Well, the Capitol Visitor Center opened today amidst controversy and without a great deal of fanfare from those who believe our taxpayer money should not fund a project that originally started with a $265 million dollar budget, but finished with $621 million in debt.   Wow, that is at least nine times over the allocated amount.

Like I said, it did not open with so much fanfare.  There is more office space for members of Congress and more media studios.  Additionally, the Capitol Visitor Center messed up on an important element, because on one statue, they placed “e pluribus unum” as our nation’s motto.  Our nation’s motto is “In God We Trust.”  There are other aspects as well ranging from honoring General Welfare, which basically hailed passage of Medicare as the best policy ever passed.

The Capitol Visitor Center is completely underground.  It does not offer you the opportunity to enter the Rotunda.  Basically, the Capitol Visitor Center was a wasted attempt by Congress to preserve history at its essence.  They should be ashamed of this quagmire.

For more on the Capitol Visitor Center, check out:

a great architectural critique by The Washington Post.

The Heritage Foundation had a great post on their blog.

The Hill also reports on the controversy surrounding the Capitol Visitor Center