Talk:William Proxmire

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[edit] Is he dead?

I don't want to remove someone else's work, not yet, but it's been a day since this information was put in and I haven't heard any confirmation that he is dead. When is it considered acceptable for me to remove this information? Should he be removed from the recent deaths page yet? --JamesB3 06:51, 4 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Yes, sad to report he is in fact dead http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/topics/proxmire/

[edit] Obituary

The first two paragraphs read like an obituary. Is it really necessary to detail who all of his descendants are, and where they live? If so, is it really necessary to do it so early in the article. Let the article be about him, not his family. --Rob Kennedy 19:37, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Um...

"he successfully stopped numerous science and academic projects of dubious value."

There was never a consensus that the studies that he stopped were of "dubious value." He was a politican, not a scientist; it was not his place to decide what had scientific value and what did not. I'm not necessarily saying that the recipients of the Golden Fleece award were undeserving (although I personally think that Proxmire was a dickhead). However, a modification to the above statement would be appropriate, so that it reads something like:

"he successfully stopped numerous science and academic projects whose scientific value was arguable"

[edit] Banking Oversight?

Nothing about his failure of oversight which partially led to the S&L scandals? I guess his was too busy going after NASA.

Perhaps you should suggest articles about this for reference, if you think it's important. Just a thought! ChipotleCoyote (talk) 19:12, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Don't copy and paste from the New York Times

I reworded and added a link for the section here that read:

Another Golden Fleece Award went to the National Institute for Mental Health, which spent $97,000 to study, among other things, what went on in a Peruvian brothel. The researchers said they made repeated visits in the interests of accuracy. The Federal Aviation Administration also felt Mr. Proxmire's wrath, for spending $57,800 on a study of the physical measurements of 432 airline stewardesses, paying special attention to the "length of the buttocks" and how their knees were arranged when they were seated. Other Fleece recipients were the Justice Department, for spending $27,000 to determine why prisoners wanted to get out of jail, and the Pentagon, for a $3,000 study to determine if people in the military should carry umbrellas in the rain.

The text above may be clearer, but it's a direct copy-and-paste from the New York Times obit for Proxmire. ChipotleCoyote (talk) 19:23, 11 January 2008 (UTC)