back to top15 Comments to “Disappearing dollars”

1. BY Cheryl D. 11.02.07 AT 12:20 PM

   Shh, I got about half of it, but don’t tell anybody. My neighbors don’t know.

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2. BY mommy 11.02.07 AT 12:23 PM

   Bush stole them. Right, zz?

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3. BY Pauline 11.02.07 AT 2:59 PM

   That money wasn’t lost. It just wasn’t spent where some people expected – and hoped – it would be spent. That’s how a free market economy works.

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4. BY mumsee 11.02.07 AT 3:10 PM

   Hi Cheryl,

   I am so glad you are my friend. You are such a nice person. I like your editing. That sure is a pretty dog you have. Did I mention how much I could use a new rig, that holds six people? And some floor coverings would be nice. If I ever find the money, of course, or if some nice friend was to win the lottery, haha. Yep, sure has been nice keeping in touch over the past couple of years. Well, it has been nice chatting. Wish I knew somebody with a lot of money and no place to spend it, I sure could use a new ..

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5. BY Hamachi 11.02.07 AT 3:39 PM

   I thought you meant lost in a literal sense. Like the $9Billion in cash we loaded onto pallets and flew to Iraq never to be seen again.

   Or the $1.2Billion that was supposed to be used to train Iraqi police. Poof. Gone. No accounting.

   Pauline is right about the lost travel revenue. Really, if you think about it, it is to be expected that tourism to the US would be down when most people iin the world now have a negative view of us. (Thanks G.W.B)

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6. BY Hamachi 11.02.07 AT 3:41 PM

   By my calculations World has lost billions of comments. At least mine disappeared.

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7. BY Frank in Phoenix 11.02.07 AT 4:06 PM

   My wife flew to Detroit in September to visit her mom. She wrote a piece about her experience going through airport security. Nothing egregious, to be sure, but still: We’re from the gummint, and we’re here to help you … No! Not that line, you idiot! And try to pick up the pace a little!”

   Read “Fear and loathing at Phoenix Sky Harbor.” (Mrs. Frank did encounter a Swiss couple who had a less-than-pleasant experience with TSA …)

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8. BY Amphipolis 11.02.07 AT 4:08 PM

   And this from AFP (France) ? Needs a little deeper look.

   Check this out:
   http://www.democracy-project.com/archives/003521.html

   This story is bogus propaganda.

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9. BY Amphipolis 11.02.07 AT 4:16 PM

   The dollar is weak. Visiting the US has never been cheaper. Another reason to doubt the story.

   Unless you are a tourism industry lobbyist or a European tourism competitor.

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10. BY Amphipolis 11.02.07 AT 4:40 PM

    More, link has some “language”:

    So how did the Discover America Partnership get it so wrong, when they decided that the United States is the most unfriendly nation for tourism? Simple, they didn’t survey any visitors to Saudi Arabia.

    Here’s the list of Middle Eastern countries their survey compared to the United States:

    1. United Arab Emirates

    That’s right, they only included one Middle Eastern country in their study. So when the above linked article claims “Twice the percentage of travellers nominated the US as unfriendly, compared with the Middle East and the Asian subcontinent,” that’s a bit misleading. Besides the fact that the U.A.E. might be the most westernized of any Middle Eastern nation besides Israel, how many respondents traveled there, compared with the the United States? Poor methodology, but you wouldn’t know it from reading the headlines.

    http://annika.mu.nu/archives/213525.html

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11. BY Cheryl D. 11.02.07 AT 6:18 PM

    Mumsee,

    Sorry, I bought a car through a government program. They told me it came with the basics (body, engine), but everything else was extra. By the time I bought windshield wipers, I was broke again. I debated leaving out seats, because the cost of the driver’s seat seemed like enough to buy a house….

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12. BY trr 11.02.07 AT 6:33 PM

    Look between the cushions on the sofa. I’m sure a few billions in change will turn up there.

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13. BY mumsee 11.02.07 AT 9:37 PM

    Oh, Cheryl D, did you think I was hinting that you might send some of the excess my way? Oh, I don’t know what I could have said. But, if you are so inclined and you do find some in the cushions and you don’t have to pay it all in taxes and Peter L does not hear about it ..

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14. BY hrw 11.02.07 AT 11:57 PM

    Increased security regulations will decrease foreign tourists. As Americans will reguire passports to reenter the US from Canada and Canadians will need a passport to travel in the US, the daily exchange of visitors, families and shoppers will slowdown.

    A recent US tourist promotion film opened with a shot of Niagara Falls. However, it was the Canadian Horseshoe Falls filmed from an angle only possible on the Canadian side.

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15. BY krm 11.04.07 AT 10:01 AM

    Should I happen to find a large quantity of the missing dollars, I’ll let you know (perhaps by postcard, from somehere both tropical and without an extradition treaty).

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