When inaugural revelers take to the ballroom floor on Jan. 20, chances are few will complain that the party planners cheaped out.
While promises by President-elect Barack Obama’s inaugural committee to cap contributions at $50,000 and to shun donations from corporations and political action committees are hopeful signs to his supporters, they aren’t likely to reduce the total tab.
“Ultimately, there are always ways to get around things,” said John Samples, director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Representative Government.
While money might not come in a chunk from a PAC or a corporation, Samples said, it could still come from individuals who would normally give to those funds and who are encouraged to donate to the inauguration.
“The only thing they lose is the organizational device,” he said, adding that with the campaign’s history of culling funds from supporters, that’s not likely to harm a huge haul.
In fact, the committee is planning for even higher expenses than in years past, said Linda Douglass, its chief spokeswoman, citing “substantial costs” for giant TVs and sound systems to broadcast the event along the Mall to the more than one million expected visitors.
The inaugural committee pays for all committee-sanctioned inaugural events, Douglass said, including the day’s parade and a handful of the evening’s balls. They have yet to compile a list of those events or a set budget, she said.
In 2005, President Bush’s committee raised a record-breaking $42 million, but accepted giant sums from business interests, including $250,000 from Altria, parent company to Philip Morris, and $100,000 from Northrop Grumman. Computer man Michael Dell contributed $250,000, as did Richard Kinder, former president of Enron.
John Sparks, director of campaign finance reform for nonprofit advocacy group Common Cause, called the $50,000 cap “a move in the right direction,” and commended Obama’s committee for refusing all but individual donations.
“But when the new Congress gets going and the administration announces its legislative agenda, that’s when we’ll see how far these efforts really go.”
Samples doesn’t expect them to go far.
“They have to make these kinds of announcements,” he said, “but we’ve seen early signs that Obama is relating to his Netroots supporters like Reagan related to the Christian right: ‘I say things that you like, but I do what’s best politically.’”
