Sunday, January 23, 2005
Salon: Bush Inaugural Cost $70 Million
Not $30, $40 or even $50 million, but $70-freaking-million dollars. Salon mentions the cost:
For the media, simply reporting on the cost of the inauguration proved to be a challenge. Most major outlets stuck to the lower, albeit still unprecedented, figure of $40 million, which the Presidential Inaugural Committee said it hopes to raise from private donors. But a more accurate figure may be $50 million. That's the amount cited by the Washington Times (which is plugged in to GOP circles). But even that number doesn't take into account the nearly $20 million that's being spent for security, putting the real cost at closer to $70 million, instead of the media's preferred $40 million.And further down:
Also interesting but unnoted is that between the 2001 and 2005 inaugurations, Bush and his supporters have spent roughly $115 million total on parties and parades.Remember, FDR only had one big inaugural bash, when he was first elected. And he certainly didn't party-hearty during wartime. Neither did Woodrow Wilson. (Of course, Nixon had six inaugural balls, all of which when we were in Vietnam. It's OK, If You're A Republican.)
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