Rep. K. Michael “Mike” Conaway (R-TX) has been among the most vocal critics of federal spending, claiming that massive cuts would actually create more jobs. But as he publicly pushed to stop “wasteful government spending,” he privately lobbied the National Park Service to turn the childhood home of former President George W. Bush into a National Park.

A ThinkProgress review of legislative correspondence with the U.S. Department of the Interior revealed that on August 27, 2012, Conaway wrote Secretary Ken Salazar to request a “reconnaissance Survey” of a potential new national park location. Conaway’s letter asked that the National Park Service look at the possibility of adding the George W. Bush childhood home to the Park Service system.

Conaway’s official biography claims he has “the credibility to be a vocal proponent in reducing the national debt,” and thinks Congress must make “tough choices” to balance the budget. Last week, Conway criticized the cost-neutral investments proposed in President Obama’s State of the Union, saying: “Halting the rise in borrowing isn’t enough; we must learn to live within our means and break our dependence on deficit spending.”

But Conaway, who was chief financial officer in the 1980′s for Bush Exploration, George W. Bush’s failed oil business, apparently makes an exception to his opposition to unnecessary government spending in the case of his longtime friend and former boss.
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Ahead of President Obama’s signing of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal today, Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX) — who sits on the House Armed Services Committee — predicted that ending the military’s discriminatory policy would lead to a segregation of gay and straight troops. “You’re going to accommodate folks’ preferences as to whether or not they want to be in the same sleeping arrangements or bathroom facilities, all those kinds of things,” Conaway told the Wichita Falls Times Recorder Monday:

Conaway said he thinks the military will have to provide heterosexual troops with separate arrangements if they don’t want to bunk with gays or lesbians, as well as do the same for gays and lesbians who don’t want to share living quarters with heterosexuals.

“Apparently their housing arrangements are not set up in that direction,” Conaway said. “And if you have to segment them further from what they are just between men and women, then you’re going to have to provide additional facilities that weren’t provided before.”

The housing expenditures will be coming at a time when lawmakers should be cutting spending across the federal government, he said.

“And this is in my view an unnecessary or unneeded change,” Conaway said.

If Conaway had bothered to read the Pentagon’s comprehensive report on repealing the policy released last month, he would have seen that on page 13, it clearly states, “we recommend that the Department of Defense expressly prohibit berthing or billeting assignments or the designation of bathroom facilities based on sexual orientation.” It noted that a “separate but equal” approach would stigmatize gays, much the way racial segregation did for African-Americans before they were fully integrated into the armed forces. Of course, the study also showed that the vast majority of servicemembers have no problem serving alongside openly gay fellow soldiers, suggesting that the wave of self-segregation Conaway predicts is merely a project of his personal fears.

Indeed, Clarke Cooper, the executive director of the conservative pro-gay group Log Cabin Republicans and himself an Iraq War veteran, called Conaway’s prediction “nonsensical,” and said his comments are “narrow and fallacious.” “He is under the assumption that they will accommodate people’s preferences — No, it’s the military. There are no preferences so to speak,” Cooper told the Texas Independent. “You are going to get assigned your lodging based on unit structure not based on personal preferences.” Noting that Conaway served in the Army and now sits on the House committee that deals with the military, Cooper added, “Some of the politicians that oppose DADT have never really interacted with the military or have never visited. But Conaway knows better and that’s why I am truly disappointed.”

During the past few months, President Bush and his closest allies have been working diligently to shape his legacy. Their efforts have included rewriting history in the last days of his presidency, creating the Bush-Cheney Alumni Association website to “set the record straight,” and working on the “partisan” Bush library and “think tank” at Southern Methodist University.

Now, the Dallas Morning News reports Bush may be getting some help from his friends in Congress:

Texas lawmakers are pushing to name a Midland courthouse for former President George W. Bush. [...] Rep. Michael Conaway, R-Midland – Bush’s longtime friend and former accountant – is pushing the idea. All 20 Texas Republicans in the U.S. House have signed on, as well as 10 of the 12 Texas Democrats.

However, the name change would be particularly ironic considering the Bush administration’s penchant for abusing the justice system. Some of the lowlights:

– Bush directly and explicitly ordered torture, including the waterboarding of at least three detainees.

– The Bush administration repeatedly denied the rights of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay until the Supreme Court ruled that habeas corpus protections apply to detainees.

– An 18-month DOJ Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility investigation released in September found that the Bush administration fired nine U.S. Attorneys in 2006 for political reasons.

– Bush secretly authorized the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program which has infringed on the liberties of ordinary Americans.

While Conaway introduced the measure last week, he pushed a similar idea in Congress last spring but “the bill died in committee.” But unlike previous local measures honoring his name, even if the bill passes, Bush “would have to share the honor with his dad and a longtime Democratic congressman.”

(HT: Pam’s House Blend)

- Matt Finkelstein