HotelChatter

Spokespeople had this to say about the lavish spending, which totaled $19,350 for their four-night stay:

Paterson's office defended the spending, saying hotels for the inauguration required a four-night minimum stay and prices were inflated because of the event. The charges were billed in December in advance of the Jan. 20 inauguration. The governor’s office did not provide details on other expenses incurred on the trip.

Now, we know what the deal was with inauguration rooms: they were expensive and they were hard to find. But it's not as though attending the inauguration was some spur-of-the-moment decision the governor made in December; we assume his office knew he'd be attending for, uh, quite some time — and therefore likely had time to look around for cheaper options.

Whatever the case, there's outrage: most notably, the head of the State Republican Party is urging Paterson to fork over the cash himself.

So, what do you think? Should politicians be paying (or at least part) of their inauguration hotel bills out of their own pocket, or is this something that really couldn't be avoided? Dish your thoughts in comments below.