A very expensive funeral

Most of a week has been focused on former President Bush passing and funeral ceremonies. It's finally over and I learned yesterday from the Washington Examiner that the cost of the elaborate service and related ceremonies is likely to cost American taxpayers well over half-billion dollars.

A 2008 analysis by the National Taxpayers Union found that one day federal holidays costs $450 million.

Then, there's the rest, like flying former President George W. Bush and other Bush relatives in Air Force One, which made a return flight to Houston on Wednesday at a $2 million cost, or other ceremonial expenses like the 21-plane military fly-over estimated at $126,000.

Further, there are other and more significant hidden costs, like those caused by closing the Stock Markets on Wednesday, or the business loss incurred by the U.S. Postal Service during the busy holiday season.

While I realize that a former president of the United States should receive an exceptional funeral, I personally think these costs are well over the top, when perhaps 80% of that outlandish expense could have been channeled to help the Camp Fire victims in California, but again, when our government is one trillion dollars in the hole, what difference can one measly billion make?