Pay-To-Play: Inauguration Tickets, Only $12,500 Each!

Want a ticket to the official Inauguration Day swearing-in event held on public property? Well, you can easily have one -- guaranteed -- for the low, low price of only $12,500. [To be completely honest, that price is much like how airlines advertise "one-way based on roundtrip purchase" fares that don't actually exist -- since you have to "donate" a whopping $50,000 for four guaranteed tickets.] But wait! It's a package deal! You also get, for your hard-earned dollars, bleacher seats to watch the Inaugural Parade, tickets to at least one of the Inaugural Balls the Obamas will actually attend, and other sundry perks and goodies. What a deal, eh?

At least the official Presidential Inauguration Committee (PIC) is being transparent about this. They not only openly advertised this package deal, but they also have posted the list of big donors on their web site for all to see. You can check it out to see exactly who has ponied up the fifty large so far. Hollywood celebrities such as Halle Berry, Steven Spielberg, and Tom Hanks have paid up, as well as too many corporate CEOs to list here (from companies such as Google, Microsoft, Levi Strauss, Qualcomm, ExxonMobil, Sony BMG, Coca Cola, and others). Almost 400 folks have already bought the premium package as of this writing. The San Jose Mercury News recently ran a story of the most prominent San Francisco Bay Area donors, just to highlight a few examples.

But that may not be the full extent of the pay-to-play requirement to score an official swearing-in ceremony ticket. The bulk of the 250,000 tickets are given to every member of Congress to dole out as they see fit. That "as they see fit" is no exaggeration, because there are absolutely no rules or regulations about who they can give tickets to. Any senator or representative can hand out the limited number of tickets to his or her biggest donors, and not only is it completely legal and ethical to do so, nobody will ever know. Because since the tickets have a face value of $0.00, it is not a "gift" in any monetary sense, and will never be reported as such. Every congressman is handed a sheaf of tickets, with no rule dictating public disclosure of where they went.

Faced with the problem of how to divvy up their tickets, some in Congress have done what they considered the fair thing -- by handing the tickets out to the first people who requested them, or holding a lottery so the tickets would be randomly distributed among those who asked for them -- but others have not. Some (including my own House member -- a staunchly liberal Democrat in a safe seat) refused to even respond to a media request asking how their tickets would be distributed. There's no law that says they have to tell, so why bother?

Which is within ethical and legal limits, because there simply are no rules. They are free to hand out every ticket to their big donors, or hand out as many as they feel like to big donors and then magnanimously distribute the others to members of the public who haven't paid to play. Since there is no disclosure requirement, they are even free to lie about it and say they gave them all away in a lottery, while doing no such thing.

In other words, politics as usual.

This wouldn't be all that outrageous in the pay-to-play world of Washington, D.C., if it weren't for the intrepid Senator Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the Presidential Inauguration Committee. Now, Feinstein must be getting a little dizzy from her whirligig position reversals just in the past week alone (see: seating Roland Burris, the Leon Panetta choice for CIA director), but this one is a doozy. Because late last year, in a fit of indignation, Feinstein tried to push through a federal law making it illegal -- and punishable by both jail time and huge fines -- for any member of the public to sell any inauguration ticket to anyone, for any price. So Andy Rooney (who said, on 60 Minutes last week: "I know there are a limited number of inaugural tickets, but I'm hoping mine's in the mail. If it comes maybe I'll sell it to someone who really wants to go.") would get thrown in jail for a year and have to pay a $100,000 fine if he actually did so.

But sponsoring this law didn't stop Feinstein's PIC from openly soliciting the $50,000 "donor" package. Maybe Feinstein is afraid of the free market, where these tickets would obviously sell for less than the $12,500 they're charging. Who knows, at this point, with DiFi. And one of the most recent press releases from the PIC touts their "store" where they are selling "official" Obama knickknacks, meaning the PIC themselves are obviously not above turning a quick buck on the whole affair.

So, a quick review: Private citizens selling tickets, bad. PIC selling official beer steins and coloring books for the kids, good. PIC selling tickets for $12,500 each, doubleplusgood.

