American Flag Cruise Executive Sends Third (and Last?) Open Letter to President Obama, Drawing on His Recent Statement 'You Can Trust Me. You Know Me. You Know I Say What I Mean And I Mean What I Say'
World City America Inc. counters: Can we trust you? Do we know you? And, in fact, you havenʼt said much about what you have done or will do to boost the economy and create jobs.
NEW YORK, Nov. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- World City America Inc. President, Stephanie Gallagher, sent a third (and last?) Open Letter to President Obama today calling into question the distinction between rhetoric and policy, between words and action.
World City America Inc. agrees that the electorate does have to be able to trust those to whom power has been entrusted. Voters do need to rely on what their elected officials say and promise.
"Unfortunately," according to Gallagher, "the Obama Administration has not done what it said it would do nor has it delivered on the promises made in terms of jobs and the economy, national debt and the deficit."
Gallagher heads up an entrepreneurial organization that has spent almost two decades and over $60 million of its own money in an effort to capture for the American economy and for American workers a share of the booming $40 billion-a-year cruise industry that is dominated by foreign interests and competing unfairly with American hotels, resorts, theme parks, convention centers, restaurants and entertainment facilities.
In its first Open Letter to President Obama (8/29/12), World City America Inc. readily acknowledged that prior administrations have also turned a blind eye to the unfairness of the foreign-flag cruise competition in consideration of the generous foreign-flag cruise lobby's largesse, but "no other administration has gone further and actually enacted policy to preempt Americans from competing in this essentially US-based, US-driven industry," Gallagher alleges.
"The White House has not responded to World City's first Open Letter, nor to its second Open Letter (10/18/12), and we know why," says Gallagher. "There is nothing to say. The Obama Administration has focused too much attention on re-election and trying to be all things to all people (except the job creators) and not enough on the huge economic job it was entrusted to do and which it wholeheartedly undertook to do in 2008."
World City quotes Abraham Lincoln: "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time."
"Yes, we know you, "Gallagher writes. "We know that your Administration has done nothing to create or save jobs in the maritime sector. We know that your Administration has sabotaged our $60 million private-sector initiative to capture a share of the booming foreign-dominated — but US-driven — cruise industry. We know that you promised to protect the Jones Act but you have not kept your word on that. We know that you said you would punish cheaters, but instead — at least as to the foreign-flag cruise industry — you have rewarded them by torpedoing the only project that is working to create thousands of long-term, self-sustaining American jobs and billions in new tax revenues by finding an economically sound way to build a major, internationally competitive cruise ship right here at home, staffing it with American officers, crew and hospitality workers, and proudly flying the Stars & Stripes," the letter continues.
World City's Open Letter states that they didn't ask the Obama Administration for any favors or special treatment. "The financing we have requested — and EARNED — is not a subsidy or corporate welfare. It is a longstanding, congressionally-authorized program to help entrepreneurs who wish to build ships in the United States and to operate them under the American flag with interest rates and amortization periods that are available to large corporations, but not usually to start-ups."
World City argues that "all the European shipbuilding countries readily support their shipbuilding industry to save and protect jobs, and they offer huge subsidies and often even 100% financing to the foreign-flag cruise lines operating tax free and with Third World labor right here in the United States in unfair competition with our US hospitality industry."
"Actually," Gallagher concedes, "the foreign-flag cruise lines are not cheating; they're being subsidized by our own government. And when a good faith private sector effort is mustered to capture a small share of this $40 billion-a-year industry for the American economy, your Administration enacted a policy to actually preempt American participation."
In its First Open Letter to President Obama (8/29/12), World City asked the White House to reverse its "anti-competitive / job-killing policy," and "to instruct the Maritime Administration to reinstate World City's fully-reviewed, economically sound ship financing application which was improperly terminated without cause, and theoretically 'without prejudice', after the disgraceful American Classic Voyages Title XI fiasco (that was the Agency's own doing and which cost the American taxpayers over $500 million)."
"We have demonstrated," Gallagher continues, "that the American Flagship project will create thousands of jobs, generate billions in new tax revenues and that the requested financing will not cost the taxpayers anything, will not increase the debt, will improve the deficit, and that Uncle Sam is fully protected from the types of losses incurred with respect to MARAD's politically- motivated mishandling of the American Classic Voyages project."
"As voters," World City concludes, "we entrusted you to put in place the kind of job-creating / economy-boosting policies that the American workers and the American economy deserve." World City agrees, "Voting is the best revenge."
ABOUT THE AMERICAN FLAGSHIP PROJECT
World City America Inc. was formed to design, build and operate a new class of passenger vessel that could be constructed competitively in the United States and compete successfully in the foreign-dominated cruise sector under a US-flag operation. More information about the American Flagship project can be found on its website: www.americanflagship.com
Third Open Letter to Obama: http://www.ereleases.com/pic/WorldCityOpenLetter3.pdf
Contact:
Stephanie Gallagher, President
World City America Inc.
Cold Spring Landing
22 West Street
Cold Spring, New York 10516
212-972-9000; fax 212-972-9006
[email protected]
This press release was issued through eReleases® Press Release Distribution. For more information, visit http://www.ereleases.com.
SOURCE World City America Inc.
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