On Tuesday, Barack Obama will be inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States. The cost for this year’s celebration – from the ceremony to the giant screens on the National Mal, to the portable toilets to the security to the lavish inaugural balls will total $170 million. Is that too much? Why are there fewer complaints this year than four years ago when President Bush was criticized for a much smaller tab? How does all of this plus a presidential transition get planned in just over two months? And how important is Obama’s inaugural speech? We ask Rich Galen, former press secretary to Dan Quayle and communications director for then House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Galen served on the Presidental Inauguration Committee in 2001 and 2005. He now writes the internet column mullings.com.
