Remembering Reagan for a Cool $1 Million

Ahh, the wisdom of Congress controlling the federal purse strings …

The House today is poised to pass legislation creating a special 11-member commission to honor the 100-year anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s birth, which occurred on Feb. 6, 1911.

The commission, according to the bill text, would “provide advice and assistance to Federal, State, and local governmental agencies, as well as civic groups to carry out activities to honor Ronald Reagan on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth.” Commission members will be unpaid, but will be reimbursed for travel expenses. Also, the commission can hire staff, including a director, who could be paid as much as the highest-earning federal officials.

Total price tag? A cool $1 million, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

That’s nothing, of course, relative to the trillion dollar figures we’re hearing out of Washington these days. Still, in the middle of a deepening recession, when deficit spending is flirting with $2 trillion in 2009 alone, is this really the best way to be spending taxpayer dollars?