President Bush's second Inaugural Ball cost an estimated 42 million dollars. It was suggested by the Democrats that President Bush cancel his Inaugural Ball. The request was backed up with the arguments that the money could be used to, armor Humvee's, pay down the record deficit that we had or it could be used to help the victims of the recent Tsunami.
Fast forward to the present, President Obama's Inaugural Ball cost an estimated 160 million dollars. I know that security costs weren't included in the cost of President Bush's 2005 Ball as it was for Obama's Ball. The estimated cost for Obama's security was 100 million dollars which would bring the cost for the Ball to around 60 million dollars.
Given a 4% increase over the last 4 years, Obama's Inaugural Ball still cost 10.9 million dollars more than President Bush's. Where are all of the Democrats that were crying in 2005? Is it different because Obama's a Democrat? Or is it just because, "It's Obama". I believe that the latter just may be the case, especially if you listen to Lisa Gladden(D) MD State Representative who said, "it doesn't matter that the State of Maryland is broke, as long as Barak Obama is President of the United States, this is going to be great". Can you imagine if a Republican said that about John McCain? The uproar would be of biblical proportions. Wake up America, and not just Democrats either, all of you Republicans who were bamboozled by his charm. A lot of you believe that, "he" will make everything all better. All I'm asking is that when you realize that you've been taken, please speak up to your friends and representatives. This is only the beginning of a whole host of things that you may not be expecting.