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I've seen a mini version of this play out...a couple of times.
Municipalities have "bailed out" Golf Courses and took them under their wings. Big Fail in two cases I know of - white elephants. But at least they can turn them into expensive parks.
Another one I've seen is large town athletic associations raising money to put lights in for Sports fields.....they raised $80,000. When it was all said and done, the taxpayers ended up spending 1/2 a million directly on the fields and 150K a year (and more) forever for utilities and maintenance.
When the booster pushed for it they promised THEY would help maintain the fields and use advertising to raise money, etc. etc - next thing you know the taxpayers are on the hook.
I actually stood in front of council and said "So, what sports are blessed? People are paying for Hockey at the indoor ice rink, for Gym down at the Gym Center and for many other sports. Why do certain sports (football) deserve the taxpayer money and not others?
I never watch so your cryptic comment is lost on me.
What is your rationale for making the poor and middle classes pay for luxuries and failed business models?
Are you suggesting that the poor and middle classes in the US don't have access any luxuries? Do these business models provide services and jobs to a great number of poor and middle class? Do we build skyscrapers based on how many poor people will pay to live there?
They should request bailout funds from Panama or wherever they're based. How much do they support the USA through taxes, and how many Americans do they even employ?
The world would be better off without cruise ships. They dump their trash and sewage at sea. They destroy reefs. They bring crowds and crime to the ports they visit. They breed disease.
Cruise lines do employ a lot of people in the US even if the ships themselves are registered elsewhere and the onboard crews are mostly foreign. Norwegian did have a few Americans working for them on my last cruise.
But most of their headquarters are still in the US, mostly in Florida, a major swing state. Also they contribute to on-shore jobs at their cruise terminals and also help out the ports in general. Many cruise passengers also spend extra nights in embarkation ports like Miami, Fort Lauderdale, New Orleans, Galveston, Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Diego and contribute to the local economy. For example before our last Alaska cruise we spent 3 nights in the Seattle area, went sightseeing in the city and the national parks and spent plenty of money there. We wouldn't have just visited Washington State if it wasn't part of our Alaska vacation.
The riverboat cruises are all US-flagged and US-crewed since they operate within US territorial waters. Norwegian has one ship, the Pride of America, that's registered in the USA and it sails in Hawaiian waters and most of their crew is local. This is because federal law prohibits a foreign flag ship from a voyage exclusively in US waters, so that's the only way they can have a ship that stays in Hawaii. All the ships that go to Hawaii from the mainland (like the Grand Princess) have to make a stop in Mexico or Canada, this is also why all cruises between Seattle and Alaska make a stop in Canada, usually Victoria BC.
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