Inauguration Size and Cost
There’s a little white lie going through the right-wing media outlets, especially FOX, Drudge, and Newsmax. I want to do my part to make sure it doesn’t stick.
What happened is that the widely touted $160 million cost for the Obama inauguration includes the cost of security, while the $42 million cost for GWB’s second inauguration does not:
In other words, it’s the unsubstantiated Obama cost of $160 million (inauguration + security) compared with the Bush cost of 42 million (inauguration, excluding security). Those are two completely different calculations being compared side-by-side, by Fox & Friends, among others, to support the phony claim that Obama’s inauguration is $100 million more expensive than Bush’s.
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However, buried in a recent New York Times article published one week before the controversy erupted over the cost of Obama’s inauguration, the newspaper reported that in 2005, “the federal government and the District of Columbia spent a combined $115.5 million, most of it for security, the swearing-in ceremony, cleanup and for a holiday for federal workers” [emphasis added].
You read that correctly. The federal government spent $115 million dollars for the 2005 inauguration. Keep in mind, that $115 million price tag was separate from the money Bush backers bundled to put on the inauguration festivities. For that, they raised $42 million. So the bottom line for Bush’s 2005 inauguration, including the cost of security? That’s right, $157 million.
So, the next time that someone points to Obama’s inauguration as a sign of “liberal excess” or other such malarkey, you can tell them what for.
On the home front, we packed the place at the Civic Center Ballroom last night for the Inaugural Ball put on by the Lubbock Juneteenth Committee. Over 600 attended, and we had a great time.
Local coverage of the Lubbock Inaugural Ball:
LubbockOnline.com
KCBD.com
everythinglubbock.com
