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Why Will Obama's Inauguration Cost so Much?
Politics Daily —
... So, while Delay may not be far off in terms of the total cost of the event, a good bit of that will be paid via private donations, just as in inaugurations past. Media Matters has more on the apples-to-apples comparison. ...
Inaugural costs
Political Animal —
... of people are asking: 'How much will this shindig cost?'" It didn't say who the "people" are who are asking, but it went on to say Obama's inauguration is "the most expensive ever," and costs more than triple Bush's 2005 inauguration. MSNBC's Tamron Hall followed suit, telling viewers that stated that Obama's inauguration festivities are "estimated to reach as high as $150 million," while "[i]n 2004, to note, the inauguration of George W. Bush cost roughly $40 million." Eric Boehlert set the record straight , explaining, "[T]he Obama figure of $160 million that got repeated in ...
The Cost of the Inauguration: A Cold Wind Blows
The Next Right —
... attacked "the costly security overkill" which "clearly plays to Bush's political advantage by keeping terrorist threats at the top of people's minds."
He criticized the media for only reporting confirmed numbers, rather than using the speculative, uncomfirmed numbers that had been named in some places.
He puts "the real cost at closer to $70 million, instead of the media's preferred $40 million."
Flash forward to 2009 and Eric Boehlert is feeling the Change.
Rather than criticizing the huge cost ...
AP simply makes up cost of Obama inauguration
Crooks and Liars —
... million come from? The AP never says. It doesn't quote anybody, it doesn't point to any facts. There's no nothing. The AP builds an entire story around how much Obama's inauguration might cost (why stop at $150 million?), yet never substantiates the what-if estimates.
As we said, journalism doesn't get much worse than that.
Nope, it really doesn't. The Villagers never get tired of the left-right false equivalency, huh?
Check out Eric's in-depth examination over the phony controversy.
...
Inaugural Nonsense on the Right
Firedoglake —
... The problem with PEBO's inaugural festivities for the usual suspects is, of course, that he's having them at all. That battle, happily, is over, and they've moved on to how terribly expensive it all is. The figure being floated on Fox (and the Associated Press, and a legion of lesser partisan organs) is up to $160 million, compared to President Bush's frugal $42 million festivities in 2005.
Eric Boehlert at Media Matters lays out how hard the numbers were cooked to come up with those figures: ...
HackWatch: Inauguration Edition
Hit & Run —
... will feature more than 25,000 security personnel. The city's decked out in Hummers, APVs, snipers, and every bridge between D.C. and Virginia is closed (unless you're in a limo—they're permitted). We still have two wars going on. The economy's more in the tank now than it was then. But this time around, Boehlert has no criticism for Obama, only for Obama's critics, who Boehlert says are underestimating the cost of Bush's inauguration in 2005. ...
HackWatch: Inauguration Edition
The Agitator —
... will feature more than 25,000 security personnel. The city’s decked out in Hummers, APVs, snipers, and every bridge between D.C. and Virginia is closed (unless you’re in a limo—they’re permitted). We still have two wars going on. The economy’s more in the tank now than it was then. But this time around, Boehlert has no criticism for Obama, only for Obama’s critics, who Boehlert says are underestimating the cost of Bush’s inauguration in 2005. ...
Suddenly, there are “questions” about the right to basic safety
pandagon.net - we are the public option —
... By now, I’m sure most of you have heard the horror story about the apples-and-oranges comparisons between Bush’s inauguration costs and Obama’s. If not, here’s the story at Media Matters. ...
Love Fest Officially Over
Shakesville —
Boehlert: The media myth about the cost of Obama's inauguration. I'm shocked—shocked, I tell you—that the mainstream media have gone right back to the same old double-standards they had before Obama sent a shiver up Chris Matthews' leg straight to his Hardballz. Once upon a time, in a primary far, far away, there were people telling me that I was an asshole for arguing that the media's hostile disposition toward Hillary Clinton was not a legitimate reason to withhold support from her, because, one day, they would be just as stupidly unfair to Barack ...
Partisanship, Politics, and Patriotism
Flopping Aces —
... — would have preferred a “smaller, more subdued” inauguration, given the ongoing war in Iraq. In other words, Bush’s overblown celebration ranks as one of the few political issues that most Americans agree on — a phenomenon the press ignored.
Gee…give the huge financial crisis our country is in, did Salon also think to criticize President Obama’s lavish inaugural spending? No. But their side rallied around the defense of it.
President Bush was criticized for travel expenses to taxpayers. So ...
