Presidential inauguration to cost 170 million

[GabonX]

The country is in the middle of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, which isn't stopping rich donors and the government from spending $170 million, or more, on the inauguration of Barack Obama .

The actual swearing-in ceremony will cost $1.24 million, according to Carole Florman, spokeswoman for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.

It's the security, parties and countless Porta-a-Potty rentals that really run up the bill.

The federal government estimates that it will spend roughly $49 million on the inaugural weekend. Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland have requested another $75 million from the federal government to help pay for their share of police, fire and medical services.

And then there is the party bill.

"We have a budget of roughly $45 million, maybe a little bit more," said Linda Douglass, spokeswoman for the inaugural committee.

That's more than the $42.3 million in private funds spent by President Bush's committee in 2005 or the $33 million spent for Bill Clinton's first inaugural in 1993.

Douglass said that this will be the "most open and accessible inauguration in history," with members of the general public able to participate on a greater scale than ever before.

"The money is going toward providing events which we hope are going to connect people, make them feel like we are all in this together and reinforce the notion that when we pull together, we're stronger," Douglass said. "And we need to pull together to face the challenges that are before us today."

Among the expenses: a Bruce Springsteen concert, the parade, large-screen TV rentals for all-free viewing on the national Mall, $700,000 to the Smithsonian Institution to stay open and, of course, the balls, including three that are being pitched as free or low cost for the public.

But there are plenty of rich donors willing to pick up the tab.

"They are not the $20 and $50 donors who helped propel Obama through Election Day," said Massie Ritsch, communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics. "These are people giving mostly $50,000 apiece. They tend to be corporate executives, celebrities, the elite of the elite."

The biggest group of donors were none other than the recently bailed-out Wall Street executives and employees.

"The finance sector is well represented, despite its recent troubles," Ritsch said. "Those who worked in finance still managed to pull together nearly $7 million for the inauguration."

The donors will get some of the best seats in the house for the inauguration, as well as admittance to some of the best balls and other events.

"I don't think that they're going to get a whole lot of face time with the new president himself," Ritsch said, "but they are certainly establishing themselves from day one as his biggest financial supporters. And if there's something they need or to tell him down the road, they will have an easier time doing that than everyone else."

Besides Wall Street firms, a large chunk of the money came from employees at companies such as Microsoft, Google and DreamWorks Animation, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Microsoft CEO Steven Ballmer and his wife, Connie, each gave $50,000. So did Microsoft chairman and co-founder Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda.

DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg and his wife, Marilyn, each gave $50,000. Filmmaker and DreamWorks co-founder Steven Spielberg and his wife, Kate, both also gave $50,000. And DreamWorks employees gave a total of $275,000.

Billionaire investor George Soros and his family contributed $250,000 to the inauguration, and Google co-founder Larry Page and CEO Eric Schmidt each donated $25,000.

Other big-name donors who gave $50,000 include filmmaker George Lucas, artist Dale Chihuly, Los Angeles Dodgers President Jamie McCourt. Citigroup managing director Raymond J. McGuire; Oracle President Charles E. Phillips Jr.; actresses Halle Berry and Sharon Stone; and Melvin Simon, co-founder of Simon Property Group, the largest mall owner in the United States.

Despite all the donations, Obama's team has made donations much more restrictive than in the past.

Obama capped donations at $50,000 per person, which is still more than 10 times what individuals could give to his campaign, but a lot less than the $250,000 cap President Bush had at his last inauguration. Contributions from corporations, labor unions, political action committees and registered lobbyists are not being accepted by Obama.

For Bill Clinton's second inaugural in 1997, contributions were capped to $100. But that committee had some leftover money from the previous inauguration and charged people up to $3,000 for inaugural tickets.

"We have the broadest fundraising restrictions in inaugural history," Douglas said.

The inauguration team is also posting all donations of $200 or more on the Internet almost as quickly as they are coming in. The law only requires it to disclose the information 90 days after the actual swearing-in.

"The transparency of this inaugural fundraising effort is unprecedented as far as we can remember," Ritsch said. "We see that as a positive step and hope it's an indication that President Obama will use technology to make government more responsive and transparent to people."

That's all the play money. The bulk of cash will actually be spent on security and logistics.

In a letter to members of Congress, the governors of Maryland and Virginia, and the mayor of Washington said that their combined costs could exceed $75 million. That's on top of the $49 million the federal government is spending, again mostly for security.

