Night at the Museum

The unused Stennis Space Center.

Cato’s Chris Edwards offers up a way to showcase government waste.

About 18 million tourists visit D.C. each year. They view the grand government buildings, and they see the monuments to the great political leaders. They learn about the government’s successes in places such as the Air and Space Museum, and they read the pro-government history in places such as the Capitol Visitor Center. They also might notice the man-and-horse statue outside the FTC, which signifies the government’s heroic battle to strangle trade.

We need more balance in the D.C. tourist experience. Major failures are a fundamental part of the government’s story, but most of the boondoggles and scandals get forgotten. How many people remember the appalling scandals at HUD during the 1980s? Or the $2 billion down the drain on the Superconducting Supercollider, or the $10 billion down the drain on the Yucca Mountain waste site?

I envision a museum near the Smithsonian that would give tourists a reality-based perspective on the government. It could display a scale model of the NASA rocket facility with photos of the politician responsible, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.). It could explore failures in history, such as a diorama of a boondoggle Indian trading post from the 1790s. It could have a video screening room showing disgraceful moments caught on tape, such as the Abscam sting of the late 1970s. So if there is a philanthropist out there who wants to educate Americans on the government’s real track record, this is an idea to consider.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

Preparing your investments and family for when disaster strikes.

E.J. Smith is the Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH, where he completed course-work in Practical and Defensive Handgun, Conceal Carry Pistol, Shotguns, Precision Scope Rifle and Kidnapping Prevention. E.J. plays a Yamaha Recording Custom drum set with Zilldjian cymbals. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zilldjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@youngresearch.com. Sign up here to receive all the best content from Richardcyoung.com each week.