For Obama’s second inaugural,

fund-­raising limits liftedBy  David  Uberti   |    GLOBE  CORRESPONDENT           JANUARY  11 ,  2013

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Officials  expect  600,000  to  800,000  people  to  attend  President  Obama’s  Jan.  21  inauguration

ceremony.

WASHINGTON  —  President  Obama’s  inauguration  planners  are  embracing  a

Groupon-­like  “daily  deal”  concept  to  scrounge  up  scarcer-­than-­expected  donations,  but

this  is  not  about  discount  inaugural  burritos  or  half-­off  Joe  Biden  merchandise.

Instead,  one  of  the  latest  deals  —  with  “only  25  packages  available”  and  a  5  p.m.

expiration  —  offered  a  candlelight  reception  with  Obama,  Biden,  and  their  wives.

The  price?  A  cool  $50,000.

Four  years  ago,  that  was  the  maximum  donation  accepted  for  Obama’s  inauguration,

which  touted  such  limits  as  evidence  of  its  ethical  standards.  Now,  it’s  a  bargain.

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Individuals  are  being  asked  to  contribute  up  to  $1  million,  and  the  ban  on  corporate

donations  has  been  lifted.

Obama’s  lifting  of  limits  on  inaugural

fund-­raising  has  led  to  criticism  that  he

has  gone  from  a  candidate  calling  for  an

end  to  business  as  usual  in  Washington

to  one  who  is  embracing  the  big  money

he  once  said  he  would  reject.

“It’s  another  instance  of  Obama  not

living  up  to  the  talk  that  he  talked,”  said

Mary  Boyle,  a  spokeswoman  for  the

government  accountability  group

Common  Cause.  “It’s  never  too  late  to

turn  back.  But  this  was  a  relatively  easy

and  simple  way  to  put  some  muscle

behind  his  words.”

Inauguration  organizers,  however,

defend  the  decisions  as  pragmatic.  The

president’s  $1  billion  campaign  wrung  donors  dry,  they  say,  while  this  round  of

inaugural  fund-­raising  still  declines  money  from  lobbyists  or  political  action

committees.

The  Presidential  Inaugural  Committee’s  “goal  is  to  make  sure  we  are  able  to  meet  our

fund-­raising  obligations  for  this  civic  event  in  a  way  that  comports  with  this

administration’s  commitment  to  transparency  and  to  not  accepting  contributions  from

lobbyists  and  PACs,”  committee  spokesman  Cameron  French  said  in  a  statement.

Obama’s  2009  inauguration,  a  history-­drenched  affair  featuring  the  nation’s  first

African-­American  president,  had  little  trouble  drawing  donations.  The  event  attracted

an  estimated  1.8  million  people  to  Washington,  costing  $53  million,  with  private

donors  funding  10  balls,  the  parade,  and  entertainment.

Taxpayers,  meanwhile,  pay  lesser  costs  that  are  deemed  necessary  by  Congress.  The

2009  swearing-­in  ceremony  cost  the  public  $1.24  million,  and  a  similar  amount  will  be

billed  this  year,  according  to  the  Joint  Congressional  Committee  on  Inaugural

SHAWN  THEW/EPA

Construction  workers  on  the  inauguralplatform,  which  will  be  the  largest  everbuilt  and  will  hold  1,600  people.

Ceremonies.  Security  across  Washington,  Maryland,  and  Virginia  totaled  more  than

$100  million  and  was  paid  by  federal  and  local  governments.

Obama’s  inaugural  team  said  in  2009  it  would

have  high  standards  when  it  came  to  collecting

money,  pledging  it  would  underscore  the

president’s  “commitment  to  change  business  as

usual  in  Washington  and  ensure  that  as  many

Americans  as  possible,  both  inside  and  outside

Washington,  will  be  able  to  come  together.”

The  2009  inaugural  attracted  people  such  as

Steve  Gutherz,  a  Cambridge-­based  immigration

attorney,  who  drove  with  his  wife  from  their

home  in  Sudbury  and  “slummed  at  people’s

houses”  to  witness  history,  he  said.

“I  felt  like  it  was  the  end  of  a  dark  area,”  said  the  56-­year-­old,  who  donated  $1,000  to

attend  an  inaugural  ball  after  the  swearing-­in  ceremony.  “There  was  great  optimism

and  hope.  .  .  .  It  was  an  American  experience.”

But  this  time,  Gutherz  said  he  will  neither  attend  nor  donate  to  the  president’s  second

inauguration,  as  the  novelty  has  worn  off  and  intensity  died  down.

“It’s  not  because  I’m  disappointed  with  the  president  at  all,”  Gutherz  said.  “It’s  just

that  I  did  it.  I  don’t  need  to  do  it  again.”

