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Name Game: Greenberg on Edifice Complex in NYT
Rep. Dan Greenberg
A New York Times story explores the trend of local communities naming schools and other buildings after President Barack Obama, with debate focusing on the appropriateness of naming public facilities for a politician who’s record is as yet unclear. Article includes interview with Arkansas’ own Rep. Dan Greenberg, an Arkansas Project contributor, who’s pushed to restrict the practice in this state with his “Edifice Complex Prevention Act”:
In Arkansas, State Representative Dan Greenberg, a Republican, has been pushing a measure to bar the naming of public buildings for living politicians, but the legislation has stalled. Mr. Greenberg said in an interview that such naming gave an unfair advantage to politicians seeking re-election, because it amounted to a “billboard” at public expense.
UPDATE: Additional comment from Michelle Cottle at The New Republic, who doesn’t necessarily see a problem with the practice, but allows for this:
Arkansas state legislator Dan Greenberg, who has introduced a bill to prohibit the practice, argues that such premature naming is tantamount to supplying taxpayer funded advertising for a pol come election time. This likely has more of a concrete impact at lower levels of public service than the presidency, but it’s a compelling point in general. Our system already stacks the deck in favor of incumbents. Why pile on?
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9 Responses to “Name Game: Greenberg on Edifice Complex in NYT”
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May 21st, 2009 at 10:55 am
Good for Dan but isn’t that bill over two years old? Does it take that long for dispatches from Arkansas to reach the New York Times.
May 21st, 2009 at 10:58 am
We sent off the press release via wagon team in mid-2007, but half died of typhus en route and the rest were killed in an Indian ambush. It was tragic. The worst part was that all of this happened before they’d reached the Pulaski County line.
D.
May 21st, 2009 at 11:13 am
I want a building named after me. Just call me Edifice Rex.
May 21st, 2009 at 6:44 pm
So no Dan Greenberg Library? I personally don’t believe in school namings at all beyond the name of the town or the street on which it located. If God wanted us to name our schools he would have told us so.
May 22nd, 2009 at 8:07 am
made me wonder how many, and where, schools were named for president Bill?
May 23rd, 2009 at 8:18 am
[...] Read the whole thing. It’s not Greenberg’s first appearance in Reason—he was profiled last fall. And earlier this week, Greenberg was interviewed by the New York Times about his “Edifice Complex Prevention Act.” [...]
May 23rd, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Didn’t the Founding Fathers insert an edifice complex prevention provision into the U.S. Constitution (as amended)?
June 25th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
[...] Based on the incredible resistance I faced in the Arkansas General Assembly when trying to block politicians from naming things after themselves, I had no idea that I was part of a larger movement! Previous post dealing with similar issues here. [...]
June 26th, 2009 at 11:59 am
[...] Previous discussion of “Edifice Complex” issues in Arkansas here and here. [...]