It's well known by now that this weekend's protests were contaminated to the core with idiocy, and that they inconvenienced thousands of D.C. residents who might otherwise have been sympathetic. But most haven't heard about the economic havoc the protestors wrought here. Besides business closures and such, for which I have no figures, these protests cost the city a pretty penny in management costs.
Police overtime costs from this long weekend of protests in the District could go as high as $5 million, said D.C. Mayor Tony Williams.
By contrast, the entire annual budget for the District's homeless program is about $14 million, maybe less this year.
I'm not a big fan of the "social safety net" and such, but I'm sure that virtually of the anti-globalization forces here over the weekend would rather have seen that money go to causes other than police overtime. Just one more example of how left-wing lunatics don't understand economic cause-and-effect.
Posted by wasylik at April 22, 2002 11:48 AM