I like the "It's Your Money", segments on ABC World News.
For some reason I just thought of Trent Lott's wasteful decision to dump a billion dollars into the Mississippi economy to try to bring back large ship design and construction in the state to compete with France, Italy, Finland and others. His plan included funding an on the edge of bankruptcy company to build two new cruise ships, to steam up and down the U.S. coast, (stupid?), so we could all live happily ever after.
But this story I know first hand as I once had stock in the
Delta Queen Steamboat Company, which became
American Classic Voyages after purchasing
American Hawaii Cruises.
The big scheme,
or let's just call it "Project America". (No one will have the balls to argue against us then, it's unpatriotic);
http://www.amo-union.org/newspaper/Morgue/7-2000/Page1.htm
http://www.ss.northropgrumman.com/press/news/m_03_9_99.html
The company also bought the classic shipbuilding name,
"United States Lines", (also very patriotic you see), now operated under the
American Classic Voyages tent was unable to stay afloat after putting itself in even greater debt. You see, after building the largest Mississippi riverboat ever, they purchased
American Hawaii Cruise's,
aging two ships. New ships were being designed and built because it cost too much to renovate old ships in the mid 90's for new Coast Guard SOLAS regulations, (Saving of Life at Sea). Old ships were generally sold for scrap unless some idiot cruise ship company facing bankruptcy bought them. If a politician backed your stupidity, all the better.
They immediately got in trouble with the Coast Guard as the two old identical ships purchased from
American Hawaii were left in drydock awaiting the completion of an additional $25 million dollars of renovations which they authorized but were unwilling to pay for. Eventually they satisfied the Coast Guard by stating they couldn't make any money to pay off the lein while in drydock and so were allowed to take the ship out. They got the one ship out, and were towing the other to Oahu, Hawaii claiming it would be used for parts, when it sunk.
The point is, I remember this idiot Trent Lott, screaming with face as red as a beet to congress about funding this disaster while the evidence was there the company couldn't keep afloat a plastic boat on a cement slab. He finally got the money, the ship was never completed, and my taxes went up a little bit more then they were.
Bankruptcy;
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCP/is_4_23/ai_81826858