Is It Money Well Spent? Election 2004

We live in a time where more expensive means more desirable. This year's election spending has gotten out of hand. It is time for future presidents to ask themselves, is all of this spending necessary? The total spending in the 2004 election was at least 1.2 billion dollars and the total costs of the 2005 inauguration to be 50 million dollars. Advertisements and personal luxuries the President elect and their family indulge in are even pricier than anything is. What exactly are the leaders of this free world spending this much money for?

Appearance is a big deal when someone is trying to make an impression. A person has to be able to hold him or herself properly, groom themselves properly, and wear the latest outfits to appeal to the many eyes looking up at them. First Lady Laura Bush, along with her two daughters spent a lump sum of 30 thousand dollars on one out of six outfits they wore during the inaugural bashes held on January 19 and 20. The Presidential suite package at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel for inauguration celebrations cost 200 thousand dollars alone. This is 50 thousand dollars more than military necessities that the President claims we desperately need. This includes a fully armored military Humvee and one set of Army body armor. President George W. Bush's inauguration could have paid for vaccinations and health care for 22 million children impacted by the tsunami disaster, or it could have paid off some of the nation's 412 billion dollar deficit from last year. Millions of government dollars was spent on construction of the platform, stands at the Capitol, and rigid inauguration security. Not only was the inauguration costing Bush and Bush supporters, but it was also wasting taxpayer's money (Lester, Associated Press).

Another expense that comes along with the road to presidency is advertisement. The cost of producing a national thirty-second television commercial is an average of 372 thousand dollars. The Bush-Cheney campaign spent nearly 56.7 million dollars to broadcast 13 spots on television stations in swing states.