While  an  allotment  of  $60  tickets  to  inaugural  balls  for  average  Americans  sold  out  in

minutes,  the  elite  can  still  don  a  tuxedo  or  gown  and  show  up  as  long  they  pay  the

minimum  $10,000  for  a  special  event  package.

Analysts  say  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  Obama  team  had  to  loosen  the  rules  to  collect

enough  money  for  a  second  inaugural.

“There’s  a  certain  amount  of  difficulty  going  back  to  small  donors  again  and  again  and

again,”  said  Peter  Ubertaccio,  chairman  of  Stonehill  College’s  Department  of  Political

Science  and  International  Studies.

District  of  Columbia  officials  expect  600,000  to  800,000  supporters  to  attend  the  Jan.

21  ceremony,  less  than  half  the  number  of  four  years  ago.  Festivities  have  been  cut

from  four  to  three  days  this  year,  and  the  number  of  official  inaugural  balls  has  been

cut  from  10  to  two.

Most  notable  was  the  administration’s

decision  last  month  to  accept  corporate

cash  and  $1  million  individual  donations.

Organizers  are  soliciting  big-­dollar

contributions  for  various  ticket  packages

providing  access  to  special  events,

naming  the  practice  after  four  of  the

nation’s  founders.

This  year,  top-­level  George  Washington

donors  —  individuals  paying  $250,000

and  institutions  breaking  $1  million  —

get  reserved  parade  seats  and  tickets  to  an  inaugural  ball,  among  other  perks.  John

Adams  donors,  despite  paying  a  $150,000  starting  price,  don’t  get  reserved  bleacher

seats.

Purchasing  the  Thomas  Jefferson  and  James  Madison  packages,  starting  at  $75,000

and  $10,000,  respectively,  affords  only  “special,”  but  not  “premium,”  event  access.

All  four  levels  of  presidential  packages  do  provide  access  to  a  “Finance  Committee

Road  Ahead  Meeting,”  which  suggests  another  push  for  contributions.

Corporate  cash  and  top-­shelf  ticket  packages  and  daily  deals  are  not  the  only  changes

from  2009.  The  Presidential  Inaugural  Committee  previously  disclosed  donors,

including  their  hometowns  and  contribution  amounts,  a  month  before  Obama  was

sworn  in.

But  the  committee’s  first  disclosure  this  year  came  last  Friday  evening,  when  it

published  on  its  website  about  400  benefactors,  including  a  handful  of  corporations.

The  list  included  neither  donation  amounts  nor  benefactors’  employer  or  hometown,

information  the  Federal  Election  Commission  requires  within  90  days  after  the  event.

“Obama  was  not  only  disclosing  a  lot  more  [in  2009],  but  he  was  bragging  about  it,”

said  Kathy  Kiely,  managing  editor  of  the  open-­government  advocate  Sunlight

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Foundation.  “It’s  startling  now  because  it’s  so  transparently  untransparent.”

The  planning  committee’s  list  of  donors  this  year  includes  seven  corporations  and  a

number  of  Obama  donors  who  were  top  2012  campaign  bundlers,  according  to  analysis

by  the  Center  for  Responsive  Politics,  a  research  group  that  tracks  political  donations.

Along  with  giants  such  as  Microsoft  and  AT&T,  benefactors  include  biotech  firm

Genentech,  which  lobbied  Congress  heavily  during  its  health  care  overhaul.  Also

making  the  list  is  Financial  Innovations  Inc.,  a  marketing  firm  based  in  Rhode  Island

that  ran  the  Obama  campaign’s  official  online  store  last  year.

Neither  Genentech  nor  Financial  Innovations  immediately  returned  calls  for  comment

on  Thursday.

Obama’s  decision  to  solicit  $1  million  donations  and  corporate  cash  is  a  return  to

recent  tradition.  The  FEC  allows  unlimited  contributions.  But  George  W.  Bush  capped

donations  for  his  first  and  second  inaugurations  at  $100,000  and  $250,000,

respectively.  He  also  accepted  corporate  money,  bringing  in  $30  million  in  2001  and

$42  million  in  2005,  according  to  the  Congressional  Research  Service.

Bill  Clinton’s  organizers  unsuccessfully  tried  to  sell  million-­dollar  corporate  packages

in  1993,  though  they  did  rake  in  cash  donations  up  to  $250,000  en  route  to  raising

between  $25  million  and  $30  million.

Representative  Michael  Capuano,  the  Somerville  Democrat,  said  the  changes  in

donation  limits  could  be  avoided  if,  as  he  advocates,  inaugurations  are  toned  down  and

publicly  funded.

“It’s  a  reality,”  Capuano  said  of  the  decision  to  lift  contribution  limits,  “but  it’s  a

reality  we  could  change  if  we  wanted  to.  .  .  .  I  come  from  a  different  world.  I  cannot

believe  somebody  would  donate  $1  million  for  two  tickets  to  anything.”

David  Uberti  can  be  reached  at  david.uberti@globe.com