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monumental vanity
One of the expressions I found to be memorable among the words of Harry Browne is "monument to vanity", which he used to characterize how politicos of various stripes squander the public purse on buildings, statues, and other fabrications that they hope will outlast their time in office.
Michael Madigan, speaker of the house of the legislature in Illinois, provides a recent illustration of this phenomenon. The Chicago Tribune reports (3/4/2014) that Madigan and his fellow legislator Monique Davis want to spend $100 million in taxpayer funds to subsidize a library of records from current US President Barack Obama.
It is ironic to build a library to commemorate a President who has set new standards for secrecy while in office. For other examples, see numbers 22, 25, 26, 42, 65, 67, 77, and others in this listing of abuses.