http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp...3&nav=EyAzVOrH
(AP) -- Estimates on the cost of the Bush inauguration have wavered in the $30 million to $40 million range, maybe as high as $50 million for three or four days of events.
That?s about what it costs the administration to execute the war in Iraq for about five hours. Or how much the Harley-Davidson Motor Company has raised since 1980 to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
Or how much AT&T will gain from increased consumer basic rate phone fees per month as of the first of the year.
The inauguration festivities will be supported by private donations from oil companies, insurance companies, investment and mortgage companies and other companies that will be opening up their checkbooks out of the goodness of their hearts, expecting nothing in return, just looking for a chance to jitterbug at any one of nine balls in the nation?s capital, watch fireworks displays, listen to a youth concert, see a parade ? and, oh yeah, there?s a swearing-in ceremony, too.
Organizers say the festivities would have a solemnity missing from other inaugurals because the country remains at war.
?There have been 55 inaugurations and very few have taken place during wartime, and this inaugural will reflect that,? said Steve Schmidt, spokesman for the inaugural committee.
Part of that ?solemnity? will likely come at the Commander-in-Chief Ball, a new event this time around.
It will be free of charge to 2,000 members of the armed services and their families, featuring those who have recently returned from Iraq and Afghanistan, or those who will be deployed there soon.
Don?t get too comfortable, taxpayer; you will be paying something. How about a little thing called security?
The $40 million for the inaugural gala doesn?t include the cost of security. While the string quartets fiddle, ball-goers can look at the windows and see evidence of millions being spent for security.
The District of Columbia anticipates spending $8.8 million in overtime pay for about 2,000 D.C. police officers; $2.7 million to pay 1,000-plus officers being sent by other jurisdictions across the country; $3 million to construct reviewing stands; and $2.5 million to place public works, health, transportation, fire, emergency management and business services on emergency footing.
Officials in the District of Columbia aren?t happy about this either, considering they say they will have to pay about $12 million of that bill from their local Homeland Security Fund (also known as tax dollars).
The District was not successful in getting extra money from Congress last year to increase their security coffers, obviously having less pull than New York and Boston, cities which got $50 million each to cover costs of the GOP and Democratic national conventions.
And by the way, federal employees in the District and Virginia environs are entitled to a holiday on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20. This day off is estimated to cost about $66 million.
They will probably get a half-day on Jan. 19 as roadblocks and other security precautions get started. Of course, this conspicuous consumption takes a back seat to the amounts of money America and its people are pouring into tsunami relief.
As close as we can tell from research, private U.S. donations alone have topped the $200 million mark, apart from the $350 million pledged by the government to date. You can spend a dollar on bread or spend it on whisky.
That?s the nature of mankind and the marketplace. But how much more George W. Bush could impress us all if he just met the Supreme Court Chief near the Capitol at noon on Jan. 20, said the oath, and then went back to his office and made a televised speech to all of us.
