Posted on 12/15/2005 6:57:19 AM PST by Sub-Driver
Former Sen. Proxmire of Wisc. Dies
By FREDERIC J. FROMMER, Associated Press Writer 8 minutes ago
Former Wisconsin Sen. William Proxmire, a political maverick who became Congress' leading scourge of big spending and government waste, has died.
The 90-year-old Proxmire, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, died around 1 a.m. EST Thursday at Copper Ridge, a convalescent home in Sykesville, Md., Copper Ridge spokeswoman Mindy Brandt said. She said she could not provide any details about his death.
Over the years, the rebel Democrat developed an image of penny-pinching populism that played well with his homestate voters. But his support of the expensive system of dairy price supports — widely criticized by others as symbolic of government largess gone amok — won him strong backing from his state's dairy farmers.
The senator's monthly "Golden Fleece" awards, which he began in 1975 to point out what he thought were frivolous expenditures of taxpayers' money, became a Washington tradition.
Proxmire, who also became a familiar face on the television network Sunday news shows, was elected to the Senate in 1957 in a special election to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Sen. Joseph McCarthy.
He was re-elected in 1958 to his first six-year term and was returned to the same post in 1964, 1970, 1976 and 1982.
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God bless him ... a full life.
I read about him. A rabid Reagan hater.
The article pointed out that he was anti-abortion. He was an honorable Democrat, a dying breed nowadays.
A lot of Rockefeller Republicans were rabid Reagan haters as well.
Yup. And John Glenn hated Reagan with a passion as well.
He was well-liked in Wisconsin. Truly a throwback to the good old days when politicians really cared about the people.
Back when Proxmire was a Democrat, so was I.
They were a different party back then. If they want to know how to get their mojo back, they should look at Proxmire's example and follow it.
Feingold is a Proxmire wanna be. Never will accomplish anything but getting re-elected for being a maverick.
Proxmire was a pompous ass. His "Golden Fleece" awards took cheap shots at things like NASA, and the Military while he made sure money flew to his favorite pork barrel the dairy farmers.
I remember one science writer in the 70's said Proxmire would be all for the Space Shuttle if only NASA would fuel it with butter.
In that respect, he resembled to a certain degree the style of a latter-day maverick and government spending critic, Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain.
John McCain is not fit to shine Proxmire's shoes.
Sen. Proxmire was hated Reagan and Republicans, but he despised governemt hypocrisy more.
I'll remember him as the last of the "loyal opposition".
WOOO!!!! Time for the Admiral Heinlein happy-dance.
There are decent people among Democrats - it's a shame so many of them are in their 90's, though!
Someone please tell me what Proxmire ever accomplished, what important bill did he ever sponsor and pass?
"money flew to his favorite pork barrel the dairy farmers. " Proxmire was so bad, Wisconsin farmers still get the lowest price for their milk in all of the USA. Sen Kohl and Sen Feingold have done nothing to correct the situation.
Jerry Pournelle or Larry Niven said that in an article one of them wrote in a sci-fi mag. I remember reading it.
You can't google?
Yep. Looks like that he'll never be using that time machine now.
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