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What Recession? The $170 Million Inauguration
abcnews.com ^ | Jan. 19, 2009 | SCOTT MAYEROWITZ

Posted on 01/19/2009 8:37:54 PM PST by kellynla

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.

(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Extended News; Front Page News; Government
KEYWORDS: inauguration; obama
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Hey, it's gonna be the last 'Rat inaugural for a some time; so let 'em have their fun. Has anyone obtained Hussein's Birth Certificate yet...Drudge? O'Reilly? Beck? Hannity? Savage? Ferris? LOL
1 posted on 01/19/2009 8:37:55 PM PST by kellynla
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To: kellynla

I guess this is why they’re hawking so many of those damn plates...


2 posted on 01/19/2009 8:40:38 PM PST by ZirconEncrustedTweezers (I figure the odds be fifty-fifty I just might have somethin' to say)
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To: kellynla

The whole damn thing is a virtual three ring circus.


3 posted on 01/19/2009 8:43:28 PM PST by FBD (My carbon footprint is bigger then yours)
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To: kellynla
This is so.....tacky.

L

4 posted on 01/19/2009 8:45:45 PM PST by Lurker ("America is at that awkward stage. " Claire Wolfe, call your office.)
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To: kellynla
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.

That SOB Springsteen got paid?He had one of the biggest grossing tours last year and he has to get paid for this.

What a joke.

5 posted on 01/19/2009 8:51:22 PM PST by hercuroc
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To: kellynla

Bread and circuses.


6 posted on 01/19/2009 8:54:33 PM PST by NetSurfer (Tagline free since 2003)
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To: Lurker
“tacky?”

well whadda ya expect from this bunch...ya got a bunch of losers who have spent their entire lives in politics because they couldn't hack it in business, with their hands out looking for donations, immersed in getting elected & reelected...heck they not only don't donate much of their own money to charity, they don't even pay their damn taxes! "tacky?" tacky is a compliment for these pigs who live off the public trough! LMAO

7 posted on 01/19/2009 9:01:17 PM PST by kellynla (Freedom of speech makes it easier to spot the idiots! Semper Fi!)
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To: NetSurfer

Amen.


8 posted on 01/19/2009 9:02:19 PM PST by autumnraine
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To: Lurker

“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.”

So NOW..we get the TRUTH of where some of the monies of the taxpayer funded ‘bail-out’ of Wall Street went:

TO OBAMA’S INAUGURATION!!

ALRIGHT PELOSI....READY FOR THOSE HEARINGS NOW!! Let’s get a little ‘transparency’ on Paulson and the Goldman Sacs boys in Obama’s ‘hood’!!

Is this disgusting enough for America yet?


9 posted on 01/19/2009 9:05:54 PM PST by penelopesire ("The only CHANGE you will get with the Democrats is the CHANGE left in your pocket")
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To: kellynla

The American Idol Inauguration.


10 posted on 01/19/2009 9:07:40 PM PST by Old Sarge (For the first time in my life, I am ashamed to be an American)
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To: kellynla

We have men dying for our freedoms, and Barry is living it up. Isn’t that what they said about Bush? Barry ought to cancel the balls and just get sworn in in the capitol building and be done with it. Either way, I ain’t watching.


11 posted on 01/19/2009 9:07:45 PM PST by Rastus
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To: hercuroc

” That SOB Springsteen got paid?He had one of the biggest grossing tours last year and he has to get paid for this.
What a joke.”

<<2 observations:

1. Libs always want to spend OTHERS money; not their own. 2. Libs want everyone ELSE to give of their time and money.

What happened to the whole “service” idea?


12 posted on 01/19/2009 9:13:22 PM PST by Freedom56v2
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To: Rastus
well, with HALF the American population dependent on government assistance for their livelihood, I suspect a lot of losers will be watching on their MADE IN CHINA flat screen TV's that their making payments on...and just like 1976, four years from now, the American electorate will be looking to the GOP to clean up the mess left by the Lefties...I only hope the Gelding Old Party gets a testicle & spine implant in the meantime and comes up with another Ronald Reagan...
13 posted on 01/19/2009 9:15:18 PM PST by kellynla (Freedom of speech makes it easier to spot the idiots! Semper Fi!)
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To: kellynla

Well, you see, you’ve got the biggest extroverts around between the blacks and the white democrats. Dey know how to parrrrtyyyy down! Dey know how to throw a parrrrtyyyy!


14 posted on 01/19/2009 9:55:13 PM PST by BonRad (As Rome goes so goes the world)
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To: kellynla

15 posted on 01/19/2009 10:06:27 PM PST by Westlander (Unleash the Neutron Bomb)
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To: kellynla

I think it is up to all of us that we come up with another Reagan.

It took a Carter to get a Reagan, so people will be looking I think for one.

Palin maybe. We shall see. We need someone who connects with people instantly and gets around the MSM.
Tough tough tough. But not impossible, you know it when you see it.


16 posted on 01/19/2009 10:17:02 PM PST by Names Ash Housewares (Refusing to kneel before the socialist messiah. 1-20-13 Freedom Day.)
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To: FBD

“a virtual three ring circus” And oh, so crowded with all of barry’s unwashed masses. Do you imagine the alqueda plague thing was just the tip of a few who are on their way to DC? Well, it would make a great book anyway.


17 posted on 01/19/2009 10:36:05 PM PST by freeangel ( (free speech is only good until someone else doesn't like what you say))
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To: NetSurfer

If Clinton was Caligula then Zero is Nero.


18 posted on 01/20/2009 4:05:56 AM PST by FreedomForce (A conservative 2012)
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To: Names Ash Housewares
“I think it is up to all of us that we come up with another Reagan.”

Well, all the anti-California FReepers in the other 49 states can do their part...we've done ours, thank you.

Semper Fi,
Kelly

19 posted on 01/20/2009 4:45:48 AM PST by kellynla (Freedom of speech makes it easier to spot the idiots! Semper Fi!)
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To: hercuroc
That SOB Springsteen got paid?He had one of the biggest grossing tours last year and he has to get paid for this.

Thanks to McCain, it's illegal NOT to pay him, otherwise it's an in-kind political contribution that would exceed the dollar limits.

20 posted on 01/20/2009 7:14:36 AM PST by mvpel (Michael Pelletier)
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