"The historical significance of inaugurating the first African-American president of the United States alone makes the event unprecedented," they wrote. "Given its political significance, we expect that the event will be attended by hundreds, if not thousands, of elected U.S. government officials and foreign dignitaries. Turnout by the general public for the swearing-in ceremony alone is likely to exceed 2 million. Transportation officials estimate that roughly 10,000 charter buses will enter the District with approximately 500,000 riders alone, a number which nearly matches the city's population."

The emergency managers for the three jurisdictions said they expect this to be the most complex and challenging inaugural in history.

"The mass of attendees expected will challenge fire, law enforcement, emergency medical and mass transit capabilities," the governors and mayor wrote. "Moreover, the high volume of buses/traffic, weather factor and other threats will create additional demands."

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Inaugura ... 946&page=1

[KoolBak]

What a waste

[radiojake]

are you suprised?

[Snorri1234]

Well this didn't happen with any of the other presidents.....


oh wait it did.



People fucking love ceremonies.

[sailorseal]

The country is in the middle of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, which isn't stopping rich donors and the government from spending $170 million,

Why does everyone keep saying that we are in such a depression? The only people who are getting hurt are the stupid people who were living above their means!

[radiojake]

The country is in the middle of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, which isn't stopping rich donors and the government from spending $170 million,

Why does everyone keep saying that we are in such a depression? The only people who are getting hurt are the stupid people who were living above their means!

And someone hits it on the head!

I know here in Australia i love the family they put on the front page of the paper every couple of months with their 2.3 kids out the front of there $600,000 Mortgage with grim looking faces stuck on the head with the headline 'Struggling To Make End's Meet' or something equally tacky. Well, that's what happens when you borrow to your limit (or over) and leave no breathing space. I laugh because it's their own fault.

[sailorseal]

Finally someone agrees with me! I was expecting to get flamed for that comment but it's true. Like the guy who makes 200k a year but has a million dollar house! He deserves to loose it!

[Nobunaga]

... The Great Uniter.

... My problem with Obama is the wasted opportunity... no, wrong word that. The celebration is and the history being afforded the event is cheapened by reality.

... The man is half Black. Sure, he's the first half black man to become President, and that's something, but how much more historcally powerful would this be if he were 100%?

... It is also cheapened, in my opinion, by his upbringing. This is not a man who struggled through life, denied opportunities, struggling to make ends meet. This is a man who grew up going to private schools, living the rich life (well, fairly rich, anyway). Living in the cold to save on the gas bills, having to walk miles to work, and eating cabbage and chicken 4 nights a week to save cash are completely foreign to this man.

... This huge fiesta being set up for the event at taxpayer expense, amidst very severe economic times, is another hit. Take the oath in the Oval Office, one camera man, and have done.

... How much more historic would it be, politics aside, should a man such as Clarence Thomas be the man to become President tomorrow?

... I guess I want an ideal. Damned reality.

...

[Snorri1234]

The country is in the middle of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, which isn't stopping rich donors and the government from spending $170 million,

Why does everyone keep saying that we are in such a depression? The only people who are getting hurt are the stupid people who were living above their means!

Unfortunately the stupid people are in the majority. Not that I don't agree with you, but living beyond your means has been a major problem in western world for long.

I see people with four kids who all have design-clothing going to a food-hand out because they claimed they couldn't afford the weekly groceries. Or people who have two mortgages and bought all their children a car at 16 (shit, I couldn't even get a new bike from my parents at that age) who claim they have no idea why they have trouble affording shit.


Morons have been told by their tv that they need to give their family shit they can't afford to make them happy, and it is showing now why that is a bad idea.

[sailorseal]

And then they go on TV and cry about it so everyone hates the rich people who can afford all of it

[spurgistan]

And then they go on TV and cry about it so everyone hates the rich people who can afford all of it

Well, you can argue why some people don't deserve a decent place to live despite working hard, but that belongs elsewhere.

While I am a bit skeptical at who's paying for this (the preponderance of financial firms behind it definitely gives me the willies) I don't think Halle Berry and George Lucas are expecting too big a kickback for their generosity. Sometimes, people only give big donations to these sorts of things because they want it to be special...

[got tonkaed]

at the end of the day its clearly too much money.

