OK…now that the Big-Ass Bill has been signed into law (along with an $80 million reduction in funding for international tourism marketing through Brand USA), can we stop the charade that so much of this is designed to reduce the Federal deficit?

The latest estimates indicate that the new Administration’s rhetoric has so incensed potential foreign visitors that American businesses are set to forfeit up to $29 billion in lost tourism sales this year. Indeed, as the world emerges from the plague, the only country projected to lose market share is the U.S.

For a President who prides himself as the ultimate businessman, walking away from $29 billion is unfathomable as he pledges to make America great again. His intemperate rhetoric and singular focus on deportation have essentially informed the world that America is no longer a welcoming country. Instead, we’re a bully. And those international consumers who used to love vacationing here are happily spending their visitor dollars elsewhere.

I get that he has an agenda…but $80 million is a rounding error for the Federal government. Wouldn’t it make sense to restore (or even increase) Brand USA’s budget to at least stem some of the bleeding?

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