Obama Inauguration Ticket Warning

Democratic Party officials are contacting web sites to try and stop the sale of free tickets for the Presidential inauguration in January.

The tickets, almost 250,000 of them, are meant to be free. But there’s no shortage of people wanting to see Barack Obama inaugurated as President on January 20, and that has forced Democratic Party officials to contact sites like eBay and Craigslist in an attempt to prevent people selling the tickets, which are generally distributed by local congressional offices.

California senior senator Diane Feinstein is planning on contacting the sites, and is also preparing legislation that would make the re-sale of inauguration tickets a criminal offense. She told AP:

"These tickets are given for free to people. This is a major civic event of the time, and no one pays for their tickets, and we believe no one should be required to pay for their tickets."

It’s not just tickets for the event that are in demand. Hotel rooms are in Washington are in short supply for Inauguration Day, according to the Guardian, with some selling on eBay for as much as $2,500.