[sailorseal]

(the preponderance of financial firms behind it definitely gives me the willies)

Why does everyone hate the financial firms and why is everyone calling that loan a "Bail Out", it's all because the people need someone to blame because they are fat, stupid and poor

[spurgistan]

(the preponderance of financial firms behind it definitely gives me the willies)

Why does everyone hate the financial firms and why is everyone calling that loan a "Bail Out", it's all because the people need someone to blame because they are fat, stupid and poor

uhhh, why do we hate them? the fact that they are so hooked into our government that, after successfully lobbying the government to relax regulation, they basically gamble away the economy, and then have the gall to ask our government for a bailout. Also, don't go lumping fat, stupid, and poor together. You'd be surprised how many of the elites qualify for the first two (and, with a bit of luck, may feel what something approximating poverty is like)

[Night Strike]

Well this didn't happen with any of the other presidents.....


oh wait it did.

No, the difference is that Bush's inauguration was a waste of money that could have gone to the troops. Obama's costs 3 times as much but it's a celebration. Where are the people crying out to have that money spent on helping the citizens?

[Napoleon Ier]

Well this didn't happen with any of the other presidents.....


oh wait it did.



People fucking love ceremonies.

Actually Obama is spending just under three times the previous record set for cost of an inauguration ceremony (inflation adjusted). Bush's inauguration cost $55mil in 2004.

[golilox]

The country is in the middle of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, which isn't stopping rich donors and the government from spending $170 million,

Why does everyone keep saying that we are in such a depression? The only people who are getting hurt are the stupid people who were living above their means!

And someone hits it on the head!

I know here in Australia i love the family they put on the front page of the paper every couple of months with their 2.3 kids out the front of there $600,000 Mortgage with grim looking faces stuck on the head with the headline 'Struggling To Make End's Meet' or something equally tacky. Well, that's what happens when you borrow to your limit (or over) and leave no breathing space. I laugh because it's their own fault.

Its not a depression yet, its a recession.

And yeah there are and have been many people spending beyond their means but that is not the only people being hit by it. Its the people losing their jobs and the price of basic necessities going up without their paypacket doing the same to put it extremely simply. I bet you wont be mocking them when it happens to you.

[CrazyAnglican]

That's true, this isn't something that will just hit this person or that if it gets really bad.

[nmhunate]

Whats wrong with the government spending money on this? Its not like the money is going to disappear. It will go to the hard working people of the capital. The government spending money on public works is never a bad thing. Hells Bells, it was the government injecting buko bucks into the country that brought us out of the great depression.

[Napoleon Ier]

Whats wrong with the government spending money on this? Its not like the money is going to disappear. It will go to the hard working people of the capital. The government spending money on public works is never a bad thing. Hells Bells, it was the government injecting buko bucks into the country that brought us out of the great depression.

Yeah, there is such a thing as taking Keynes too far...

[muy_thaiguy]

Whats wrong with the government spending money on this? Its not like the money is going to disappear. It will go to the hard working people of the capital. The government spending money on public works is never a bad thing. Hells Bells, it was the government injecting buko bucks into the country that brought us out of the great depression.

Actually, a lot of those public works projects flopped harder then The Village. It really did end up being WWII that brought the US out of the Depression.

[jbrettlip]

Whats wrong with the government spending money on this? Its not like the money is going to disappear. It will go to the hard working people of the capital. The government spending money on public works is never a bad thing. Hells Bells, it was the government injecting buko bucks into the country that brought us out of the great depression.

Actually, a lot of those public works projects flopped harder then The Village. It really did end up being WWII that brought the US out of the Depression.

Absolutely!!!! People forget what a failure the New Deal was, and how the ramifications of the entitlements are still being felt. Social Security is the world's largest ponzi scheme. I paid $6324 into it last year, and will probabyl never see a penny of it in 30 years when I am eligible to receive benefits. Oh, yeah unlike a ponzi scheme, this isn't a VOLUNTARY investment.

[got tonkaed]

While you can argue that the New Deal was or was not successful, it certainly wasnt a smash hit after all, what exactly do you think the way out of that depression was going to be if there wasnt something as nationally mobilizing of resources as a world war was?

[jbrettlip]

While you can argue that the New Deal was or was not successful, it certainly wasnt a smash hit after all, what exactly do you think the way out of that depression was going to be if there wasnt something as nationally mobilizing of resources as a world war was?

Obviously the best course of action would have been to elect a senator with little experience to President to redistribute the wealth of the country.

[GabonX]

For the record, there is a school of thought which holds that the New Deal actually prolonged the Great Depression and there are a lot of credible and educated people who hold to this. Ultimately it was not the New Deal which pulled the United States out of the Great Depression but rather World War II.