dougs digs

once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right

1.21.2005

Gluttony Kills More Than The Sword


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 hotel, 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.

alternet.org
|| doug, 16:27

3 Comments:

Great info!!! It makes me so angry to see the amount of $$ squandered on these festivities...when we have poverty, homelessness, hunger and illiteracy all around us! There are animals scrounging for food, homeless and starving...the list is virtually endless....so many places this money is needed...There had been some comments a while back, about how Pres. Bush was being a tightwad in sending such a meager pittance to help with the tsunami victims...yet look at what he will spend on pomp...it's absurd!!! This is fab info...and a wake up call to all who may have been ignorant of these facts...I'm blogging you! I've had u set up on my faves & have enjoyed reading you...Keep up the great work!! Luv Neb
Blogger NEBULA, at 24/1/05 09:36  
Neb -

thank you so much for checking out my blog . . . and liking it to ! ! ! it is indeed good to converse and relate with big hearted and "big picture" minded people such as yourself.

I don't think I can put into words how disgusted and ashamed I am of our Presidents actions and especially non-actions. I realize there are geopolitical "issues" that we know not of (and for good reason), but there are no excuses for not taking responsibility for his very desructive and far reaching mistakes. I am convinced it will take a generation ( . . . or two . . . or three) to recover from the economical and political failures of this administration.

Keep up the good work Neb, I will check in on you from time to time, you do the same.

Be Well,
Doug
Blogger doug, at 24/1/05 11:10  
Hi Doug!
I was yakking with some people last night and referred to your excellent posting regarding the squandering of the taxpayers $$! Again...great info! They agreed that it was absurd and wasteful and they were quite amazed to hear just how much was spent! (As was I)It is good to enlighten people! Lol! I hope you're having a great week...just popping it to say hi! Take care! Luv Neb
Blogger NEBULA, at 27/1/05 16:38  

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