Remember when the Dems and the MSM had their panties in a wad over GW’s Inauguration costs? It was somewhere around 40 million, and the Left had fits with comments filled with angst over armoring Humvees in Iraq, helping victims of the tsunami, and paying down the deficit. The 2006 festivity was labeled ‘extravagant’ and ‘excessive’:
In 2005, AP writer Will Lester went on a frothing tear over the upcoming Bush inauguration:
Some Now Question Cost of Inauguration
President Bush’s second inauguration will cost tens of millions of dollars — $40 million alone in private donations for the balls, parade and other invitation-only parties. With that kind of money, what could you buy?
– 200 armored Humvees with the best armor for troops in Iraq.
– Vaccinations and preventive health care for 22 million children in regions devastated by the tsunami.
– A down payment on the nation’s deficit, which hit a record-breaking $412 billion last year.
– Two years’ salary for the Mets’ new center fielder Carlos Beltran, or all of pitcher Randy Johnson’s contract extension with the New York Yankees.
Weeks ago, the inauguration and its accompanying costs were considered a given, an historic ceremony with all the pomp, pageantry and celebrations that the nation had come to expect every four years.
But a recent confluence of events — the tsunami natural disaster, Bush’s warning about Social Security finances and the $5 billion-a-month price tag for the war in Iraq — have many Americans now wondering why spend the money the second time around.
While the Presidential Inaugural Committee hopes to raise $40 million in private donations for the balls, parades and candlelight dinners for high-roller donors, millions of government dollars will be spent on construction of the platform and stands at the Capitol, police overtime, military personnel and the tightest security for the first post-Sept. 11 inaugural.
The questions have come from Bush supporters and opponents: Do we need to spend this money on what seems so extravagant?
Marc Cuban jumped on the bandwagon:
Billionaire Mark Cuban, owner of the National Basketball Association’s Dallas Mavericks, voted for Bush — twice. Cuban knows a thing or two about big spending, once starring in ABC’s reality TV show, “The Benefactor,” in which 16 contenders tried to pass his test for success and win $1 million.
“As a country, we face huge deficits. We face a declining economy. We have service people dying. We face responsibilities to help those suffering from the…devastation of the tsunamis,” he wrote on his blog, a Web journal.
Cuban challenged Bush to set an example: “Start by canceling your inauguration parties and festivities.”
Hat Tip to NewsBusters: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/rich-noyes/2009/01/14/ap-slammed-bush-s-extravagant-inaugural-05-now-it-s-spend-baby-spend
It’s 2009, the economy sucks, we are still at war with Islamofascists, and Obama plans on spending 45 million, not counting the cost of security, and not a peep out of the fucking liberals.
Hell, his fawning moonbats helped raise about 600 million during his campaign, let him pay for it.
Where’s the outrage?
Oh that’s right. Obamessiah is held to a different standard.