[Vision2020] Inauguration costs or what else $40 million could buy

[Tom Hansen]

This all reflects King George's "Let Them Eat Cake" attitude toward the less
fortunate.

 

Tom Hansen

 

We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are
dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they all
exist very nicely in the same box. 

  _____  

From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
On Behalf Of Joan Opyr
Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2005 9:57 PM
To: Vision2020 Moscow
Subject: [Vision2020] Inauguration costs or what else $40 million could buy

 

Dear Visionaries:

 

Here's a little something to think about on the eve of Mr. Bush's second
inauguration.  Forwarding from Salon.com: a list of some of the things $40
million might buy other than glittering balls and champagne orgies.  So what
if it's private money?  I believe private money is what Jay Gatsby was
spending while his fellow citizens starved in the streets.  

 

As I read more of the Bush II festivities, I'm reminded of Herbert Hoover's
insistence on eating a seven-course dinner every night during the height of
the Great Depression.  He believed that if the poor and destitute knew that
the President kept to his regular opulent dining habits, it would be good
for the national morale.  And it was.  The people finally got wise and voted
for FDR. 

 

--Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment

 

http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2005/01/13/cost/print.html


Some now question cost of inauguration
- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Will Lester

 <http://salon.com/news/wire/2005/01/13/cost/print.html> print
<http://salon.com/news/wire/2005/01/13/cost/email.html> e-mail

Jan. 13, 2005  |  Washington -- President Bush's second inauguration will
cost tens of millions of dollars -- $40 million alone in private donations
for the balls, parade and other invitation-only parties. With that kind of
money, what could you buy? 

--200 armored Humvees with the best armor for troops in Iraq. 

--Vaccinations and preventive health care for 22 million children in regions
devastated by the tsunami. 

--A down payment on the nation's deficit, which hit a record-breaking $412
billion last year. 

--Two years' salary for the Mets' new center fielder Carlos Beltran, or all
of pitcher Randy Johnson's contract extension with the New York Yankees. 

Weeks ago, the inauguration and its accompanying costs were considered a
given, an historic ceremony with all the pomp, pageantry and celebrations
that the nation had come to expect every four years. 

But a recent confluence of events -- the tsunami natural disaster, Bush's
warning about Social Security finances and the $5 billion-a-month price tag
for the war in Iraq -- have many Americans now wondering why spend the money
the second time around. 

While the Presidential Inaugural Committee hopes to raise $40 million in
private donations for the balls, parades and candlelight dinners for
high-roller donors, millions of government dollars will be spent on
construction of the platform and stands at the Capitol, police overtime,
military personnel and the tightest security for the first post-Sept. 11
inaugural. 

The questions have come from Bush supporters and opponents: Do we need to
spend this money on what seems so extravagant? 

New York Rep. Anthony Weiner, a Democrat, suggested inaugural parties should
be scaled back, citing as a precedent Roosevelt's inauguration during World
War II. 

"President Roosevelt held his 1945 inaugural at the White House, making a
short speech and serving guests cold chicken salad and plain pound cake,"
according to a letter from Weiner and Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash. "During
World War I, President Wilson did not have any parties at his 1917
inaugural, saying that such festivities would be undignified." 

Lawmakers representing the Washington area have complained to the White
House about the District of Columbia not getting enough federal help to
cover the estimated $17.3 million security costs of the inaugural. 

Organizers of the inaugural defended the celebration. 

"The inauguration of a United States president is one of America's greatest
traditions, a tradition that transcends partisan politics," said Tracey
Schmitt, a spokeswoman for the Presidential Inaugural Committee. "Our theme
is celebrating freedom and honoring service." 

She cited the Commander in Chief inaugural ball that offers free tickets to
service members back from Afghanistan and Iraq and their family members.
That ball is one of nine; the other eight require a ticket. 

"Every inaugural there's a really good reason given why you should spend
whatever donors are sending in on something else," said Rich Galen, a
veteran Republican activist, saying many of the complaints come from the
losers of the election. 

Billionaire Mark Cuban, owner of the National Basketball Association's
Dallas Mavericks, voted for Bush -- twice. Cuban knows a thing or two about
big spending, once starring in ABC's reality TV show, "The Benefactor," in
which 16 contenders tried to pass his test for success and win $1 million. 

Cuban questioned spending all that money on the inaugural. 

"As a country, we face huge deficits. We face a declining economy We have
service people dying. We face responsibilities to help those suffering from
the ... devastation of the tsunamis," he wrote on his blog, a Web journal. 

Cuban challenged Bush to set an example: "Start by canceling your
inauguration parties and festivities." 

 


  _____  

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