Worth Every Penny, All 16,000,000,000 of Them
Credit to Michelle and Rush for reporting what the rest of the media would rather not mention.
The coronation assumption installation ascension inauguration is going to cost (cue up Dr. Evil from Austin Powers) one hundred and sixty million dollars.
With our national short-term memory non-existent, both Michelle and Rush offer this helpful reminder from last inauguration:
Dear Mr. President:
The festivities surrounding your inauguration later this month are slated to cost $40 million – making this the most expensive inauguration in history. I urge you to re-direct those funds towards a use more fitting to these sober times – bonuses or equipment for our troops.
Precedent suggests that inaugural festivities should be muted – if not cancelled – in wartime. In the midst of 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. During World War I, President Wilson did not have any parties at his 1917 inaugural, saying that such festivities would be undignified.
Furthermore, $40 million could provide substantial support for our troops overseas. For example, we could buy armor for 690 unarmored humvees or provide a $290 bonus for each member of the armed services station in Iraq.
Please re-direct all the funds raised for the inauguration to our brave men and women in uniform.
Boy, inflation must be worse than we thought. Obama’s inauguration is going to cost four times what the last one cost—only four years ago, as if I need to point that out.
Okay, so maybe the war isn’t as big an issue as it was last inauguration (for which much thanks, President Bush). But the economy is. As long as we’re bailing out every Tom, Dick, and Zeituni, may I point out that $160,000,000 could buy out 1,600 mortgages of $100,000? I’m not saying we should—I’m begging that we don’t—but it could.
What I am saying is that spending this kind of money in this kind of economy is obscene.