Now that Barack Obama has been chosen as the 44th president, he is working on putting together his cabinet as well as planning for the transition and inauguration into office. To make the transition successful and the inauguration an appropriate celebration, Obama needs to first raise the necessary funds. While there is no law that restricts sources of funding or the amount of money the inaugural committee can accept, past presidents usually have imposed donation caps. One contributing factor of this policy can source from fear of public criticism. So, President elect Barack Obama has followed this trend of setting donation caps, though his cap is significantly lower, at $50,000 for a single donor. Additionally, he has also refused to accept donations from lobbyists, political action committees and corporations.
In comparison, in the past presidents have accepted donations up to $250,000 per donor. In 2005, President George W. Bush had a cap of $250,000 and raised 42.3 million dollars for his inauguration, almost double Clinton’s 1997 inauguration funding of $23.7 million. This money was spent on things like fireworks, parades, concerts and balls. At least 90% of Bush’s this funding came from lobbyists, and at least $6.3 million is attributed to the investment and finance industry alone. The $42.3 million doesn’t even include the 100 million plus dollars that the District of Columbia government must spend on set-up, clean up, and security fees as well as a national holiday for federal workers.
Most think that Obama will be able to raise enough for the event with ease, even with his tight donation guidelines. After all, during the election season he was able to raise $639 million, about half of which was raised through donations of $200 or less.
President elect Obama’s inaugural committee currently consists of Julianna Smoot and Penny Pritzker, the finance director and finance chair of his presidential campaign. The committee expects the event to be rather expensive compared to past events because they are trying to hold a larger number of public events than in previous years. They are expecting over a million people at the event in on January 20th, but there are currently only 240,000 tickets to the swearing in ceremony. The committee is working on ways to allow more people to attend the event.
Much of the money that Obama raises will be devoted to opening the National Mall space for attendees. At inauguration there will be gigantic television screens and speakers systems lining the streets so that spectators will be able to see the event. This technology will make up a large potion of the total cost.
The Inaugural Committee is still in the planning phase of deciding which activities will accompany the swearing in ceremony. Since many people are so ecstatic about Obama’s victory, some want an extravagant inauguration to honor the historical moment. On the other hand, many are also feeling sensitive to the current state of the country with the economic crisis and the fact that American troops are still fighting overseas. They feel that it is important to tone down the expenses for the event to show respect for those having economic troubles. Most importantly, the inauguration needs to have a theme of unity and emphasize inclusiveness.
For further reading:
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/how-lavish-should-the-inauguration-be/#more-7649
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/obama-to-limit-inaugural-donations/
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/the-inauguration-planning-team-taking-shape/
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/18/obama.fundraising.transition/
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/obamas-inauguration-committee-limits-donations-2008-11-25.html
http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=1860
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