Obama places stringent limits on inaugural contributions

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(chinadaily.com.cn/Agencies)
Updated: 2008-11-27 10:59

President-elect Barack Obama plans to bar special interests from contributing to his inaugural festivities and limit the amount he accepts to $50,000 per donor, the most stringent restrictions in the memory of campaign finance experts.

Construction of the inaugural dais proceeds on the West Front of the US Capitol on November 19, 2008 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Two months before Barack Obama is due to be sworn in as 44th president of the United States, accommodation in Washington can only be had for a hefty price. [Agencies]

Mr. Obama's newly formed inaugural committee said Tuesday that it would not accept money from corporations, political action committees, registered lobbyists, those who are not Amercian citizens or registered foreign agents.

Campaign finance experts said that to their knowledge, the limits were tighter than for any previous inauguration, both in dollar amounts and in who will be permitted to give. Donations limits for earlier inaugurations were much higher, up to $250,000 for individuals in the case of George W. Bush.

The restrictions are in keeping with Mr. Obama's pledge to curb the influence of money in government, and signal his intention to encourage broader public participation at the inauguration than in the past.

The inauguration, on Jan. 20, is expected to draw more people than any in history. The largest previous inauguration is believed to have been that of President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, attended by an estimated 1.2 million people.

One of the biggest unknowns for donors is whether they will get tickets to Mr. Obama's swearing-in ceremony. There are a total of 240,000 tickets and already the requests have vastly exceeded the supply. Scalped inauguration tickets have already been posted online, such as eBay, for as much as $40,000.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who oversees the ceremony committee, is crafting a bill that would make a federal crime of selling tickets to the historic event.

"This inauguration is more than just a celebration of an election," Linda Douglass, a spokeswoman for the committee, said. "This is an event that can be used to inspire and galvanize the public to act. That is what we're aiming for."

In modern times, inaugurations have been financed by a combination of public and private money. Most recently, in 2005, Mr. Bush spent a record $42.3 million on his inaugural events, most of it collected from corporations and executives.

In barring lobbyists from contributing, Mr. Obama is continuing a practice he began with his campaign and applied as well to his transition, in which contribution limits are $5,000.

However, there are still ways around the limits. Couples can give as much as $100,000 rather than $50,000, which itself is more than 10 times as high as the $4,600 maximum that individuals could donate for the primary and general-election campaigns together. And corporate executives can give as individuals. Moreover, many people lobby without being registered as lobbyists.