The taxpayer was saved from paying for more costs of devastation to our nation, by our nation's tax-funded efforts to avoid a 2nd round of 9-11 attacks on our soil, at the 2002 Olympics.

How conveniently many armchair "experts" leave out the cost of preventing another 9-11 terrorist attack on the Olympics, within the year of this:

• The total cost of the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center—comprising earnings losses, property damage, and the cleanup and restoration of the site—is estimated to be between $33 billion and $36 billion through June 2002.

• The earnings losses consist of $7.8 billion in deceased workers’ prospective lifetime earnings and $3.6 billion to $6.4 billion in reduced wage and salary income in city industries affected by the attack.

• The cost of cleaning up the site, replacing the destroyed World Trade Center buildings, and repairing damaged buildings and infrastructure is expected to reach $21.6 billion."

And this addresses only the costs in NYC.

Measuring the Effects of the September 11 Attack on New York City

http://www.nyfedeconomists.org/resea...2/0211rapa.pdf