In article , zxcvbob
wrote:

Cereus-validus... wrote:
They are spending fourty million dollars for Dubya's inaugural balls? That
leaves absolutely no doubt that the republicans have by far the biggest
balls in the country.

Its not as though that money could have better spent on something more
deserving like education, social security, AIDS research, disaster relief,
etc. The rich have their priorities.




How much did Carter, G.H.W. Bush, Clinton, or Reagan spend? I think the
inaugural is always a big expensive blow-out, no matter whose balls they
are.

Carter's inauguration cost 3.5 million dollars. Reagan's first
inauguration cost 15 million, his second cost 20 million (& he was the
first second-term president to pay more rather than less for a second
inauguration, since the second was always formerly thought to be a little
redundant). Bush senior had the government dish out 30-million for his one
& only inauguration. Clinton's first inaguration cost 25-million; his
second inaguration cost less. Bushy Junior by comparison has so far spent
45-million for the one-day bash, & the real tally isn't even in, that 45
million is not counting millions more on police & city support that Bush
has said the impoverished city government of D.C. will have to pay for out
of its overburdened taxpayers' pockets.

Bush spent another 21-million dollars paid for by the government under the
category of "Christmas cards" which was actually a federally funded
fundraising campaign for Bush. That was probably illegal but the Democrats
are too wussy to make anything of it, & it passed largely uncriticized.
Bush had to be brow-beaten to promise so much as 15-million to tsunami
victims, but thought nothing of spendinng 21-million for christmas cards.

Second-term presidents never have had expensive inaugural events. Dumbya
needs one because he wasn't elected for his first time, he was essentially
appointed by the supreme court. This has haunted him as one of history's
handful of unelected presidents, & he needs to celebrate getting off that
small list of poor performers. Also, his car was pelted with eggs & he was
booed all along the route to the White House his first time -- he became
the only president in a century who could not make the "inaugural walk" to
the whitehouse because he was so hated & everyone knew he wasn't really
voted in, so he literally had to be slipped in the back door garage. This
time, he has established a no-free-speech zone & only supporters will be
allowed to be in the streets. He'll be able to do the inaugural walk at
last & can pretend for the rest of his life that America loves him since
the Schutzstaffeln SS, er, I mean Secret Service SS can keep him more
tightly protected from any brushes with reality.

It's also the first time costs for the inauguration have been fobbed off
on the city taxpayers of Washington D.C. itself. In the past the cost to
the city government has been reimbursed. This time Bush has instructed
that the city eat the costs, using city funds that had been earmarked for
home-security. THAT one will bite Bush in the butt, but he doesn't care,
he just wants to feel like he's been crowned the King instead of the
lame-duck president or that first-term guy who had to sneak in the back
door to the White House scared of eggs. He'll go down in history alongside
words like "quagmire" & "death-toll," but for this one day in his life he
plans to be presented as Ceasar.

AFAIK, education, social security, AIDS research, disaster relief, etc.
are being funded already, and cancelling the inaugural parties would not
make a difference.

Tell that to D.C. city officials who thought they had funds for police
protection & homeland security but were instructed by the feds to spend
that on balloons & blockades & police support & keeping any advocates of
free speech in a big pen far from the inaugural parade & cleaning up the
mess afterward.

There's nothing stopping you from writing a big ol'
check and giving it to any one of these causes -- but I guess you have
your priorities.

Do you mean to imply your priorities are balloons & bleechers &
prohibition of expression of free speech in any location where such
expression might be seen?

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com


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