Adding insult to injury, tickets will not just be guaranteed for wealthy donors, but also for every Democratic officeholder in the land -- including Rod Blagojevich. That's right, the Illinois governor got two tickets to the festivities, as the Huffington Post recently reported. So no matter how much of an embarrassment to the party Blagojevich is, he'll have the option of attending.

Perhaps I'm not being entirely fair here. I should state that some parts of the inaugural festivities are private parties, put on by private entities. So, legally, who pays the piper calls the tune. Meaning they can invite (and, by definition, exclude) anyone they wish. Private money is being raised for the whole Inauguration Week gala, and the people who plunk down more money than the average new car costs should be given the privilege of attending the events their money has paid for. I understand all of that, and really don't have a problem with it. What I do have a problem with, however, is that the swearing-in event is not a private event. It is a public event, where the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court swears in President Obama on the steps of the Capitol, overlooking the National Mall -- both of which are owned and paid for by "The People." And while Dianne Feinstein and the PIC are nominally in control of how the tickets are distributed, I don't think anyone could argue that if Obama had publicly called for a better way to equitably distribute the tickets for such, it would have happened.

Thinking up a better way to hand out the tickets takes about four seconds. You can even start by putting aside ten or twenty thousand tickets for Democratic officeholders -- I can live with that. But then for the other 200,000-plus tickets remaining, hold a national lottery open to all who plan on attending. Give everyone an equal chance, and make everything transparent in the sunshine of public disclosure. If Obama had stood up and called for such -- relying heavily on the "this isn't about me, it's about you" and "change is coming to Washington" rhetoric -- I have no doubt the PIC would have done exactly what he asked them to do.

Instead, Obama's transition team trotted out a token effort. Anyone who donates anything (even five bucks) to the PIC was put into a pool (you have until midnight tomorrow to enter), and ten winners are being chosen to receive the full ticket package. Ten.

To sum up: $50,000 donors get four tickets each, no matter how many of them plunk their money down. Seemingly all Democratic officeholders get tickets, just for being Democrats. Congress gets all the rest, and can hand them out like candy, with no fear of public disclosure. And ten lucky people open their Wonka bars and get a golden ticket of their own.

This doesn't sound a whole lot like "change we can believe in." This sounds more like same-old-same-old cronyism and pay-to-play. Which does not bode well for answering the essential question of Barack Obama -- will he manage to change Washington, or will Washington end up changing him?

[Full disclosure: If this sounds like I'm seriously annoyed that I didn't get an inaugural ticket, well... I guess I'm guilty as charged. I'll be watching from the Mall with the rest of the not-so-well-connected public. Hey, at least out on the Mall you can bring a backpack, a thermos, a cooler, a stroller, or an umbrella... and there will be vendors selling hot things to eat and drink. Inside the ticketed area, none of these will be allowed.]

Chris Weigant blogs at: ChrisWeigant.com

 

Comments

[sugarfree]

Chris weigant,
I didn't hear you winning about the millions of dollar the U..S. were giving to Iraq, while they were
pocking their money and killing our Solders. Where is the love chris!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
This is the first black American President elected President and some of us is happy for him.
Hollywood Celebrities can afford to PAY-TO-PLAY as you call it, but i think what you are forgetting
is the Hollywood Celebrities donate a lot of money to worthy cause and they are also AMERICANS.
My feeling Chris is that you are trying to says something else, but you don't know how it will play-out on
this BLOG.
I hope i am wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[pacodog]

I received an envelope from the inaugural committee yesterday that contained an invitation to the Inauguration. There was very little detail except that it would allow me to enter any public event. It was written in with raised lettering, an embossed seal, and printed on card stock. Does anybody know if it is legit? What does access to public events mean? Why would you need an invitation to something that is open to the public? Is it worth my time to make the trip? Maybe someone out there has the answer.

[SCrae]

They needed money to cover the price of the Inaugraul as I understand it. You never touched on that. The amount the govt allots does not cover everything so he has to raise money to cover the shortage. I dont have a problem with those that gave the max getting tickets. I am glad they had the money to give.

