January, 2005

They don’t do it all that often in England, but I wouldn’t be surprised if settling the ever-waiting Prince Charles into the throne would cost less than the $150 million or so George W is going to spend on January 19th.

I know, the news releases say $40 million, which still isn’t chump-change and that’s money donated by whoever wants a piece of the action in the next four years. Fair enough.

But, like budget figures in Washington tend to be, this one has a lot of ‘off-the-books’ expenses associated with it. Federal employees are being given that Wednesday off. Makes sense, because Washington will be nearly impenetrable that day anyway, but the ‘day off’ will cost an additional $66 million for the payroll for work undone. Then there’s the City of Washington’s estimated cost of security for the four-day event, $15 million or so. The Feds are ‘unable to estimate’ the cost of security and other expenses, which just means the numbers are embarrassingly large and who wants to go into that just before a festive occasion. But don’t crab about my $150 mil number, ‘cause we’re already up to $121 and the Feds haven’t checked in with their numbers yet.

All this, so a man can put his hand on a bible and get sworn in.

Not that Bill Clinton was a piker. His second inaugural was said to cost $30 million, but the costs aren’t broken down, so if it’s a 30 compared to a 40 there’s not all that much difference. By way of comparison, on January 20, 1945, Franklin Roosevelt was inaugurated for his 4th term -- during wartime. At his request, the ceremony was a simple one, performed on the balcony overlooking the South lawn of the White House, instead of the Capitol Building. He did this, he said, because it would be inappropriate to engage in the usual pomp and ceremony and partying while our sons were giving their lives overseas. There were no inaugural balls that year. Instead, the President went back to work.

Lest we forget, this is another wartime inauguration and it would have been a stunning piece of statesmanship had W chosen to be quietly sworn in the second time instead of partying it up while the Iraqi death toll continues. It’s a cheap shot, but I’ll say it anyway, that W has always been better known as a party animal than a statesman.

But we don’t have kings in this country and we ought not be spending like we’re coronating one, not with our national Visa card way over limit, the international community lowering our credit rating and a stack of unpaid bills on the hall table.

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