WASTE OF THE WEEK, HALLOWEEN EDITION: THE HAUNTED BROWN MANSION

Lawrenceville, NJ – U.S. Senate candidate Dick Zimmer’s “Waste of the Week” campaign this week highlighted how Senator Frank Lautenberg spent taxpayer dollars to support the haunted Brown Mansion in Coffeyville, Kansas.  

The Brown Mansion received $225,000 in taxpayer dollars in 2008.  Senator Lautenberg supported the funding with his vote on the 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Bill.  The Brown Mansion is believed to be a site of paranormal activity and it has been popular attraction for ghost hunters looking for a good scare.  (HR 2764, PL 110-161, Consolidated Appropriations Bill, Division F; Senate Vote #441, December 18, 2007, On Resolving Differences, Lautenberg voted yes)   

In addition to its haunting appeal, Brown Mansion can also be rented out for special events such as weddings.  (Brown Mansion website) Zimmer issued the following statement:  

“We can all appreciate a good ghost story especially around Halloween, but what is most frightening in that Senator Lautenberg is using our tax dollars to house ghosts.  Particularly in these times of economic peril, government must live within it means and not waste precious resources on an old mansion for ghosts to haunt.   

“This November, we have to opportunity to reshape the way business is done in Washington by electing a Senator who will eliminate wasteful spending and who will put the taxpayers first.  I will be that Senator for New Jersey.” 

Zimmer’s “Waste of the Week” campaign is designed to highlight Senator Frank Lautenberg’s record of supporting wasteful spending and pork-barrel politics at the expense of New Jersey taxpayers.  Previous Wastes of the Week were the $300 billion Farm Bill, the $389 million Bridge to Nowhere in Alaska, a $225,000 pamphlet on beaver damage, various Monuments to Me spending projects, the Teapot Museum in North Carolina, the Joplin, Missouri interchange, Amtrak’s Sunset Limited, renovations for the Scottish Rite Theatre in Collingswood, New Jersey, the EarthPark indoor rainforest in Iowa, the Frank R. Lautenberg Train Station, the Camden-Philadelphia aerial tram, the wood uses research and the Hippie museum.     

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