For all those boycotting Arizona

[no limit]

I think Bill O'Reilly would be proud of all of you. I need to go check with the Phoenix Business Review to see how many billions of dollars Arizona has lost.

[babylonsister]

1. Maybe the powers that be will understand their boneheaded decision.

And frankly, what o'lielly says doesn't matter.

[no limit]

3. A boycott is not going to be effective. And it is about the laziest thing anyone can do.

To make themselves feel useful, even if they aren't. Just my humble opinion.

[Kali]

4. it depends

it did seem to matter with one of our other asinine stunts - the refusal to honor MLK with a holiday. Whether it will affect this most recent bullshit remains to be seen. If not boycotts the courts will surely toss it. There is also a referendum in the works.

Also you need to understand the economics of convention and business travel here. It is significant - sure a few single travelers boycotting the state won't mean shit, but international tourism and huge conventions can make a real statement.

[HERVEPA]

5. Wrong. Boycotts on Arizona have gotten them to change previous things

e.g. Lost Superbowl due to eliminating MLK JR. holiday. Got it back when holiday reinstated.
Where did you get your idea boycotts don't work? Think about apartheid in S. Africa.

[no limit]

7. That was the super bowl boycotting Arizona, it was not a product boycott that did it

Americans don't care where what they buy comes from. Let's say you can convince 1,000,000 people not to buy anything from Arizona, not a small thing to do and you will probably never get that many. That's less than half a percent of the US population.

[ET Awful]

19. If enough people are willing to boycott AZ, then the MLB All Star Game

Currently scheduled for Phoenix for the 2011 season may decide to pull out.

What percentage of MLB players are Latino?

[BurtWorm]

6. Why are Arizona businesses so touchy about it, if it's not going to work?

[no limit]

8. Which businesses?

[BurtWorm]

12. The Hotel and Lodging Association

is shaking in its boots:

...

"Right now our messaging is pretty simple: We're encouraging people not to boycott Arizona," says Debbie Johnson, president and CEO of Arizona Hotel & Lodging Association. "It's going to harm the 200,000 people who work in the hospitality industry in the state. Arizona has already been hit very hard over the last two years. We're just trying to protect the workers in the middle of this political decision."

...

See full article from DailyFinance: http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/boycotts-over-immigration-law-could-hurt-arizonas-shaky-economy/19457952/?icid=sphere_copyright

[grantcart]

9. Cancellation of conventions will have a devestating effect

Convention facilities are massive overhead headaches, especially when municipal revenues are declining.

Cancelling a couple of dozen conventions will cost tens of millions of dollars, and these conventions will find new homes and be unlikely to return.

[Tempest]

17. Boycotts work

It's been proven in AZ before.

The AZ chamber of commerce came out and said a boycott will hurt. I'll believe them over any armchair prognosticator.

[AngryAmish]

2. For those about to rock...

We solute you.

[Bonobo]

10. Why would Bill O'Reilly be proud? Can you explain?

Or are you just yapping to hear yourself yap?

[fishwax]

25. I don't get it either n/t

[DevonRex]

11. What's it to you whether people boycott or not? None of your business

what individuals do to try to make AZ change its racist law.

[pampango]

13. Some boycotts work, some don't. Many take a long time to be effective.

I certainly wouldn't take boycotting out of our bag of tools, just because O'Rielly used it (honestly or not), any more than I would eschew a GOTV effort just because Bill does it for the repubs.

A boycott wouldn't have to shut down their Convention Center or leave all their hotels and restaurants empty, to be effective. If the PTB in Arizona ever determine that ANY action has resulted in a 5%, 10% or 20% reduction in occupancy rates and profit margins, there will be tremendous pressure from the same PTB to change things. Historically, boycotts haven't had to shut down national, state, local or corporate economies. They just have to have an significant enough effect to make it painful to big business or high politicians.

[Iggo]

14. For now, I'm withholding my tourist dollars.

If I see real change, then I'll spend my money there. If I don't then I won't. It's really that simple.

[jdlh8894]

15. What about those of us that travel?

And have layovers in Phoenix? Are we supposed to starve to death? Sleep in the airport? Seems like I would be boycotting myself!

[Iggo]

16. Wait, I misunderstood your post.

Sorry.

Arizona is my vacation destination, so the choice for me is easy: Go or Don't Go.

I've never scheduled a trip with more than a few hours' layover, so I'm not sure what to tell you about that.

[jdlh8894]

20. Understand

Sometimes people can't schedule ahead of time. Connecting flights are not on the same airline @ times,then you wait. Sometimes it's great.sometimes you have to run.

[Tempest]

18. Simple solutions

Bring food and snacks from you last destination.

If you have a layover in Phoenix that leaves you enough time to sleep, you're not doing a very good job of planning your trip.

I have to land in Phoenix every time I travel east from southern California and I've never spent more than 3 hours at the airport for a connecting flight. The only time I've had to spend money at an airport is back when they used to charge ten cents to use the toilet.

[jdlh8894]

21. Read post #20

[Tempest]

26. My post still stands

I live in Bakersfield and it's cheaper for me to connect in L.A. than a direct flight to Phoenix.

Even with the L.A. connection, I've never had to wait long in Phoenix for a connecting flight anywhere in the U.S.

[jdlh8894]

28. OK- You made the point

of having reservations made. I'll give you another plan ---
Son and I are staying in Big Sur.Get a message(no cell service there)that my father passed.Had to fly out of Monterey @ 06:30.Arrived Pheonix - 09:00 Left Pheonix 15:00
Arrive Charlotte,NC @23:00 (est) Depart Charlotte 01:45 Arrive ATL 03:45
Depart ATL 07:00 Arrive PIT 10:00
So how was I suppossed pack snacks and drinks?

[TheKentuckian]

27. What about the citizens deprived of their right to be secure in their Liberty?

What about them? What about when it becomes you?

A layover?????

Jiminy Cricket, a layover! We're talking about very serious stuff here not you missing a meal a few times a year.

However, I think it best to concentrate on the tourism and serious trade and obviously that pressure comes from outside the state. What we need is to really scale this up in a global community and get people worldwide to help us bring the heat.

[AngryAmish]

23. Same here. I am not going back until Spring Trainng next year.

[robdogbucky]

24. Can you imagine the impact?

if the MLB clubs that have their spring training camps there pull out? And there has been a recent increase of teams locating ST there.

It could happen and having lived in AZ and been a bartender at Sky Harbor (then the name of it) airport, probably named something else by now, I can say that it means a lot, a hell of a lot to the Valley of the Sun economically.

Off topic anecdote: Billy Martin's hands were so big he could have played second base without a glove, drank 3-fingers of Chivas straight and was a total paranoid personality. He used to wait until everyone was gone to sneak into the departure lounge and down about 3 of those triple Chivas in disguises, hoping no one saw him, prior to his flights. One of those unforgettable characters.



Just my dos centavos



robdogbucky

[TwilightGardener]

22. Money talks loudest.