Denver requests $50 million for security

WE'VE MOVED! Democratic Convention Watch is now at http://www.DemocraticConventionWatch.com

These things just cost a huge amount of money:

Rep. Diana DeGette has asked the House Appropriations Committee to set aside up to $50 million for security costs for the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. The request still must go through a lengthy approval process, and is being made in conjunction with an identical request for Minneapolis, host of the 2008 Republican National Convention.

The $50 million per city figure is twice as much as congressional leaders originally requested for the convention host cities of Boston and New York City in 2004. Boston eventually spent $35 million on security for that year’s Democratic National Convention and New York city spent $50 million for the Republican National Convention, DeGette spokesman Brandon MacGillis said.

DeGette said she requested the higher amount because, "What I don't want to be doing is coming back in a controversial supplemental (spending) bill and trying to get this money after the fact." The money would not be given to the cities' host committees directly, but instead would create a pool to reimburse local agencies for security costs.

For those who question why holding a political convention is any different than holding a large trade show, this gives you some idea.