APF protests government spending

A conservative group touring the United States protesting what it considers to be ‘wasteful government spending' made a stop in Sparta last Thursday at the future site of the Sparta Teapot Museum. Several members of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation (APF), from both the national and state level, attended the event. The men and women traveled in a rented recreational vehicle identified as "The Ending Earmarks Express." Speaking were Ed Frank, APF's director of communications, and Francis DeLuca, the N.C. State Director for APF. No local residents other than media were in attendance to listen to two speeches that were delivered at the site; only a video camera that the group brought along that was operated by a man who was traveling with them. Frank, who is based in Washington, D.C. said the group really didn't expect the public to attend the event, which was only announced via e-mail the day prior.

Scheduled to arrive at 2 p.m., the group had difficulty finding the site of the museum, having listed the location as "between Evergreen and Main Street." The museum's future site is actually located between Evergreen and Womble streets on Whitehead (N.C. 18). In addition, some members of the group, including Chad Adams of the John Locke Foundation, were not at the site by the time the speeches were delivered, which took place around 2:45 p.m. However, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Bob Bamberg came to the site to give APF members brochures and information about the museum prior to the speeches being delivered.

The Sparta Teapot Museum was given $500,000 in federal funding through a budgetary process known as 'earmarking', by which funds are often distributed from the federal government to localities without debate. The funds for the museum were included in the fiscal year 2006 Transportation, Treasury Appropriations Bill. U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-Watauga) has taken credit for the earmarked funds for the museum here. According to APF, half of the $500,000 was allotted for the museum ‘behind closed doors' during a budget conference session. APF also notes that the source of the earmarks are sometimes not identified. According to literature from APF, "We think spending a half million of taxpayer dollars to build a museum for teapots is egregious. Still, you might think the Sparta Teapot Museum is something the federal government should fund. The problem is Congress never had this debate. Members of Congress never had an opportunity to debate its merits or vote to remove the funding if they thought it was a waste."

DeLuca, a Cary resident who is the state director for APF, said that the group is visiting 21 states and made stops in Tampa, Fla., Jonesboro, Tenn. and Charlotte. He said Sparta was likely one of the smallest stops for the group. He said the Teapot Museum project's merits weren't the focus of the stop, but instead the process by which the project received federal funding.

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