(UWIRE.com) This story was written by Josh Haney, Daily Texan

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Many of our nation's chief executives look to continue their legacies after their time in office with the construction of stately presidential libraries in their honor. Like the pharaohs of Egypt, they choose to erect these costly structures in hopes that their legacy will forever be cemented in the pages of history.

George W. Bush is no exception. His library, which has an estimated price tag of $500 million, will be housed by Southern Methodist University. While political comedy writers are having a field day exchanging jokes about which two books would be appropriate to include in the archives, more serious question are starting to arise: How exactly will this great pyramid of a library be funded? And, more importantly, by whom?

Unlike political campaign contributions, which are strictly regulated and must account for every penny, donations to the George W. Bush Presidential Library do not have to be recorded or accounted for by any means. While the House did unanimously pass a bill last year that would ensure transparency in the library fund-raising process, it has yet to see a vote in the Senate, thanks in large part to Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska. Given the ethical lapses concerning this unique type of fundraising that have recently been exposed, that must change.

In a piece published in the London Times on July 13, undercover reporter Yerzhan Dosmukhamedov secretly videotaped a meeting with Stephen Payne, a well-known lobbyist who raised a considerable amount of money for the Republican Party in 2004, in order to arrange a phony meeting between the exiled former president of Kyrgyzstan Askar Akayev and a high-ranking U.S. official. Payne allegedly suggested that if Akayev made a hefty contribution to the Bush's library fund, he could arrange a meeting with someone in the administration -- Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice were a few of the names that were tossed around.

Although Payne claims his quotes were taken out of context, we fail to see how telling Dosmukhamedov that "I think that the family, children, whatever [of Akayev], should probably look at making a contribution to the Bush library maybe a couple of hundred thousand dollars to show that they're serious" could be misunderstood.

But it doesn't stop there. According to another story published last February by the Texas Observer, Bush's proposed border wall, while barreling through many other pieces of private property, conveniently ends right at the property line of Dallas billionaire Ray L. Hunt, a close friend of Dubya whorecently made a $35 million contribution to the Bush library fund.

Exiled presidents from the former Soviet Union and billionaires looking to buy preferential treatment are among the individuals that are being considered to fund this project, and we can only guess as to which other morally ambiguous characters are on the short list.

Although having a presidential library is undoubtedly a prestigious prize for a university or city, it is not worth the price we will pay as citizens by letting these private interests gain more leverage with our political leaders than they already have.

With these upsetting ethical oversights in mind, we're thankful the University of Texas' 2005 bid for the library was denied.

Copyright © 2008 Daily Texan via UWire

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