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

[Dan Carscallen]

While yes, it does seem like a large amount of money for this
inauguration, all but one million is private money.  And that money is
not just shredded and thrown on the President like so much confetti,
people are getting paid.  It's all going back into the economy, in some
roundabout way.
 
Trickle down, anyone?
 
makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.
 
DC

-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com
[mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Tom Hansen
Sent: Friday, January 14, 2005 5:49 AM
To: 'Joan Opyr'; 'Vision2020 Moscow'
Subject: RE: [Vision2020] Inauguration costs or what else $40 million
could buy



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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