Bush urged to donate funds to tsunami relief

? Dallas billionaire Mark Cuban has a suggestion for President Bush: Cancel the inauguration parties and donate the money saved — some $40 million — to the tsunami victims.

The irreverent, outspoken Dallas Mavericks owner won’t say how much he has given to the disaster victims, but his Dec. 31 proposal on his Web site has generated controversy — and support — on the Internet.

“My point was that this was a great opportunity for the president to stand up and say that we are committed to aid, but we need to take a first step towards austerity so we can reduce the deficit,” Cuban said Friday via an e-mail.

“A great way to demonstrate that first step would be to have the inauguration, but cancel the parties and request the uncommitted donations be donated to the relief effort,” he said.