For all the talk of Dick Cheney’s “inappropriate” criticisms of the new administration, another former White House employee has likely done more damage and yet is about to receive a great honor. Jimmy Carter has been the most outspoken retired president in recent memory, and now he’s getting his own national park.
A bill expanding the boundary of the existing Jimmy Carter National Historic Site in Plains, Ga., and re-designating it a National Historical Park, has just moved through committee on the backs of six Democrats and two Republicans, all representatives of Georgia. A companion Senate version is supported by the two Republican senators from Georgia, as well as one Democrat from Arkansas.
The present historic site includes Plains High School, the Historic District of Plains, the Plains Train Depot, the Carter Boyhood Farm and the Carter family private residence, which is not open for public viewing. The bill seeks to expand this historic area and incorporate The Plains Visitor Information Center, an old-timey log cabin building located miles from the nearest highway.
The interesting tidbit is this: The welcome center is the least visited of all 11 state-run visitors sites in Georgia, only logging 65,000 visitors in the past year, according to media reports in February and March. So the state, facing a reported deficit of $2.6 billion, looked to cut $186,000 in funding to the center.
A public outcry ensued, led primarily by Plains residents and Democratic state politicians who support Carter. On March 12, at the hands of Rep. Sanford Bishop — a Georgia Democrat whose area of representation includes the city of Plains, in Sumter County — the bill was born.
In other words, the state didn’t have the money to fund the welcome center, so Carter supporters turned to their federal representatives to intervene. The result? Tapping the national taxpayer as a source of finance, via Interior Department and National Park Service appropriations.
A National Historic Site is a National Park Service program that already receives federal dollars. But little justification outside of political favor exists for this upgrade to Historical Park, and expanded boundaries will bring the demand for larger appropriations.
On top of that, the National Park Service already reports a dwindling number of visitors to the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site, recording 87,413 who made the trip in fiscal 2006 compared with 84,355 in fiscal 2008. It’s doubtful the addition of the nearby visitors center to the site, and a change of label from Historic Site to Historical Park, would dramatically improve the attendance levels.
NPS forecasts for traveler turnout to the site don’t bode well, either. By 2010, site visits are only expected to rise by 1.4 percent from 2008 levels, according to the Public Use Statistics Office within the NPS.
So why are American taxpayers being sucked into this state matter? One Republican co-sponsor contacted for comment, Georgia Rep. Jack Kingston, did not return telephone messages. The question was why the heck Republicans would even support this initiative.
The heart of the matter is simple. The American people are being pushed aside as irrelevant to the political process. Carter epitomizes that dismissive effort. And what do so-called Republicans-for-an-inclusive-political-atmosphere do? Bolster the Carter message.
Cheryl Chumley is a 2008 Phillips Foundation fellow.
