The Golden Fleece Award (1975–1988) was presented to those public officials, in the United States, whom the award judges felt had wasted public money. Its name is a tangential reference to the Order of the Golden Fleece and a play on the transitive verb "to fleece" as in charging excessively for goods or services. United States Senator William Proxmire, a Democrat from Wisconsin, began to issue the Golden Fleece Award in 1975 in monthly press releases. The Washington Post once referred to the award as "the most successful public relations device in politics today." Robert Byrd, a Democratic Senator from West Virginia, referred to the award as being "as much a part of the Senate as quorum calls and filibusters."