The liberal machine is in full swing in defense of the cost of the Obama inauguration. While it's true that the actual cost of the ceremony and the subsequent parties has not been completely substantiated, to a principled American citizen it shouldn't really matter. So for now, let's just work with the numbers that are substantiated. Even the left wing apologists, like Eric Boehlert of Media Matters, claim that the final cost will be at least somewhere close to the cost of the second Bush ceremony, approximately $45,000,000. How can a street-level community organizer at heart; a guy that knows and has seen what an extra $50 in the pocket of a struggling single-mother can mean to a family, justify the pomp and waste of taxpayer money for a party? How can he sit through such a pricey display of pageantry while babies go hungry?
Just to bring the numbers down to "main-street" for all my compassionate and well-intentioned liberal fans out there, I put together the following list of things I feel are more important than a party for the latest round of government bureaucrats.
$45,000,000 equals:
1000 police salaries (@45k/yr)
45,000,000 meals for the homeless
450,000 prescriptions for needy elderly ($100 ea)
2250 community college educations for disadvantaged youths
13,707,690 pounds of peanut butter for kids who went to bed hungry last night
22,500,000 gallons of gasoline
1 fiscal year for charter schools grants nationwide
5357 kids in a safe full-time day care (240 days/yr)
90,000,000 liters of clean drinking water (@ .50c/L)
2,647,058 servings of baby formula
As you can see, the final costs may be unknown. But the impact the kind of amounts that we as American citizens have become numb to, can have on the lives of real people is just enormous. You can't really blame our aristocratic political class for acting like the plutocrats they are. The government is an out-of-control waste machine folks, and despite posturing and rhetoric to the contrary, they have no money of their own. It's our money. And to get technical, since deficit spending has become the new norm, it's our children's future earnings they wipe their butts with when they decide to aggrandize one another, build a statue in their likeness or a giant architectual masterpiece of a community library to put their names on. But we put up with it. We shrug it off. Perhaps because we can't even comprehend the crazy numbers they throw around. Perhaps because we don't care as long as American Idol is on every week and beer and burgers are affordable. Maybe because 99% of folks can't even tell you what they really earn due to the withholding system. Who knows? But I defy any Obamaphile out there to justify the amount of money that our government confiscates and wastes on things like a giant inauguration ceremony that doesn't even have to take place. Republican or democrat, it doesn't matter. If you begin your elected term by flushing more money down the drain than 23 average hard working American families make in their LIFETIME, you're no public servant. You're a crook.
©2009 A.H. Dowden, all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Last modified: Wednesday, January 21, 2009
The views expressed in this article are those of A.H. Dowden only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. A.H. Dowden is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
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Reader Comments:
Posted By: Master C
Date: 2009-01-21 10:35:54
Dear AH,
Some people just have no PERSPECTIVE on things, and occasionally need to have someone tell them that spending $100,000 on a wedding is really not all that much. Or, spending $180,000 on a Lamborghini, or $1.3 on a yacht, or $5.6 million on a home in Hollywood.
If you just looked at the advertising budgets of cola and burger businesses, you'd puke! We already know what COCA COLA is and BURGER KING. Do they have to spend BILLIONS more to advertise it?
The Presidential swearing in ceremony is an opportunity to thank many people who helped elect him. A party so that OTHERS don't have to spend the money is traditional. Does it cost a lot? Well, in comparison to what? Sending Air Force One to Japan and back? The war in Iraq? Holding IMPEACHMENT hearings for Clinton?
Your obvious astonishment at the cost of things only shows how OUT OF TOUCH you really are with what happened to the economy during the BUSH YEARS. He CUT TAXES for the rich, QUINTUPLED SPENDING, rolled out his WAR ON TERROR, the PATRIOT ACT, AIRPORT SECURITY, and THE BAILOUT.
This is like throwing a party before sending the boys off to war. You don't look at what it costs, you look at what it gains. A fresh start and a break from the horrors of BUSH. That, to me, is worth A BILLION dollars!
Master C
Posted By: trd
Date: 2009-01-21 10:54:17
If this guy was able to raise over $1Billion for his campaign from private contributions, I am pretty sure he can raise another $45M for his inaguration party? Why does he and the other Presidents have to use our money for this?
They can get donations, Sell event tickets, sell dance tickets, sell advertising space on the event, sell sponsorhips for the event, sell the food and beer at the event, Sell the broadcasting rights, sell the advertising on the broadcasting, sell flangs, buttons, pictures, signed memorabillia, etc... If he wants to have a party, he can certainly raise the money privately.
