Demagogue

Clearly the Bush administration doesn't even worry about the possibility of negative publicity anymore-- they just do as they wish.

D.C. officials said yesterday that the Bush administration is refusing to reimburse the District for most of the costs associated with next week's inauguration, breaking with precedent and forcing the city to divert $11.9 million from homeland security projects.
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"We want to make this the best possible event, but not at the expense of D.C. taxpayers and other homeland security priorities," said Gregory M. McCarthy, the [DC] mayor's deputy chief of staff. "This is the first time there hasn't been a direct appropriation for the inauguration."

A spokesman for Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, which oversees the District, agreed with the mayor's stance. He called the Bush administration's position "simply not acceptable."
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Congressional aides said the District sought unsuccessfully last year to boost the annual security reimbursement fund from $15 million to $25 million to pay for inauguration expenses. In contrast, New York City and Boston-area lawmakers were able to obtain $50 million from Congress for each of those two jurisdictions to cover local security costs for the national political conventions.
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OMB and DHS spokesmen said they could not provide an estimate of what the inauguration will cost the federal government...As of June, the cost of giving federal workers in the capital area a day off was about $66 million.

Yes, I'm complaining about Bush's inauguration again. It's just so absurd, such a phenomenal waste of taxpayer money and a major disruption for DC residents/employees. The 4-day inauguration festivities also has the additional irritation of being something I can't just ignore. I have to try and get to work at a reasonable time next week despite the fact that my office has been warned that it is in the "restricted access zone" and to "expect ID checks and verification of your place of employment" in the zone.

Yes, thanks to Bush for turning DC into a police state for his big important party. I'll remember next week to show my papers to the nice men in riot gear.