Sure it's grand — a grand waste of $600 million

The Capitol Visitor Center is something that I love to hate, but they are making it way too easy for me these days (see above).

The Washington Post recently reported that the project's previous price of around $550 million rose by $50 million in just a few months. At the former number, the cost of the project would've already been double what it was supposed to be when Congress first endorsed the project. Lovers of the stone and glass underground structure have called it "grand" and "majestic." I can't see it since there's still a big wall around it, but I trust that those observations are true. After all, $600 million can buy a lot of Tennessee marble and massive glass skylights.

Consider this: We often see members of Congress throwing up their hands in frustration about balancing budgets and where to find funding for, say, health care and pensions for veterans (sorry, it's TimesSelect) of a war we are still losing. I think $600 million could put at least a minor dent in that problem. Even lawmakers who are against what one called a "boondoggle" of a project seem to do nothing more than shake their heads in disgust. Instead, Congress continues to appropriate money for additions to the visitor center, much of which the visitors will never see.

I suppose they will see the set of the new TV studio for members of Congress, and I'm sure they'll be grateful that their representative doesn't look so Richard-Nixon-versus-John-F.-Kennedy thanks to the built-in makeup room.

I wonder if they already have makeup artists on staff. If not, surely they'll need some now. It's an outrage.