What? $50M Obama Inauguration Costs to US Taxpayers vs. ‘Skin in the Game’
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on January 12, 2009
The lack of frugality of this is misguided and insensitive and infuriating. And totally nuts.
You can’t escape it, and believe me, I’ve really tried. Every media outlet on God’s green earth is gushing reporting about President-Elect Barack Obama’s upcoming inauguration, which is now a scant 8 days away. What few are reporting, though, is how MUCH it will cost us. In addition to charging people to attend (and the cost has skyrocketed from the last one), Obama’s Inauguration bash is looking like it will cost us, the taxpayers, at least $50 million (but you know that it will cost a whole lot more by the time it’s done), even if we don’t attend, even if we’re unemployed, even if we didn’t vote for him.
To add further insult to our financial injury, today CNN reported the following from President-Elect Obama, where he stated that he wants MORE sacrifices from Americans, more ‘skin in the game,’ as he put it. The following is excerpted from the CNN story (click here to read the whole thing):
He told voters that change couldn’t happen without them, “without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.” He reiterated that same message this weekend, explaining what it’s going to take to reform the government.
“Everybody is going to have to give. Everybody is going to have to have some skin in the game,” Obama told ABC.
Some of the pledges Obama might have to rethink include his proposal to give some homeowners a 10 percent tax credit, an idea that has little support in Congress.
During the campaign, Obama also told voters, “I don’t believe in running up debt for the next generation.”
But just last week, he acknowledged that the cost of the economic recovery plan he is pushing would be “considerable” and would “certainly add to the budget deficit in the short term.”
Obama has not put a price tag on his stimulus package, but observers have estimated it would cost in the neighborhood of $800 billion (emphasis mine).
So, we need more skin in the game. More financial sacrifice. More giving. Another $800 billion.
And we also have to pay for the most expensive, self-congratulatory inauguration shindig in American history.
Let’s disregard how much so many hard-working Americans tithe to their churches, give to national and international charities, work for free in service, volunteer capacities… how our unemployment numbers are the worst they’ve been in 30 years and thousands of people are losing their homes. Obama wants us to believe that only with additional ‘skin’ from us and, oh, yeah, another $800 billion dollars (these will likely be borrowed from China since our government has just about emptied our nation’s coffers) can America get back on track, back to its glory days of a few years ago (actually, only 18 months ago did things start going sour) when Bush was in office. He has no plan, just wants more money, and of course, more “skin.”
Good grief.
I don’t want more billions to go down a ne’er-ending sink hole nor do I want to help pay for a lavish $50M party, which will probably include paying for Michelle Obama’s designer wardrobe and her $400 lobster and caviar lunch (whoops, we already paid for that). Where do I go, Obama, to opt out paying for your party? I’m really frugal and I have already sacrificed plenty for my family to keep our bank account in the black. It has been increasingly difficult, but I’ve been resolute to succeed. I don’t want to pay for a party for you, since I can’t afford to have a fancy party for my own kids. Rising costs across our family’s budget are bleeding us dry.
Or, is this just the beginning of the ‘skin’ you want from all of us?
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