$160 million for Obama Inauguration

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In a time of skyrocketing unemployment and immerse losses and uncertainty in the US and global financial outlook, an audit of the the cost-benefits for the speech that Presdient-Elect Obama will deliver on Inauguration day is in order. The question is: Will the positive effect in the US public's confidence in their new leadership warrent the $160 million outlay for the Obama inauguration? Is the cost versus benefit ratio acceptable? Could the money spent on this media and Washington street and party spectacle the most efficient use of the funds? Is it time to rethink the inauguration event in light of new comunication channels such as NowPublic? Time will tell.

The PatriotLedger boils down the costs.

• The Obama inauguration committee has raised about $45 million for the inaugural festivities.
• The federal government will provide $49 million – the same amount as for last year’s Democratic and Republican conventions.
• The District of Columbia, Virginia and Maryland are asking the government for $75 million to cover their extra costs. Last week, President Bush declared an emergency in Washington, so the city could more easily secure federal funds.
• No taxpayer money will go toward inaugural balls, dinners and other events. That’s what the Obama committee fundraising is for. More than 2,000 private donors are footing those costs, including about 400 who’ve given the maximum $50,000. Donors include Hollywood directors George Lucas and Steven Spielberg plus two American Indian tribes with casinos, the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma and California’s Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians.