By AMY HARDER
NationalJournal.com has obtained a copy of the legislation -- introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Tuesday on the Senate floor -- that would make it a misdemeanor to scalp inauguration tickets.
The bill, which was originally introduced in December, has been revised to allow official presidential inaugural committees to raise money funds for the ceremony itself. In her remarks on the floor Tuesday, Feinstein distinguished between the practice of selling the yet-to-be-released free tickets for inordinately high prices online and the raffle-like practices that presidential inaugural committees, including Barack Obama's, have engaged in for some time.
"Unlike unscrupulous Web sites and ticket scalpers, there is no 'profit' made by presidential inaugural committees in giving these tickets to people in return for inaugural donations," Feinstein said. "This exemption will allow both parties to raise the needed funds to put on presidential inaugurals in the future."
See the text of the revised bill here [PDF] and the original version here [PDF].
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Responded on January 16, 2009 12:24 PM
TM
So... Campaign contributions are not profit? Huh?!?
Money is money. If you receive more than you previously possessed that is a PROFIT.
How absurd!