Even in Alaska, Democrats Just Don't Get Economics

The much-vaunted Alaska Summit, wherein President Trump sat down for a face-to-face, man-to-man talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin about ending the Russo-Ukrainian War, didn't yield the results we'd hoped. At least, not yet. Nor has the rather amazing meeting of European leaders in Washington, in which national leaders, along with the President of the European Commission and the Secretary-General of NATO flew to Washington on roughly 36 hours notice to talk.

What the summit did do was require a heightened presence by Anchorage law enforcement. Mayor (and Democrat) Suzanne LaFrance, complaining about all this to the Anchorage Daily News, whines that the event cost the city $200,000 in policing costs. She ignores, and the Daily News doesn't ask her about, the enormous economic benefit this was to the city. But, as usual, we can rely on Must Read Alaska's Suzanne Downing to set the record straight.

Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance is lamenting that the president’s recent trip to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson saddled the city with an extra $200,000 in policing expenses. The Anchorage Daily News dutifully picked up the mayor’s complaint, amplifying the cost angle while leaving out an important part of the equation: The economic benefit.
More than 800 journalists and thousands of diplomats poured into Anchorage for the summit between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, filling hotels, restaurants, and rental cars. That sudden demand represents a major shot in the arm for Anchorage’s hospitality and retail economy.

The exact size of the boost to Anchorage-area businesses is not yet known, but it's likely to be well beyond the $200,000 in law enforcement costs.

For local hotels, restaurants, and transportation providers, the days surrounding the president’s visit were a bonanza. Long-term benefits are even harder to measure but just as real: Global media exposure, heightened international visibility, and an elevated profile for Anchorage as a venue for future events, investment, and tourism.
It’s also worth noting where the city chooses to put its money. Anchorage was willing to spend $200,000 on team-building exercises for the Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility earlier this year, yet it hasn’t invested in cleaning up the downtown homeless wasteland that businesses and visitors face every day. No effort was made to reduce the presence of vagrancy during the summit between Trump and Putin.
Now, City Hall is complaining about the cost of providing a safe environment for the president of the United States — a duty most Alaskans would consider a basic responsibility. Add to that, the city’s annual budget is now a record-setting $639 million.

$639 million, and Anchorage can't keep the streets free of sleeping vagrants and discarded needles.

The Europeans Are Coming—Numerous Leaders Headed to D.C. Monday for Crucial Zelensky WH Meeting

As always seems to be the case with Democrats, Mayor La France seems unable to comprehend any economic boost unless it involves money pouring into government coffers; any benefit to the private sector seems to be invisible. Oh, the city will realize tax revenue in time, in the form of sales taxes and hospitality taxes. Not to mention that this high-profile event has put Anchorage even more firmly on the international tourist map. Oh, we may complain about the traffic in the tourist season, but tourists bring a lot of economic activity to Alaska, and we do love that.

But once again, we see a complaining Democrat politician, who operates on the assumption that government - in this case, the city of Anchorage - has the first claim to any windfall. That just isn't so, nor should it be.

Editor's Note: The mainstream media continues to deflect, gaslight, spin, and lie about President Trump, his administration, and conservatives.

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