Liz Perraud of Columbia, Md., writes: "After reading your entry 'No Comment' from Inside the Beltway on Wednesday in reference to the runaway costs for the completion of the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center (CVC), I thought you might like to take a look at this letter that my grandfather, David Lynn, received from Charles E. Hughes, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

"The letter was sent upon completion of the Supreme Court building in June of 1939. My grandfather was the Architect of the Capitol who oversaw the project (among many other projects for the federal government). Please note that he came under budget allowing an 'unexpended balance to be returned to the Treasury.' Where can we find public servants like that today?"

Chief Justice Hughes wrote to Mr. Lynn: "I have esteemed it a high privilege to be associated with ... your ability and marked efficiency in handling the many problems of administration to the end that the public interest should at all times be adequately safeguarded."

Whereas Mr. Lynn returned money to the U.S. Treasury, the newly opened CVC, which was projected in the early 1990s to cost $71 million upon completion, carried a final price tag of $621 million and was three years behind schedule.

Reacted Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz: "I've never seen a bigger boondoggle in my life. It's like they're playing with Monopoly money."

PRESSURE MOUNTS

"After one of the briefest honeymoons in history, developing nations at U.N. climate change talks in Poland are saying that President-elect Barack Obama's goals for cutting greenhouse gas emissions don't go far enough."

- Reuters, Dec. 3, 2008