The country is in the middle of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, which isn’t stopping rich donors and the government from spending $170 million, or more, on the inauguration of Barack Obama.

The actual swearing-in ceremony will cost $1.24 million, according to Carole Florman, spokeswoman for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.

It’s the security, parties and countless Porta-a-Potty rentals that really run up the bill.

The federal government estimates that it will spend roughly $49 million on the inaugural weekend. Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland have requested another $75 million from the federal government to help pay for their share of police, fire and medical services.

“We have a budget of roughly $45 million, maybe a little bit more,” said Linda Douglas, spokeswoman for the inaugural committee.

That’s more than the $42.3 million in private funds spent by President Bush’s committee in 2005 or the $33 million spent for Bill Clinton’s first inaugural in 1993.

Interesting tidbit… in 2005 President Bush was panned for inauguration costs during wartime.

Side Note: Is it possible for anyone to write about the economy without the ridiculous comparison between the current scenario and the Great Depression? The tendency to compare situations with the most radical of their kind is something the media loves to do (think Iraq/Vietnam comparisons just a few years back) but it almost does a disservice to those Americans who lived through the Great Depression to consider our current economic woes on par with the days of the soup line and double-digit unemployment.

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