Make ticket lists public
Staff Writer
Posted: 01/17/2009 05:33:05 PM PST
http://www.dailybreeze.com/editorial/ci_11480781
It's the most widely coveted ticket in politics, and senators and representatives have doled out 240,000 of them.
So, who are the lucky recipients who will get in to the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama?
Nationwide, many elected officials won't say.
We think they should. It's a significant perk, and the public ought to know who is so favored by their largesse. Some elected representatives won't even say how they've apportioned tickets - a certain percentage to the public, another block to staff, family and VIPs.
A note on South Bay Rep. Jane Harman's Web site says that all of her tickets were given out by Dec. 5.
"While we are disappointed we could not do more, we have tried our best to accommodate as many constituents as possible," the note says. " The majority of my allocation (were) distributed on a first-come first-served basis, with no individual request receiving more than two tickets. A small number of tickets have been set aside for local elected officials, my staff and some members of my family."
This is a public event, and members of Congress received tickets free of charge. (Each U.S. representative got 198 tickets and each U.S. senator got 393.)
If ticket lists were released, then the public could determine whether campaign donors got preferential treatment and how many regular folks received tickets.
Not since the 1965 ceremony for Lyndon Johnson, which drew 1.2 million people, has there been the expectation of such crushing crowds for a presidential inauguration. Organizers estimate between 1.5 million and 2million people will be in Washington, D.C., for the many events surrounding the inauguration.
The must-have ticket, of course, is the one to the central event - the swearing-in of the nation's 44th president.
Tickets are being peddled - albeit illicitly - for hundreds, even thousands, of dollars.
A Colorado lawmaker, Rep. Jared Polis, cited "privacy issues" in refusing to release a list of recipients. But these are free tickets to a public event. We don't see how those receiving such tickets would have a reasonable expectation of remaining anonymous.
Obama campaigned on promises of transparent government. Members of Congress ought to live by that pledge and disclose who got those inauguration tickets.
I think they should post the identity of people receiving the tickets. How many corporate sponsors and lobbyist got tickets?
Staff Writer
Posted: 01/17/2009 05:33:05 PM PST
http://www.dailybreeze.com/editorial/ci_11480781
It's the most widely coveted ticket in politics, and senators and representatives have doled out 240,000 of them.
So, who are the lucky recipients who will get in to the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama?
Nationwide, many elected officials won't say.
We think they should. It's a significant perk, and the public ought to know who is so favored by their largesse. Some elected representatives won't even say how they've apportioned tickets - a certain percentage to the public, another block to staff, family and VIPs.
A note on South Bay Rep. Jane Harman's Web site says that all of her tickets were given out by Dec. 5.
"While we are disappointed we could not do more, we have tried our best to accommodate as many constituents as possible," the note says. " The majority of my allocation (were) distributed on a first-come first-served basis, with no individual request receiving more than two tickets. A small number of tickets have been set aside for local elected officials, my staff and some members of my family."
This is a public event, and members of Congress received tickets free of charge. (Each U.S. representative got 198 tickets and each U.S. senator got 393.)
If ticket lists were released, then the public could determine whether campaign donors got preferential treatment and how many regular folks received tickets.
Not since the 1965 ceremony for Lyndon Johnson, which drew 1.2 million people, has there been the expectation of such crushing crowds for a presidential inauguration. Organizers estimate between 1.5 million and 2million people will be in Washington, D.C., for the many events surrounding the inauguration.
The must-have ticket, of course, is the one to the central event - the swearing-in of the nation's 44th president.
Tickets are being peddled - albeit illicitly - for hundreds, even thousands, of dollars.
A Colorado lawmaker, Rep. Jared Polis, cited "privacy issues" in refusing to release a list of recipients. But these are free tickets to a public event. We don't see how those receiving such tickets would have a reasonable expectation of remaining anonymous.
Obama campaigned on promises of transparent government. Members of Congress ought to live by that pledge and disclose who got those inauguration tickets.
I think they should post the identity of people receiving the tickets. How many corporate sponsors and lobbyist got tickets?
Many of those who got tickets were workers on his campaign I'm sure. Many can't afford or get the time off to go, that they made some money off their tickets, maybe 'a lot of money', good for them.