# How to end deficit **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 16, 2012, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-end-deficit/613005 "2012-02-16T03:48:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pablo\_O\_Malley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f19dbf/32.png) [@Pablo\_O\_Malley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pablo_O_Malley)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-end-deficit/613005/1 "2012-02-16T03:48:04Z")
I have been all over the world and if you want to get into the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Colosseum in Rome or the Acropolis in Athens or just about any other popular tourist attraction, you have to pay a few bucks to get in…the money goes towards the maintenance of the facility, paying the tour guide who tells you about it and the clerk in the gift shop, etc…no one minds paying because they understand this is what it takes to run a tourist attraction so why do we have to give away the store in the USA? why can’t we charge a few bucks to get into the washington monument, for example, which is free? but it costs to maintain the facility, so it operates at a loss…why can’t we charge to get into the smithsonian institution in d.c., or yes, the white house? why is everything free? the dentist from indiana who comes in his winnebago with his three kids for the weekend to d.c. can afford to pay, and he will…so why make it free? yes, the school groups and senior citizens and others who get into stuff free because of limited budget can continue to, but most people will pay to get into top attractions…the white house is the people’s house, it should be free? buckingham palace costs a few bucks to see, why shouldn’t the white house? all major museums in d.c. are free, not so in ny…in ny many are free but with voluntary donations, which most gladly pay so why are d.c. museums free? charge a few bucks for that fbi tour, people will still pay national parks used to be free, they recently started charging to get in, it didn’t stop their popularity and while we’re at it, why not sell naming rights to some of the big bridges? the george washington bridge gets you nothing, why not let corporate america bid on the right to rename it? fedex, for example, pays $500 million over 10 for the naming rights to the washington redskins field, fedex field…everytime there’s a story in the paper on on tv about the skins and mentions the field, fedex gets a free plug…thats why they pay half a bil for the privilege…you don’t think mcdonalds or cocacola or prudential would love to have the mcdonalds bridge or coke bridge or prudential insurance bridge as p.r.? every morning just on radio the traffic reports mentioning the bridge will equal millions in free advertising…so why not let companies buy the name rights to bridges and other facilities? so much money would be made all bridge tolls could be eliminated, that would quiet the naysayers who decry commercialism or dont want to dishonor washington or whoever what do you think of all this? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-end-deficit/613005/2 "2012-02-16T03:55:25Z")
I have no opinion on your first topic. I didn’t read the second topic quite frankly. However, I note that the thread is titled “How to end deficit”. Do you really think that your plans would even _begin_ to make even a noticable dent in the deficit? For instance, how much money would you estimate we could rake in yearly through entrance fees? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-end-deficit/613005/3 "2012-02-16T04:00:54Z")
At least for now, this is probably best suited for IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-end-deficit/613005/4 "2012-02-16T04:17:26Z")
How would discouraging tourism end the deficit? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-end-deficit/613005/5 "2012-02-16T04:21:24Z")
> [@Pablo\_O\_Malley](#): > > so why do we have to give away the store in the USA? why can’t we charge a few bucks to get into the washington monument, for example, which is free? but it costs to maintain the facility, so it operates at a loss…why can’t we charge to get into the smithsonian institution in d.c., or yes, the white house? why is everything free? Having worked for the Smithsonian, I can comment on this. The reasoning is that your tax dollars have already paid to build and maintain the many Smithsonian Museums as well as the monuments in Washington. Charging the US public to visit them would amount to double-dipping. The Smithsonian administration would be more than happy to charge admission, since it could theoretically boost our budget. However, Congress won’t permit it. Of course, if they did allow the Smithsonian to charge, they would also cut our funds, so we might not be better off in the long run. The total Smithsonian federal budget for FY 2010 was about $760 million, which pays for 19 museums, 9 research centers, and the National Zoo. An additional $500 million of the budget comes from non-federal funds, including grants, bequests, and income from the Smithsonian shops, restaurants, IMAX theaters, etc. The present federal deficit is over one trillion dollars, or more than 1,300 times the annual budget of the Smithsonian. It would take a hell of a large admission price to make any noticeable dent in the deficit. The total annual federal budget of the Smithsonian is less than the cost of a single B2 bomber. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-end-deficit/613005/6 "2012-02-16T04:42:36Z")
