Editorial: Nice party but return our money

We hope you don't mind, but we want to use this space here to express some outrage.

An economic crisis is eating out the heart of the nation; it is seeping into government at the federal, state and local levels. Our leaders are proposing and implementing radical cuts and compromises to deal with the situation. Then Barack Obama is inaugurated and Virginia has to drop millions of dollars on an event not held in Virginia, not for a Virginia politician, not related to Virginia at all but because of the state's inclusion in the nation and its proximity to the capital.

We need that money! And Gov. Tim Kaine is hopeful that he can get some of it back.

The state spent $1 million just on shuttle buses, and once security is added in, the estimate rises to between $3 and $5 million dollars. We want it all.

It was already a little ridiculous that an unprecedented amount of money — some estimates go as high as $160 million — was spent for an Inauguration being held during one of the darkest financial times in our nation's history, but a whole new level of stupidity is reached when individual states have to watch their precious coffers shrink to pay for it.

So, we have a thought: The multi-billion dollar stimulus package proposed by Obama should include paybacks for every state that had to throw its own money into the basket to pay for Obama's celebration.

We recognize that Jan. 20 was a historic day in this nation's history, and we celebrated it along with the rest of the country. However, 2009 will also be a historic year in our nation's history, one marked by our attempt to deal with an economy spiraling out of control. Let's not start if off by asking states to spend what little they have on a federal party.

Stafford County Sun editorials represent the opinion of the managing editor. Other columns, letters and cartoons on his page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily the Stafford County Sun.