WASHINGTON — President-elect George W. Bush's plan to pay for most of his inauguration with private donations of as much as $100,000 has drawn criticism from election finance watchdog groups that warn it would allow special interests to improperly curry favor with the new administration.
"It's a terrible first message to send about what kind of administration he'll be running," said Don Simon, general counsel for Common Cause, a nonpartisan group that lobbies for government accountability.
Organizers of the inauguration, however, say their effort to raise at least $30 million from private contributors will help defray the cost of tickets to the parade and balls, making it possible for more of the public to attend. "These contributions are from good people who want to be part of history," said Dirk Vande Beek, spokesman for the Presidential Inaugural Committee.
Unlike four years ago, when donations to President Clinton's second inauguration were limited to $100 per person, officials planning the festivities for next month aim to collect 200 to 250 "underwriter" contributions of $100,000 each, according to a member of the inaugural committee. He said individuals and companies would be limited to one donation each, though some firms had expressed interest in contributing 10 times that amount.
An additional $10 million could be raised by selling $2,500 tickets to several candlelight dinners planned on the eve of the inauguration, the committee member said.
Together, the contributions are expected to yield at least $30 million, with millions more to come from sales of tickets to inaugural events. Organizers estimated that tickets to the balls would be somewhat less expensive than the $150 charged for a standard ticket in 1997.
The reliance on private contributions marks a return to the way inaugurations were financed until four years ago, when the bulk of the costs was covered by sales of tickets to the gala, balls and parade. Before 1997, inaugurals were paid for in part by contributions and loans of as much as $100,000, but the Clinton team overhauled the practice after some of those who gave to his first inauguration later figured in controversies concerning Democratic fund-raising for the 1996 national campaign.
Watchdog groups said financing the celebration primarily through ticket sales would have posed less concern than covering costs with a small number of hefty donations. "This becomes yet another opportunity for wealthy interests who want to invest in a new administration to put down a substantial sum of money," Simon said. "The investment pays off in terms of access and influence."
