Obama Inauguration to Cost $170 Million

According to a story by ABC News, part of the Barack Obama Inauguration is being financed by bailed out Wall Street Executives. Apparently seven million dollars have been kicked in by the finance industry's executives and employees.

The total cost of the Obama Inauguration will total an eye popping a hundred and seventy million dollars. The money goes to pay for everything from big screen TVs to allow the crowds to watch the proceedings from a distance, to port a potties, to a Bruce Springsteen concert, to security and emergency services. The latter is not only provided by the federal government, but also by the Washington DC government and the states of Virginia and Maryland.

The Obama Inauguration has excited a great deal more interest than most changes of presidencies. The historic nature of the swearing in of the first African American U.S. president in history is expected to attract crowds in the millions to Washington DC.

Besides Wall Street, the list of corporate doners to the Obama Inauguration reads like a who's who of corporate America, according to ABC:

"Microsoft CEO Steven Ballmer and his wife, Connie, both gave $50,000. So did Microsoft chairman and co-founder Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda.

"DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg and his wife, Marilyn, both gave $50,000. Filmmaker and DreamWorks co-founder Steven Spielberg and his wife, Kate, both also gave $50,000. And DreamWorks employees gave a total of $275,000.

"Billionaire investor George Soros and his family contributed $250,000 to the inauguration, and Google co-founder Larry Page and CEO Eric Schmidt each donated $25,000.

"Other big-name donors who gave $50,000 include filmmaker George Lucas, artist Dale Chihuly, Los Angeles Dodgers President Jamie McCourt. Citigroup managing director Raymond J. McGuire; Oracle President Charles E. Phillips Jr.; actresses Halle Berry and Sharon Stone; and Melvin Simon, co-founder of Simon Property Group, the largest mall owner in the United States."

Many of the doners to the Obama Inauguration were also Obama campaign contributors. Nevertheless, the Obama people have placed a fifty thousand dollar cap on individual contributions to the Obama Inauguration. Also this money also does not include that which will be spend by the millions of visitors on hotel rooms, food, transportation, and other expenses.

One might raise an eyebrow or two over the extravagance of a hundred and seventy million dollar inauguration. George W. Bush was certainly criticized for spending money on his second inauguration in the middle of a war. On the other hand, one can be sure that the legions of caterers, performing artists, technicians, police officers, EMT workers, and many others who will be working the Obama Inauguration will be glad of the economic stimulus they will be getting,

Source: What Recession? The $170 Million Inauguration, Scott Mayerowitz, ABC News, January 19th, 2009