The Obama inauguration cost ruse

January 19, 3:59 PMProgressive Politics ExaminerJay McDonough

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A meme currently working it's way through the blogosphere and media is the cost of the Obama inauguration.  Times are tough and it's pretty clear there's some spectacular partying going on in DC.  So, step one: find out how much the Obama inauguration is expected to cost.  That number is estimated at $160M. 

Whoa, big number.  OK, step two would be to consider the going rate for these affairs - what did George W. Bush's second inauguration cost, for instance?  The number being thrown about by the NY Daily News, Drudge, FOX and some conservative blogs is $42.7M.  That would mean the Obama inauguration will be costing American taxpayers four times what the Bush inauguration cost!

Now, there are some folks that are inclined to believe everything Barack Obama does is wrong headed, wasteful, or just morally suspect.  The inauguration cost disparity between the two inaugurations was plenty evidence for them that Barack Obama was wasting taxpayer dollars on some kind of extravagant coronation.  No need to look further. 

Well, Eric Boehlert did.  

Here's why using the $160 million number and comparing it with Bush's 2005 costs represented a classic apples-and-oranges assessment: For years, the press routinely referred to the cost of presidential inaugurations by calculating how much money was spent on the swearing-in and the social activities surrounding that. The cost of the inauguration's security was virtually never factored into the final tab, as reported by the press

The $40 million (Bush inauguration cost) does not include the cost of a web of security, including everything from 7,000 troops to volunteer police officers from far away, to some of the most sophisticated detection and protection equipment.

The question for the press then becomes: How much did the government spend on security for Bush's 2005 inauguration?

...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"

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.

One can only presume those that perpetuated this story are just disheartened Republicans with an axe to grind.  I suspect we should all get accustomed to this kind of nonsense from them.

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