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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: geode00 who wrote (71073)	1/20/2005 3:20:51 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 89467

Inauguration: Lifestyles of the Rich and Heartless ________________________________________ By Christy Harvey, Judd Legum and Jonathan Baskin with Nico Pitney and Mipe Okunseinde The Progress Report Thursday 20 January 2005 Due to $17 million worth of inaugural security - paid for by the city of Washington, D.C. - the Progress Report is unable to access its office. Never fear - it takes a lot more than that to keep us down. We put this list together for you ahead of time. Your regularly scheduled Progress Report returns tomorrow. A look at this week's festivities by the numbers: $40 million: Cost of Bush inaugural ball festivities, not counting security costs. $2,000: Amount FDR spent on the inaugural in 1945 - about $20,000 in today's dollars. $20,000: Cost of yellow roses purchased for inaugural festivities by D.C.'s Ritz Carlton. 200: Number of Humvees outfitted with top-of-the-line armor for troops in Iraq that could have been purchased with the amount of money blown on the inauguration. $10,000: Price of an inaugural package at the Fairmont Hotel, which includes a Beluga caviar and Dom Perignon reception, a chauffeured Rolls Royce and two actors posing as "faux" Secret Service agents, complete with black sunglasses and cufflink walkie-talkies. 400: Pounds of lobster provided for "inaugural feeding frenzy" at the exclusive Mandarin Oriental hotel. 3,000: Number of "Laura Bush Cowboy cookies" provided for "inaugural feeding frenzy" at the Mandarin hotel. $1: Amount per guest President Carter spent on snacks for guests at his inaugural parties. To stick to a tight budget, he served pretzels, peanuts, crackers and cheese and had cash bars. 22 million: Number of children in regions devastated by the tsunami who could have received vaccinations and preventive health care with the amount of money spent on the inauguration. 1,160,000: Number of girls who could be sent to school for a year in Afghanistan with the amount of money lavished on the inauguration. $15,000: The down payment to rent a fur coat paid by one gala attendee who didn't want the hassle of schlepping her own through the airport. $200,500: Price of a room package at D.C.'s Mandarin Oriental, including presidential suite, chauffeured Mercedes limo and outfits from Neiman Marcus. 2,500: Number of U.S. troops used to stand guard as President Bush takes his oath of office 26,000: Number of Kevlar vests for U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan that could be purchased for $40 million. $290: Bonus that could go to each American solider serving in Iraq, if inauguration funds were used for that purpose. $6.3 million: Amount contributed by the finance and investment industry, which works out to be 25 percent of all the money collected. $17 million: Amount of money the White House is forcing the cash-strapped city of Washington, D.C., to pony up for inauguration security. 9: Percentage of D.C. residents who voted for Bush in 2004. 66: Percentage of Americans who think this over-the-top inauguration should have been scaled back. truthout.org