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The Olympic Boondoggle Continued

Doug Mataconis
16

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Anne Applebaum raises this point about the upcoming London Olympics:

In 2002, the British government estimated the cost of hosting the Olympic Games at $2.8 billion. Ten years later, the price has passed $15 billion and is still rising. When everything is added up — lost business, as many as 13,500 British soldiers patrolling the streets of London (more than are in Afghanistan) — the expenses may come to $38 billion.

I touched on this earlier this month and, again, I have to wonder why it is that any nation is stupid enough to agree to host the Olympics. Quite honestly, Chicago should be glad they lost out to Brazil for 2016.

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16 responses to “The Olympic Boondoggle Continued”

  1. PJ Avatar
    PJ

    The 2012 Olympics will look like a police state.

    I’ve argued before that Romney’s association with the Olympics won’t be a positive for him.

    And now we can also add the fact that Mrs. Romney’s dressage horse has qualified…

  2. Doug Mataconis Avatar
    Doug Mataconis

    I don’t think the Olympics are going to hurt Romney at all to be honest. For some bizarre reason, the American public gets into these games.

    As for Ann’s horse. Well, let’s look at it this way. The two weeks that the Olympics will be going on will be a period during which political coverage will be going a little dark. Ann will be going to London to watch the horse (I doubt that Mitt will be joining her, the optics don’t work for that) and will be getting at least some degree of positive coverage during that time. I actually thing it could be a very minor net positive for the campaign.

  3. Vast Variety Avatar
    Vast Variety

    Yes, lets put an end to the only thing on the planet that brings the nations of the world together and doesn’t include one side trying to kill the other.

    The failure or success of the Olympics has never been in the measure of it’s profit and loss statement.

    1. Doug Mataconis Avatar
      Doug Mataconis

      No, let’s put an end to the quadrennial bidding for hosting by nations, which ends up being nothing more than a chance for the International Olympic Committee to accept what amount to bribes.

      Put the Olympics in a permanent location rather than forcing the taxpayers of nations that have their own problems to foot a bill that will never be repaid. Personally, I’d be fine if the United States never hosted the Olympics again, and if we do I sure as hell hope we don’t waste tax dollars on them

  4. JKB Avatar
    JKB

    We could hold the Olympics in Greece, they are going to need something that other nations will put money into real soon.

    I don’t understand this Ann Romney’s horse thing. Perhaps it looks good from inside the Beltway looking toward Fairfax county but out in America, a lot of people, middleclass people have horses. They don’t send them to the Olympics but they do haul them to the rodeo for the kid to compete. Horses are like boats, just a place to throw money but a lot of people have them.

    Doubt me, those nice green fields you see zipping along the interstate are not lawns. They are hay fields and the finest of them produce hay for horses. Otherwise, they’d just be weeds. Oh, and if you have a horse, you really got to have a really big truck, the kind that irritate Progressives to no end.

  5. PJ Avatar
    PJ

    @JKB:

    Yeah, I forgot how popular dressage is among the rodeo crowd…..

  6. PJ Avatar
    PJ

    @JKB:
    And while we are at it, don’t forget how popular Ed Begley Jr. is among Nascar fans. Because he’s a huge supporter of the electric car and Nascar fans just love everything about cars, especially those who don’t run on gas…

  7. Gustopher Avatar
    Gustopher

    Well, for Britian, the massive boondoggle is a decent bit of government sponsored stimulus to the economy while the rest of Europe in sinking in the more of austerity.

    So, there’s that.

  8. george Avatar
    george

    Has there ever been an Olympics that came in anywhere close to on budget? I’m told that in Quebec they were still paying for the Montreal Olympics a couple of decades after the games were over.

  9. Stormy Dragon Avatar
    Stormy Dragon

    @JKB:

    We could hold the Olympics in Greece, they are going to need something that other nations will put money into real soon.

    The problem is that if the Olympics are in Greece, all the events occur 2am-10am EST and 11pm-7am PST. If all Olympic Coverage is delayed replays of competitions that people already know the outcome of, the US audience is gonna disappear.

  10. Just 'nutha ig'rant cracker Avatar
    Just ‘nutha ig’rant cracker

    @Doug Mataconis: Yes, force the taxpayers of only one nation to pay the freight on this boondoggle. Preferably, a nation in which I don’t pay taxes.

    Have I clarified your position, Doug?

  11. JKB Avatar
    JKB

    @PJ:

    The problem NASCAR fans have with the electric car is that the cords get tangled up and there is a caution flag for like 48 hours. Not to mention, it’s very, very quiet.

  12. JKB Avatar
    JKB

    @PJ:

    dressage
    n 1: maneuvers of a horse in response to body signals by the
    rider

    Some people may put on aires when they ride but that doesn’t make them any less horse people.

  13. al-Ameda Avatar
    al-Ameda

    @JKB:

    I don’t understand this Ann Romney’s horse thing. Perhaps it looks good from inside the Beltway looking toward Fairfax county but out in America, a lot of people, middleclass people have horses.

    Yes, nothing says, “I may have made my $250M fortune by acquiring companies and laying off workers, but I understand middle class concerns, ” like equestrian dressage.

  14. Ebenezer Arvigenius Avatar
    Ebenezer Arvigenius

    Oh, and if you have a horse, you really got to have a really big truck, the kind that irritate Progressives to no end.

    Strange. Around these parts they manage to transport them just fine without cars the size of European houses. Must be different horses I guess :-).

  15. PJ Avatar
    PJ

    @JKB:

    Some people may put on aires when they ride but that doesn’t make them any less horse people.

    There’s quite a difference between Prius owners and Nascar fans, despite them all being car people.

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