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.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
He was a headline hunter. Period.
Yup, despite the few rabid extremists on this thread spewing hatred and crowing over his death, Bill Proxmire was a great statesmen. A loyal American who was a great friend of deceased S.C. Sen. Strom Thurmond (both exercise and fitness freaks)... he was a balanced-budget deficit hawk and handed out Fleeces to those who scam...I miss him. Rest in Peace, well done good and faithful servant!
I can only think of Edith Bunker talking about "Senatah Proxmyah. Proxmyah, Proxmyah, Proxmyah!"
"He opposed abortion, school busing and was rated by the National Taxpayers Union consistently as the toughest foe of government waste. He was a staunch advocate for a balanced budget."
Both were very similar with respect to Campaign Finance Reform. Maybe that's why they were both called mavericks.
He was a big government guy who wanted to see big government run efficiently.
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