Last month, there was a lot of discussion about which American companies were suffering the most, and which ones should receive a bailout. One industry that was mentioned was the cruise line industry. Why?

Royal CaribbeanCruises (RCL) is a Liberian company. Its ships are. registered in the Bahamas and Malta. Oh yeah, and the company doesn’t pay Federal corporate income taxes.

Carnival (CCL) is a Panama company. The company’s ships are registered in the Bahamas and Panama. No Federal income taxes.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) os a Bermuda company with its ships registered in the Bahamas.

So why were these companies even under consideration for bailout loans? Was the U.S. Government going to bailout every major company around the world? Was the American taxpayer going to bailout Deutsche Bank (DB)? Alibaba (BABA)? Tata Motors (TTM)? Or how about Lloyds Bank (LYG)?

Anyway, the government came to its senses and has decided not to force the American taxpayer to bail out the floating petri dishes.