First it was paying for panda sex (no, not like that!). Now philanthropist and shadowy billionaire David Rubenstein has thrown $7.5 million into the kitty to fix the damage done to the still-closed Washington Monument during the August earthquake. The federal government has agreed to pay the other half of the $15 million bill.

DCist notes Rubenstein has also given $13.5 million to the National Archives. Hmm, what government project should he pay for next? My suggestion: Indexing Facebook status updates for the Library of Congress.

Photo by kevygee via Flickr/Creative Commons Attribution Generic 2.0 License