2008-08-10 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

WASHINGTON -

Little museum shop of horrors

Who: Sen. Richard Durbin, left, D-Ill., and Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill.

What: Durbin and Davis are joining Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley in supporting a $5 million earmark to help finance construction of a museum celebrating the supposed glories of public housing. The total cost of the museum is $17 million and it will include an exhibition space, restaurant and gift shop.

Why it’s an outrage: It’s bad enough that Durbin, Davis and Daley want all U.S. taxpayers to help pay for a monument few are ever likely to visit, but a monument to violence-torn, garbage-infested, crime-ridden public housing high-rises? In Chicago, home of the infamous Cabrini-Green? And the incredible thing is, the politicos propose this stuff with straight faces!

Where to vent: Call the Capitol Hill switchboard at 202-225-3121 and ask for the offices of Sen. Durbin and Rep. Davis. Mayor Daley’s office can be reached at 312-744-3300.