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Senator
Proxmire is Honorary Chairman of the Taxpayers
for Common Sense Advisory Board. This
history of the Senator and his famous Golden Fleece Award
is compiled in his honor.
Summary
Former Wisconsin Senator William Proxmire issued a Golden
Fleece Award every month between March 1975 and December
1988. In his own words, the award singled out a “wasteful,
ridiculous or ironic use of the taxpayers’ money.”
Through the Golden Fleece Award, Senator Proxmire fought
for American taxpayers by focusing public attention on budgetary
waste in every branch of government. A number of the
programs or projects he targeted were curtailed, modified
or canceled, helping to save American taxpayers millions
of dollars. More importantly, the Golden Fleece Award
encouraged all who handled or sought government money to
take extra care.
Criteria
for the Award
The dubious distinction of a Golden Fleece Award was not
given to just any example of government waste in the federal
budget. Instead, it was awarded to federal programs
that most Americans would agree were outrageous and wasteful.
For example, although Senator Proxmire believed that the
MX Missile was a waste of money, he never gave a Fleece
to that program.
More
importantly, projects receiving the Golden Fleece Awards
did not necessarily have high costs, but rather violated
a principle of responsible government spending. Some
examples include a $27,000 study to determine why inmates
want to escape from prison, and a $6,000 17- page document
on how to buy Worcestershire Sauce. “My own favorite
was the study to find out whether sunfish that drink tequila
are more aggressive than sunfish who drink gin,” Senator
Proxmire told The Atlanta Journal and Constitution in
1985.
Lastly,
to receive a Golden Fleece Award, an example of government
waste must never have received national press coverage.
Inspiration
Senator Proxmire was inspired to create the Golden
Fleece Award in early 1975 as a way to galvanize public
opinion against wasteful spending. In March 1975,
the Senator gave his first Golden Fleece Award to the National
Science Foundation for conducting an $84,000 study about
why people fall in love. After that, the Golden Fleece
Award became a regular news feature and favorite with the
public.
“The
purpose of the award was to dramatize wasteful and extravagant
spending to try to discourage it. Highlighting specific,
single wasteful expenditures is more effective than simply
complaining in a general way about government waste,”
Senator Proxmire told The Wall Street Journal in
1988.
About
Senator William Proxmire
First brought to Congress in a special election in 1957,
Senator William Proxmire, a Democrat, served 32 years for
over five terms in the U.S. Senate until he retired in 1989.
During that time, he chaired the Senate Banking, Housing
and Urban Affairs Committee, and Joint Economic Committee,
and was a subcommittee Chairman on the Senate Appropriations
Committee.
The
Senator was well known for his high standards of integrity,
dedication and frugality. After a ritual morning exercise
of 100 push-ups and a four-mile run, the Senator brought
his extraordinary energy to his work in Congress.
Present for more than 10,000 roll call votes during the
course of 22 and a half years, he still holds the record
for the most consecutive votes in the history of the U.S.
Senate. In his last two Senate campaigns of 1976 and
1982, Senator Proxmire refused to take any campaign contributions,
whatever their form, and spent less than $200 out of his
own pocket on each of the campaigns.
In
a November 1995 speech, Senator Christopher Dodd commemorated
Senator Proxmire’s career and 80th birthday:
“Senator
Proxmire is perhaps best remembered for his fanatical devotion
to saving taxpayer dollars. He refused to travel abroad
at government expense, and he returned $1 million to the
Treasury over 6 years by cutting back on staff expenses.
This commitment to personal thrift gave him the credibility
to stand up to the waste of taxpayer money elsewhere in
the government…. Golden Fleece not only makes
its point about the potential dangers of ill-managed and
ill-conceived government programs, but reminds us of the
humor and character of this noble public servant.”
More
About Senator William Proxmire
Acknowledgements
Report written by John Hulgren and Lisa Novins.
Special thanks to Senator William Proxmire and his former
staff -- Arlene Branca, Ken Dameron, Ruth Fleischer, Mort
Schwartz, and Ron Tammen -- for historical information and
advice. |
