Obit: William Proxmire- Man of Principle (Dec 05)

Subject: Obit: William Proxmire- Man of Principle
From: Ebbie
Date: 15 Dec 05 - 08:13 PM

William Proxmire is probably the first politician I took much notice of. People watched for and quoted his Golden Fleece awards and laughed but there was no doubt in practically anyone's mind that the man was a valuable asset to his country.

Golden Fleece and Other Horses

Subject: RE: Obit: William Proxmire- Man of Principle (Dec
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 Dec 05 - 09:32 PM

Other than the Sheriff, who lived across the street from me, Bill Proxmire was the first politician I ever met. He really seemed to care for the people he served, and you'd see him in normal places like coffee shops. I think the first place I saw him was in a Big Boy restaurant in Milwaukee, when I was in high school. I admired his work as a senator, although I sometimes found I disagreed with his "Golden Fleece" selections - sometimes, he picked on grants for basic research that really did have a practical purpose.

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Obit: William Proxmire- Man of Principle (Dec 05)
From: Peace
Date: 15 Dec 05 - 09:42 PM

"Mr. Proxmire also paid for his own plane rides when he went home to Wisconsin, which was often. He refused to spend any significant money to win re-election. 'I think fully two-thirds of the senators could get re-elected without spending a penny," he declared. He financed his own campaigns. Usually his campaign budget was well under $200 and some of that money went for postage to return money his constituents had donated to him."

I wonder if anyone in Washington feels a sense of shame?

Subject: RE: Obit: William Proxmire- Man of Principle (Dec
From: CarolC
Date: 15 Dec 05 - 10:25 PM

I want to like him, but I'm having some trouble getting past this bit right here...

As chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, he pushed for repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, a landmark piece of New Deal legislation that, through strict regulation, sought to wipe out corrupt self-dealing in the financial system by separating banking from the brokerage business.

Subject: RE: Obit: William Proxmire- Man of Principle (Dec 05)
From: Little Hawk
Date: 15 Dec 05 - 10:31 PM

All I remember about him was Edith Bunker saying..."Prox-mi-ah" over and over again in her creaky voice, while Archie Bunker went slowly mad with frustration, gritting his teeth and glowering at her over his newspaper. She seemed to be fascinated by the name.

Subject: RE: Obit: William Proxmire- Man of Principle (Dec 05)
From: Peace
Date: 15 Dec 05 - 11:12 PM

However, then there's this.

'THIS LEGISLATION IS COMMONLY KNOWN AS "THE PROXMIRE ACT"

The Proxmire Act is contained in Chapter 50A of the US law code, Title 18 (Crimes and Criminal Procedure), Part I (Crimes). Section 1091 deals specifically with Genocide. The law implements the United Nations' Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (UNCG) in the U.S.
It states in part:

(a) Basic Offense. - Whoever, whether in time of peace or in time of war, in a circumstance described in subsection (d) and with the specific intent to destroy, in whole or in substantial part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group as such -
kills members of that group;
causes serious bodily injury to members of that group;
causes the permanent impairment of the mental faculties of members of the group through drugs, torture, or similar techniques;
subjects the group to conditions of life that are intended to cause the physical destruction of the group in whole or in part;
imposes measures intended to prevent births within the group; or
transfers by force children of the group to another group; or attempts to do so, shall be punished as provided in subsection (b).

(c) Incitement offense. - Whoever... directly and publicly incites another to violate subsection (a) shall be fined not more than $500,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.'

Subject: RE: Obit: William Proxmire- Man of Principle (Dec 05)
From: Donuel
Date: 16 Dec 05 - 09:00 AM

His last campaign, which he won, cost a total of $146.47

He refused to "play the game", get along to go along, compromise principles for expediency and personal gain.

If Proxmire, and more like him were in the Senate today, people like Dickkk Cheney would be in a federal prison.

Subject: RE: Obit: William Proxmire- Man of Principle (Dec 05)
From: Peace
Date: 16 Dec 05 - 07:18 PM

Bush would be in the next cell.

Subject: RE: Obit: William Proxmire- Man of Principle (Dec 05)
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Dec 05 - 01:38 PM

Proxmire was a codger, to be sure. I certainly didn't agree with everything he said and did. CarolC mentions his draconian push to repeal Glass-Steagall. He was also staunchly anti-abortion, and was once married to a Rockefeller (not my favorite American dynasty).

But he was a complicated guy. He, like Russ Feingold, was also an early opponent of an unpopular war (Vietnam). He replaced Joe McCarthy (thank goodness). And every morning the Senate was in session, he gave a speech demanding the US Senate ratify the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which they finally did in 1986, after he had made 3,211 speches.

Not a bad record, even if I hated the fact he saved NYC by sacrificing it's citizens to corporate marauders.

Subject: RE: Obit: William Proxmire- Man of Principle (Dec 05)
From: Donuel
Date: 17 Dec 05 - 08:51 PM

Jack Anderson has also just died.