Getting Things Started Off Wrong

As if the Obamessiah's repeated promises to raise taxes and slow the economy aren't enough, here's yet another example of how the next Dem-led government will handle taxpayer money:

Soaring costs expected to accompany huge crowds in town for the Jan. 20 inauguration of Barack Obama could stick cash-strapped Washington, D.C., with a record-breaking bill for services.

Security and capacity measures recommended by the District's congressional delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton and others will almost certainly surpass the $15 million the federal government gives to the District each year to defray the cost of events, Norton said.

In 2005, with an estimated 300,000 in attendance, the second inauguration of President Bush cost the city more than $17 million, some of which was reimbursed with federal funds. This year, officials estimate nearly five times that many people for the swearing in of President-elect Barack Obama.

Police Chief Cathy Lanier expects to use an additional 4,000 police officers from all over the country in addition to her 4,000-member force, she said earlier this month. The city's inaugural budget allows for only 3,000 extra uniformed officers.

"There will be an additional amount necessary to handle the unprecedented crowds, and I am now working with my colleagues to deal with that amount," Norton said, adding "it's an outrage to have costs incurred for federal events."

It's a good thing they're looking out for the American people and our money, don't you think?  Call me crazy, but going deeper into debt isn't really that much change, nor is it any kind of a good change at all...

There's my two cents.