Americans spend billions each year on food, beer and fireworks, and President Trump is looking to take the holiday spending one step further
Breaking with tradition, this year’s 4th of July celebrations are politically polarizing, with the traditional celebratory messages dampened by politics: This year, it’s all about beer, billions of dollars and, of course, the 2020 campaign.
The most polarizing issue is the cost to taxpayers of today’s festivities in Washington, DC, where onlookers will be regaled with fireworks, an Air Force One flyover and a parade of tanks in a show that Trump has promised “will be like no other”.
It will cost $2.5 million, according to the Washington Post, which is being diverted from the U.S. National Park Service. For the tanks alone, USA Today cited an unnamed aide as saying that transporting and displaying the military tanks will cost around $870,000 alone.
Trump claims that we only need to pay for the fuel.
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The entire celebration has become a playground for 2020, with supporters gushing over the extravaganza and critics calling it a waste of money. The chair of a congressional committee has even promised an investigation into the use of taxpayer dollars to cover the cost of the event, with many arguing that we are essentially funding an election campaign stunt.
But it’s also a campaign stunt for the Democrats for 2020, who have firmly latched onto the hearts of American taxpayers here. They may not be driving the tanks, but they’re very happy to train their RPGs at them.
Die-hard Trump fans may be rolling around in the red, white and blue with outsized feelings of pride at this display of America’s greatness rolling through DC, but much of the rest of America is likely hitting the road for an extended weekend vacation, where they will give the parade a run for its money in terms of cash spent this holiday.
According to the National Retail Federation, Americans are expected to spend a whopping $6.78 billion on food alone this 4th of July.
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Source: National Retail Federation
And they will top that off with a lot of beer, and a fair amount of wine.
Last year, according to WalletHub, Americans spent $1 billion on beer, over $500 million on wine.
What about fireworks? If last year is a gauge, Americans spent well over $1 billion on both display and consumer fireworks. This year, they are expected to do the same, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association, cited by Fox News.
What do all the numbers suggest? For the most part, they suggest that Americans are already willing to spend billions on their 4th of July celebrations, so it’s not likely that taxpayers are going to revolt en masse over the $2.5 billion Trump is spending on the DC parade.
By Fred Dunkley for Safehaven.com
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