fair you have to remove all gov't funding for all educational institutions as well. That includes schools, universities, museums, science centers, aquariums, historical sites and libraries.
How many of you reading this page could afford to take your family to a museum if the admission, normally subsidized by a mix of private donations and govt grants, shot up to say $50 per person? Or a going to a library cost as much as a concert ticket? Or a class trip to a historical site cost as much as going to a sporting event?
October 9, 2008 11:34 PM
If this projector had convinced one kid to become an engineer instead of gangbanger in Chicago, it'll be worth the $3.5mm many times over.
I've seen somewhere that every dollar invested in education eventually returns 17x for the economy. Do you even know how little 3 million dollars is?
Maybe if you idiots had invested in your education when you were younger, you wouldn't be the way you are today.
October 10, 2008 10:04 AM
Patriot - may I recommend reading the preamble to the Constitution. The purpose of Liberty, Tranquility, Justice, and a common defense being established is to... PROMOTE THE GENERAL WELFARE.
Patriot - do you drive on public roads? Those were paid for with someone else's tax dollars. How about emergency medical services such as Firefighters, Paramedics, Police? All paid for by other people's taxes - and many of them receive federal funding - meaning the tax money comes from everyone else in the country.
Public education - how about that? Paid for through Federal funding.
A Patriot should read the Constitution, know the mindset of the Founders (they published them), read various documents and literature published at the time.
Promote the General Welfare.
October 16, 2008 11:24 AM
Oops, he did it again. I was disappointed that in taking Obama to task for earmark requesitions, McCain used the same example, with the same misleading terminology of "overhead projector" (which is a term for a specific type of projector: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overhead_projector) as opposed to a planetarium projector. (You can use a laptop computer on a desktop, but that doesn't make it a "desktop PC". I was also disappointed that Obama didn't use this as a cue to tackle the decline of science education in America.
I have been to the Adler Planetarium, which is one of the best planetaria in the Western Hemisphere, and to the Hayden Planetarium here in New York, which also uses a Zeiss projector. I've attended numerous talks at the Hayden by visiting astronomers, and of those who originally came from the New York area, nearly all of them cite childhood visits to the Hayden as events that helped spark an interest in the field that led them to careers in astronomy.
Think what you will about this particular expenditure, or about earmarks in general, but I think McCain sent the wrong message by singling out this particular appropriation as an example of wasteful spending.