The Golden Fleece Award (1975–1988) was a

tongue-in-cheek The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scot ...

award given to public officials in the United States for squandering public money. Its name is sardonically taken from the actual Order of the Golden Fleece, a prestigious chivalric award created in the late-15th Century. It is a play on the transitive verb ''fleece'', or charging excessively for goods or services.

United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

William Proxmire, Democrat from

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, began to issue the Golden Fleece Award in 1975 in monthly press releases. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' referred to the award as "the most successful

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

device in politics today". Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, referred to the award as being "as much a part of the Senate as quorum calls and filibusters".

Award

William Proxmire, a

who represented the Democratic Party from

, issued the award monthly from 1975 until 1988. He issued 168 Golden Fleece Awards. Though some members of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

asked Proxmire's permission to continue the award, he declined, saying he might continue to issue them as a private citizen. Other organizations patterned their own "Golden Fleece Awards" after Proxmire's. The Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan federal budget watchdog organization, gave Proxmire their lifetime achievement award in 1999, and revived the Golden Fleece Award in 2000. Proxmire served as an honorary chairman of the organization. One winner, behavioral scientist Ronald Hutchinson, sued Proxmire for $8 million in damages in 1976. Proxmire claimed that his statements about Hutchinson's research were protected by the Speech or Debate Clause of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

. The

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. Federal tribunals in the United States, federal court cases, and over Stat ...

ruled, in '' Hutchinson v. Proxmire'', that the protection of speech and debate of lawmakers in the Constitution did not shield Proxmire from liability for defamatory statements made outside of formal congressional proceedings. The case was later settled out of court. Proxmire continued to present the award following the suit.

Criticism

In 2012 several organizations created the Golden Goose Award, celebrating federally funded scientists doing basic research with benefits to society or humanity. In his 2014 book ''Creativity, Inc.'', Pixar President Ed Catmull wrote of the "chilling effect on research" the Golden Fleece Award exerted. He argued that when thousands of research projects are funded, some have measurable, positive impacts and others don't. It is not possible to predict what the results of every research project will be or whether they will have value. Catmull further argued that failure in research is essential and that fear of failure would distort the way researchers choose projects, which would ultimately impede progress.

Award winners

Winners of the Golden Fleece Award included governmental organizations like the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's ...

, and

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...

; research projects have been particularly well represented. The

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

(NSF) won the first Golden Fleece Award for spending $84,000 on a study on

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. Proxmire reasoned that: The

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was named for spending $57,800 on a study of the physical measurements of 432 airline stewardesses, that included the "distance from knee to knee while sitting", and "the politeal iclength of the buttocks." He also gave the award to the

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(NASA) for their Search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) program, supporting the scientific search for extraterrestrial civilizations. Proxmire later withdrew his opposition to the SETI program. It is widely believed he gave the award to a study of the sex life of the screwworm fly, the results of which led scientists to create sterile screwworms that were released into the wild and eliminated this major cattle parasite from North and Central America, and reduced the cost of beef and dairy products across the globe. However, there is no evidence for this claim in the archives of the Award held by the Wisconsin Historical Society. Furthermore, the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...

(USDA)-funded research on the sex life of the screwworm fly took place in the 1930s through 1950s, long before the Golden Fleece era of the 1970s and 80s, when Proxmire largely targeted contemporary research. The erroneous claim seems to stem from a speech by a former Director of the

, who stated that Proxmire gave the award to an NSF grant entitled, "The Sexual Behavior of the Screwworm Fly," and later "freely admitted that the study of the sex life of the screwworm fly had been of major significance to progress in this important field." Other award winners included: * Paul Ekman's research that led to the development of the controversial Facial Action Coding System. * National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) funded project by psychologist Harris Rubin for $121,000, on developing "some objective evidence concerning marijuana's effect on sexual arousal by exposing groups of male pot-smokers to pornographic films and measuring their responses by means of sensors attached to their penises". *

for spending $103,000 to compare aggressiveness in sun fish that drink tequila as opposed to gin. * National Institute for Mental Health for spending $97,000 to study, among other things, what went on in a Peruvian brothel; the researchers said they made repeated visits in the interests of accuracy. * Office of Education for spending $219,592 in a "curriculum package" to teach college students how to watch television. *

United States Department of the Army The United States Department of the Army (DA) is one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense of the U.S. The Department of the Army is the federal government agency within which the United States Army (U.S.) is or ...

for a $6,000 study on how to buy Worcestershire sauce in 1981. *

United States Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for bus ...

( Economic Development Administration) for spending $20,000 to build a 10-story replica of the Great Wall of China in Bedford, Indiana. Begun in 1979, the money proved insufficient and the site is currently abandoned. *

for a $3,000 study to determine if people in the military should carry umbrellas in the rain. *

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

for conducting a study on why prisoners want to escape. *

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the ...

for spending over $4 million on an advertisement campaign to make Americans write more letters to one another. * Executive Office of the President of the United States, for spending $611,623 to restore a room in the

Old Executive Office Building The Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB)—formerly known as the Old Executive Office Building (OEOB), and originally as the State, War, and Navy Building—is a U.S. government building situated just west of the White House in the U.S. c ...

with

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trim. * Ronald Reagan's 1985 inaugural committee, for spending $15.5 million of taxpayer money on the planned Second inauguration of Ronald Reagan. (Most of the events could not be held outdoors due to extreme cold.) The outdoor events were cancelled in the interest of safety because the noon temperature was with wind chills making it the coldest inauguration on record. Frostbite can occur in as little as 30 minutes in these conditions.

References

External links

* Proxmire, William
Golden Fleece Awards, 1975–1987 (Wis Mss 738, Box 158, Folders 1–5)

What Proxmire's Golden fleece Did ForAnd To{{sndScience
at '' The Scientist'' *
Against the "Golden Fleece" Award
at ''Washington Monthly'' Ironic and humorous awards Awards established in 1975 Awards disestablished in 1988 Politics of Wisconsin United States Senate United States federal budgets

Award

Criticism

Award winners

See also

References

External links