The Statue of Liberty. Mount Rushmore. And now, Billy Carter's Gas Station....Huh???

[Brian Damage]

PLAINS, Ga. - -- In the age of the $787 billion stimulus package, it is, perhaps, a modest question:

Should American taxpayers foot the bill to enshrine the gas station run by the late Billy Carter -- the beer-swilling, wisecracking, self-professed redneck brother of the 39th president?

Located in tiny Plains, still the world's most famous peanut town some 28 years after the Carter presidency, the station was transformed into a museum last year by a civic group that owns the property.

Its claim to historical significance came during Jimmy Carter's 1976 presidential run, when reporters mobbed Plains and transformed the station into an unofficial headquarters.

It became the setting for story after story about Billy Carter and his down-home manners and epigrammatic wit (for example: "Beer is not a good cocktail-party drink -- especially in a home where you don't know where the bathroom is").



Last month, the House approved a measure that would incorporate the station into the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site, a National Park Service operation that already runs a number of Carter-related buildings in Plains.

A similar bill is under consideration in the Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

The legislation calls for the park service to take over the gas station, plus an old farmhouse where Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, lived from 1956 to 1961.

The park service would also take over a state-run welcome center threatened with closing because of state budget problems.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates it would cost $17 million to upgrade and maintain the sites over the next five years. That was enough to elicit an objection from Steve Ellis, vice president of the Washington-based Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Ellis said his concern has nothing to do with Billy Carter's place in history. It's a question of priorities, he said. The park service already faces a $9 billion maintenance backlog for property it manages, according to the Congressional Research Service.

The gas station is "not in imminent danger of being turned into condos or something like that," Ellis said. "So you've got to question whether it's the best move for the park service."

But "the Billy Carter piece is just one little tiny component" of the historic site, said Gary Ingram, superintendent of the Carter site. "It's a spur, but it's a spur that still has relevance because it's connected to the larger story."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/c...,7840345.story

[catlover79]

Say what???

[comedyfreak]

That's crazy

[catlover79]

Originally Posted by comedyfreak

That's crazy

Jimmy Carter was President when I was born in 1979, so I don't remember Billy's antics. My mom remembered when he had his own brand of beer. Sounds like he was a real character.

[Marvo301]

Originally Posted by catlover79

Jimmy Carter was President when I was born in 1979, so I don't remember Billy's antics. My mom remembered when he had his own brand of beer. Sounds like he was a real character.

Billy Beer! I remember that. If this goes through they better give Roger Clinton his own national historic site too! (probably a bar!!)