GUILTY?
Posted on 01/14/2009 7:16:40 PM PST by Libloather
Senate votes to ban inauguration ticket scalping
34 mins ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate has passed a bill outlawing the sale of tickets to President-elect Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony, which are being handed out for free, threatening offenders with a $100,000 fine and a year in jail.
**SNIP**
"The presidential inauguration is one of the most important rituals of our democracy. The chance to witness it should not be bought and sold like tickets to a sporting event," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat who sponsored the legislation, said in a statement on Wednesday.
The legislation, passed by the Senate on Tuesday night, still has to be approved by the House of Representatives. So, with the inauguration less than a week away, it may have little practical effect.
"My hope is that the House takes up and quickly passes this legislation so that we can stop scam artists and profiteers from tarnishing this important event," Feinstein said.
**SNIP**
Craigslist, the popular Internet classifieds listing service, has numerous ads for the tickets, while online ticket broker greatseats.com is offering them for up to $3,000 each.
Greatseats.com owner Danny Matta criticized the bill, saying it ran contrary to the spirit of capitalism.
"There are people who want to sell the tickets and there are people who want to buy them. This law does nothing but hurt people," said Matta, who has set up a kiosk in Washington's Union Station to sell tickets to the swearing-in ceremony, the parade and inaugural balls.
**SNIP**
In November, online auction site eBay announced it would not allow the sale of ceremony tickets.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
GUILTY?
She doesn’t want to ‘tarnish’ the event.
Obama scalped influence in Illinois for years, and that doesn’t seem to have tarnished anything.
You’d have to pay me to take those tickets. Even then, I wouldn’t actually leave Texas to go to the inauguration in DC.
This is nothing. Obama’s mento, Robert Mugabe passed a law that scalping tickets would carry a fine of more than $100,000. More than $120,000. More than $140,000. Etc.
Only Congress gets to make money anymore.
I submit that it is trumped by an even more important ritual: the unsullied vote at a ballot box.
If that no longer exists, you can shove your "important rituals' up your nose!
That’s what I was going to say. Only congressmen are allowed to make deals to enrich themselves now.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.