> [@Pablo\_O\_Malley](#): > > … and while we’re at it, why not sell naming rights to some of the big bridges? the george washington bridge gets you nothing, why not let corporate america bid on the right to rename it? I’ve read that many schools now raise money by selling advertisement space. Why don’t government offices do this? And as for naming rights, why stop at bridges? I think Microsoft would spring a ton to get the State of Washington renamed Windowston. And why shouldn’t the I-80 highway be called I-Fox? It’s even faster to pronounce. Many many billions could be raised easily. And, although we’ve missed the chance on Baghdad, I think we could drum up a lot of support for a profitable Iranian War if we auction off naming rights to the City of Teheran. The California DMV raises money by selling auto registration information to companies like Safeway. Can you imagine what the IRS could raise for the Treasury by selling access to its database? Of course we’d want privacy safeguards, but that shouldn’t be a big problem. (e.g., taxpayers might get a small discount by signing a release form.) Hope this helps. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-end-deficit/613005/7 "2012-02-16T15:35:28Z")
They don’t get you coming, but they get you going. There’s the metro fare card premium that visitors pay\*, the $9 burgers in the museum cafeterias, the guided tours, the vendor trucks, the donation bins, etc. Think of admission as a “loss leader”. \*Locals use EZPay-like plastic cards, while visitors use magnetic paper tickets which get charged a higher fare. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-end-deficit/613005/8 "2012-02-16T15:41:40Z")
> [@Pablo\_O\_Malley](#): > > what do you think of all this? I think it’s hard to believe that BOTH of your shift keys don’t work. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-end-deficit/613005/9 "2012-02-16T15:54:22Z")
I think we’re as likely to make a dent in the deficit by taxing [sumo wrestler goalies](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=642219). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Surb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@The\_Surb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Surb)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-end-deficit/613005/10 "2012-02-16T15:59:36Z")
I think we should legalize pot. Then we could sell it in the grocery stores. This would end the deficit real quick. Even my mom thinks it’s a good idea\*\*\*\*\*\*\*! \*\*\*\*\*\*\* paraphrased from conversation with online gamer. I thought it would be useless to point out the flaws in his logic and just let him ramble on. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-end-deficit/613005/11 "2012-02-16T20:40:49Z")
[http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/download?mid=a605a17f1ab961803bcebe31696b4720&rtyp=lt&ctyp=other&ts=1288104098000](http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/download?mid=a605a17f1ab961803bcebe31696b4720&rtyp=lt&ctyp=other&ts=1288104098000) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-end-deficit/613005/12 "2012-02-16T21:50:21Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > However, I note that the thread is titled “How to end deficit”. Do you really think that your plans would even _begin_ to make even a noticable dent in the deficit? For instance, how much money would you estimate we could rake in yearly through entrance fees? Exactly. The Washington Monument has [800,000 visitors](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Monument#Later_history) a year. The Smithsonian has roughly [29 million annual visitors](http://newsdesk.si.edu/about/stats), across all of its locations (though note that they, themselves, note this is not necessarily an accurate count). What’s a reasonable entrance fee to charge? $10 a person? If so, you collect about $300 million dollars…a huge amount by “normal” standards, but, as Colibri notes, an absolute drop in the bucket when the deficit is over one trillion dollars. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-end-deficit/613005/13 "2012-02-17T02:01:19Z")
Pablo’s crazy. I like him. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-end-deficit/613005/14 "2012-02-17T09:58:37Z")
> [@Pablo\_O\_Malley](#): > > I have been all over the world and if you want to get into the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Colosseum in Rome or the Acropolis in Athens or just about any other popular tourist attraction, you have to pay a few bucks to get in… “Just about any”? In your lofty world travels you must not have been looking too hard. Nearly half of the top ten tourists attractions ([as voted by TripAdvisor users](http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attractions-g186338-Activities-London_England.html)) in London charge no admission; if you eliminate performances and their venues then it’s 9/10. For Budapest it’s 7/10, for Rome it’s 6/10, for Berlin 6/10, for Toronto 5/10, and for Paris 3/10. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-end-deficit/613005/15 "2012-02-17T15:42:28Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Pablo’s crazy. > I like him. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be a long-term friendship – he’s a goner. > **[Why were French such gutless cowards in WWII?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=642328)** > > Has there ever been a decent explanation given why the French were such gutless cowards in World War II? They had one of the largest armies in Europe and had a large country and lots of people and resources and wealth, so why did they surrender so... ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-end-deficit/613005/16 "2012-02-17T15:44:20Z")
Before he even got his own pit thread. Such a waste of potential. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-end-deficit/613005/17 "2012-02-17T15:49:41Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Before he even got his own pit thread. Such a waste of potential. C’mon. You had 10 days to play with him. You guys are slipping.😉 ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-end-deficit/613005/18 "2012-02-17T16:38:59Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Before he even got his own pit thread. Such a waste of potential. If he could have figured out (based on repeated moderator warnings) that ranty stuff didn’t belong in GQ, he might have lasted longer.