But heck, if there are public funds available for his party, why must he go through the hassle. He would rather screw all of us. Imagine that you are handed $45M to do a party for yourself. The temptation to throw the biggest self-agrandizing party for yourself is huge.
Posted By: AH Dowden
Date: 2009-01-21 11:32:50
Master C:
Where do you get the foolish notion that I am in some way "astonished" at the cost of things? I assure you, I was fully aware of what liberal policies, fueled by neo-con furvor, had done to our economy before reading your brilliant comments. And I'm sure the companies you mentioned are aware that people know their brands as well. They spend the money on advertising because it works. And they earned the advertising money the old-fashioned way.
The fact that you compare the $45,000,000 price tag to other forms of government waste shows that you missed the entire point of the article. Don't compare the article to other wasteful government black holes. Compare it to real world "main-street" things like food, clothing, shelter, school and the like. It's, frankly, stupid to attempt to justify the money by citing other outrageous excesses. Since you favor analogy so much, that is like saying 'Sure he raped the girl. But women have been getting raped since the dawn of time.'
I too, am glad to see the end of Bush and his cronies. But I would like for you to please give some examples of how this party to the tune of $45,000,000 at interest, "GAINS" us anything?
Posted By: Master C
Date: 2009-01-21 12:08:14
trd and AH,
The Obamas could probably buy their own donuts, too, but the US taxpayer is going to do that. That's the way it's done. We do it out of reverence and respect for them. It isn't a matter of whether other people could PAY for their inauguration or not, it's whether we want them to be BEHOLDEN to those who pay for it or not. Now they're grateful to the AMERICAN PEOPLE not to some wealthy contributor.
Sorry, AH, but I don't follow your so-called analogy AT ALL. My point is that it's done to pay tribute to our new leader and his organization. Your point is that it is money that could have been spent elsewhere. Welcome to the world of CHOICES, Mr. D.
Master C
Posted By: AH Dowden
Date: 2009-01-21 14:25:58
"That's the way it's done" is the problem. We throw a rich guy a $45,000,000 party while honest hard-working people increasingly fill the unemployment lines out of "reverence" for a public servant? And you call me out-of-touch? The President should honor and revere us! This is a republic of, by and for the people in case you hadn't noticed. You act as though this giant party has to take place for a new President to take office. Well, it doesn't. And if the man somehow needs the hysterical reverence of common people to find it in himself to serve, then he has no integrity or honor at all. I respect and revere the people and our constitution that uphold the office, not the man. Using your (il)logic, Obama is only beholden to the people because of what he get's from us. "Now they're grateful to the AMERICAN PEOPLE not to some wealthy contributor"
The people of this nation do not need to "pay tribute" to any elected leader.
And what about all the other extravaganzas - things all the other Obamaphiles are perfectly willing to admit were paid for by his inaugural committee and private donors? Won't your (il)logic make him BEHOLDEN to them?
And for the aforementioned analogy:
"Sure it cost us a lot of money, but the government has always wasted our money."
Sounds a lot like...
"Sure they rape people, but they have always raped people."
I'm not sure I can simplify it much more than that to match your level of reading comprehension.
Posted By: SPDBRNR
Date: 2009-01-21 18:05:01
Coke & other prive co's EARNED the $$$ to pay for lavish advertising...the govt swims in red ink, and is borrowing huge amounts more!! That's why it's a crime for them to spend $45m on the inauguration - they haven't earned it!! F the 'pay homage' crap!! earn our respect Obama, then we will...
Posted By: roger
Date: 2009-01-22 07:55:10
Dowden points out how pathetic the american public is, and the "Big Party" is only the tip of the iceberg. The media is a big beneficiary of this out of control spending, but then again they gave us the president, and shape how and what we do every day. The media runs the country; just take look at their slanting of news. They no longer report the news, they tell us what they want us to know, the way they want us to know it. The media has totally lost objectivity. Wake up folks!!!! Remember how the media shaped a government under a guy named Hitler?
Posted By: AH Dowden
Date: 2009-01-22 10:24:17
The mainstream media participates in a form of mind control. The shorter the attention span of the people, the easier it is. Information control is mind control in many aspects. Follow that logic out and you can see, the shorter the attention span of the citizenry, the more powerful media conglomerates become. Either way, it's our fault for having misplaced our priorities.