The hottest ticket in the nation
WASHINGTON - Leave it to Americans to turn history into commerce.
That's just what's happening online these days, as tickets to President-Elect Barack Obama's inauguration are retailing for $1,429 apiece on StubHub … even though the tickets don't even exist yet.
Should this be happening? That's the question that the top inauguration organizer, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and others are asking.
Feinstein said on Monday that she is planning to ask the EBays of the world to stop selling these tickets, which are supposed to be available for free through congressional offices.
For now, though, the genius of the markets (or the madness of crowds) is at work again, meaning that a hoped-for, not-yet-printed ticket for Obama's inauguration is worth more than the laptop I'm typing on.
Which raises the question: how much would you be willing to pay to see the inauguration of the nation's first African-American president?
--- Jerry Zremski
