Hypocrisy, A Washington Must

As the inauguration of Barack Obama looms I ran across this article today. So many people are expected in DC that President Bush has actually declared a state of emergency. Not only that, but if my rudimentary currency conversion skills are still intact, the Obama inauguration is going to cost roughly $160 million dollars. Obviously that seems like a ridiculously high amount of money, but we really need to compare it to the costs of previous inaugurations to make a fair comparison.

1809 - James Madison ($4)
1965 - Lyndon B Johnson ($1.6 million)
1981 - Ronald Reagan ($20 million)
1985 - Ronald Reagan ($20 million)
1989 - George H.W. Bush ($30 million)
1993 - Bill Clinton ($33 million)
1997 - Bill Clinton ($42 million)
2001 - George Bush ($40 million)
2005 - George Bush ($40 -$70 million)


So, it appears that the cost of this inauguration is going to be anywhere from 2 to 4 times more expensive than George Bush's last inaugurations. But if you remember, 4 years ago there was a serious outcry from the Left that President Bush was spending way too much money. Let us not forget this article from Salon.com, or this one from the BBC, or this one from the NYTimes, or any of other hundred or so articles like it. Here's a link to the results of my Google search on the matter, there is no dearth of articles to choose from.

Just for fun, I ran a Google search on "Obama inauguration costs". Wouldn't you know, no blistering attacks from the Left about how much this inauguration will end up costing.