[sarahoneill]

Some interesting developments will take place, and I hope that this increased transparency is here to stay! This will make some work a lot more difficult, of course, but as with the donor list for the PIC, transparency is change! There's an interesting article here
:http://www.atelier-us.com/internet-usage/article/obamas-pic-brings-donor-list-online

[donfreitag]

You say your are going to be on the mall, but isn't that a ticketed area too?

http://www.inauguraltickets.com/swearing-in-ticketrequest.html

[Chris Weigant - Huffpost Blogger]

donfreitag -

Nope, the Mall is public access open to all (be sure to arrive early, though!).

-CW

[donfreitag]

Sorry man, but I'm nearly positive that you're wrong. I've got tickets that explicitly state MALLST as their section. I've spoken with the owner of inauguraltickets.com too, to find out the details and the area behind the reflecting pool labeled as 'Mall Standing Area' in the link I posted above is most definitely accessed only by ticket holders.

Where are you seeing/hearing/reading that the mall will be for public access?

Not trying to be combative, but people are paying $700-800 to stand on that mall.

[Chris Weigant - Huffpost Blogger]

donfreitag -

Google "inauguration" "mall" and "public" to find dozens of news stories. Here's an excerpt:

"...the National Mall from 4th Street to the Lincoln Memorial, on 23rd Street [will be] open to the general public. Jumbo screen televisions and speakers will be placed along the Mall so that all of the attendees can witness and hear the ceremony."

You also might want to check this story out:

http://tinyurl.com/a893f3

-CW

[rlkinny]

This sounds like a big whine to me. Honestly, I'm not at all interested in having the President Elect focus his energy on revamping the inaugural process celebrations, as opposed to focusing his energy on the economy, the wars (including the Israeli/Gaza situation), and our broken legal system.

But, if you're feeling lucky, you can always try your luck at the Inaugural Committee lottery -- you only have to pay $5 for a chance to win a pair of tickets. If you're feeling that lucky though, you might prefer putting down the $5 for a chance at the Mega Million lottery.

[FaceYourFears]

"If Obama had stood up and called for such -- relying heavily on the "this isn't about me, it's about you" and "change is coming to Washington" rhetoric -- I have no doubt the PIC would have done exactly what he asked them to do."

That's what makes it so disturbing and disappointing....

[TommyMcCarthy]

I'm really looking forward to Chris "filing" (if that's word anymore) from the inaugural.

Like Chris, I have spent some time in the District.....but UN-like him I have to admit that I personally would not want to be anywhere NEAR D.C. during inauguration week.

We'll all get the "bird's eye view" and the spin from the usual sources.

Happily, we can count on our intrepid "man-on-the-mall"....CW.... for the view we common folk might have experienced.

I hope Chris will bring along his famous "nose" for the ironic and the absurd.........I have to imagine the festivities will provide what the Air Force might refer to as a "Target-Rich Environment" in that regard.

Vaya Con Dios.....Buena Suerte........and "Break a Leg" (not literally, please)

Highest Regards
tm

[Chris Weigant - Huffpost Blogger]

TommyMcCarthy -

DATELINE.... [chit, chit, chit, chit, chit...] (sound of old-fashioned teletype machine) [...chit, chit, chit...] Washington, D.C. [...chit, chit, chit...] Your intrepid reporter here on the Mall for this historic occasion...

Heh heh. Will I get to wear one of those cool hats with the "press" cards in the brim as well?

Hey, pal, I cut my eyeteeth on standing in million-person crowds down on the Mall. I was there the first time the Metro ever ran, for the Bicentennial. It'll actually be nostalgic for me to be crushed by the teeming hordes!

As for the ironic and the absurd, our motto (as always) is "we aim to please!"

Because I wrote about whoredom today, I must insert my own shameless plug here -- to defray inaugural costs, please donate to the cause:

http://www.chrisweigant.com/index.php/2008-pledge-drive/

And thanks, as always, for the kind words!

-CW