eBay

Senator Chuck Schumer is not down with the idea of people selling their tickets to the presidential inauguration next week. And he has "asked" Craigslist and eBay to cease and desist offering them.  It is a matter of civic hygiene, don't you know.  As the senator helpfully explained, "Having a ticket to the inauguration is a privilege, it's not something that should be used to make a profit."

There are some 250,000 tickets and where do you suppose they come from? Turns out they, "are distributed through congressional offices." And it would be a fair supposition that they have been distributed to people those congressional offices would like to reward and thank for previous favors.  Which is to say ... campaign contributions.  

Senator Schumer is one of the best of the best at piling up this kind of cash. (Does he tell the fish that it is a "privilege" to make a donation?) One wonders why he should object to his donors capturing a small return on their money.  Times are hard and traveling to Washington in January to listen to empty speeches, watch an endless parade, and witness the preening of the political class is a dismal sort of prospect.  Better, perhaps, to use the ticket to raise a little cash and stay home.

But, then, he'll be the judge of that.