| Nov 11, 2008 @ 12:26 AM |
Barack Obama Inauguration Tickets Go For $10,858
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Angel54214
Posts: 18,201
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Each!!! 
Chicago Tribune
5:45 PM EST, November 10, 2008
The senator overseeing Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony is considering legislation to make it illegal to scalp tickets to the event.
The move by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California comes after several days in which some tickets -- none of which have been distributed yet -- have been sold by online ticket brokers for up to five figures.
A pair of seats at Obama's upcoming presidential swearing-in ceremony has already sold for $10,858 apiece, a ticket broker said Monday, among the highest amounts known to have been paid so far for a chance to witness January's inaugural events.
Even a view of the inaugural parade is selling for at least $495, broker Web sites report. And the tickets haven't even been distributed yet.
The chance to witness the inauguration of the United States' first African-American president has made the technically-free-of-charge inauguration tickets one of the most hotly sought items of the season. The tickets are provided by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies to incoming congressmen, who then dole them out to constituents who ask for them.
But the crush of requests for tickets has already overwhelmed official channels, and people are starting to clamor for seats from professional middlemen, said StubHub spokeswoman Vanessa Daniele: Ticket brokers.
"It was pretty incredible," Daniele said of the pace of requests - and sales - already. "We've had a decent amount of sales. Usually we have inventory all the time on our site, but the demand for this event is so high, we don't always have inventory -- we're being much more selective. We don't let just anybody throw up their tickets."
GreatSeats.com is offering tickets to the inaugural parade at prices between $495 and $1,815. StubHub, part of eBay, is selling parade tickets for between $681 and $1,023. Daniele would only say that StubHub has sold "several" tickets to the swearing-in ceremony, at an average price of $1,419. The low price was $515; the high price was $10,858 each for two seats at the ceremony.
"I don't know how good the view is from there. I do know that there are seats," Daniele said. StubHub has been periodically halting its sales of tickets when it runs out, and guarantees a refund if the seller doesn't produce a ticket.
That seemed like an important precondition given the Web site today for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, which said tickets to the 56th inaugural ceremonies will be distributed by Congress, and that no Web site or ticket outlet has any inaugural swearing-in tickets to sell, "regardless of what they may claim."
A total of 240,000 tickets have been printed for the swearing-in ceremony. The committees to organize the likely parade and evening galas have not even been formed yet, said JCCIC spokeswoman Carole Florman.
"Any website or ticket broker claiming that they have inaugural tickets is simply not telling the truth," Howard Gantman, staff director for the JCCIC, said in an online statement. "We urge the public to view any offers of tickets for sale with great skepticism."
Tickets will be distributed to members of Congress the week before the inauguration and will require in-person pickup, according to the JCCIC.
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| Nov 11, 2008 @ 12:31 AM |
Barack Obama Inauguration Tickets Go For $10,858 |
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Angel54214
Posts: 18,201
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Long Islanders clamor to get Obama inauguration tickets
BY CAROL POLSKY
9:27 PM EST, November 10, 2008
Mark X. Cronin, Long Island grassroots coordinator for Barack Obama, came on board the campaign with his wife, Carol Schlitt, in July 2007, and volunteered hundreds of hours, including 60-plus hours a week toward the end.
"The one request that my wife made was, 'I'd like to go to an inaugural ball,' " said the Huntington Bay resident.
They're still waiting to find out if they will.
Cronin said he hasn't yet learned how the Obama team plans to distribute tickets they control for the Jan. 20 inauguration. But, like others closely connected to the campaign, he's getting flooded with calls and e-mails from people who want them.
Members of Congress will get 240,000 free tickets about a week before the inauguration to distribute to the public, who have been barraging them with calls.
Marching bands that want to participate in the inaugural parade have to apply to the Armed Forces Inaugural Committee by 5 p.m. Friday. The Presidential Inaugural Committee will choose the participants.
Inaugural officials are warning the public not to believe Web sites or brokers claiming to have inauguration tickets to sell. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who chairs the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, said she is drafting a bill to make it a federal crime to scalp inaugural tickets and has contacted online sites to urge them not to sell any.
Suffolk County Legis. Jon Cooper (D-Lloyd Neck), Obama's Long Island campaign chairman and a member of his national finance committee, said he'd try to give preference to volunteers if he is given any tickets to distribute.
"I went through the phase a couple of months ago where everyone was calling me to get tickets to the convention, then everyone was calling to get tickets to the Hofstra debate, and now everyone is calling to get tickets to the inauguration and, in some cases, the inaugural balls," he said.
One ticket he wants is to the Illinois State ball. After all, that's where the Obamas are from.
"It's going to be wild," he said. "I think it'll be an inauguration unlike any we've ever seen before, just the fact that it's going to be Barack Obama."
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| Nov 11, 2008 @ 12:42 AM |
Barack Obama Inauguration Tickets Go For $10,858
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CHARLIgurl1
Posts: 700
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Do you think all the money will go to charity?
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| Nov 11, 2008 @ 12:56 AM |
Barack Obama Inauguration Tickets Go For $10,858 |
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Angel54214
Posts: 18,201
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Nope! A huge chunk will go to Homeland Security. Costs will cover the parties, parades, dinners, fireworks, seating, clothing, the balls, anything else spectacular.
The Inaugural last 5 days after the swearing in.
[Edited on 11/11/2008 12:57 AM]
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| Nov 11, 2008 @ 12:56 AM |
Barack Obama Inauguration Tickets Go For $10,858
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Gallows_Humor
Posts: 13,662
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more like....will the sellers even get the tickets that they sold..... 
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| Nov 11, 2008 @ 1:01 AM |
Barack Obama Inauguration Tickets Go For $10,858 |
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Angel54214
Posts: 18,201
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The tickets are provide by the U.S. Congress and Senate members only and require "in person" pick up.
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| Nov 11, 2008 @ 9:49 AM |
Barack Obama Inauguration Tickets Go For $10,858
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eastham
Posts: 7,913
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I worked on this Hill through several inaugurals. The tickets don't go out to just anyone. Granted, working for a Democrat, we received far fewer tickets than our Republican colleagues, but my boss knew who all the big Republicans were in the district. As for the parade route, there aren't any tickets for that, save the grandstand at the White House. So, if some one is selling parade tickets, it is just a scam.
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| Nov 13, 2008 @ 5:24 PM |
Barack Obama Inauguration Tickets Go For $10,858 |
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Haban3ro
Posts: 1,197
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In this economy, who has that kind of money? Especially after all the money that went to the campaigns?
If it were up to me, I'd be making a list (and checking it twice) to be sure that the folks who can afford a ticket are paying all the taxes they ought to be. 
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