Las Vegas Officials Irate Over Obama’s Negative Comments
By Donald Griffith on February 8, 2010, 4:03 pmLas Vegas officials are irate because of comments made by President Barack Obama. President Obama said that companies that received bailout money should not take trips to Las Vegas or the Super Bowl at the expense of US taxpayers. He said these comments to a town hall audience in the state of Indiana. Some critics have chastised the President for these remarks while others have defended the President and applauded him for sticking up for the taxpayers.
President Obama Was Being Honest
The media has given President Obama a lot of flack lately. One reason is that companies that have received tax payer dollars during the bailout have given their employees million dollar bonuses. President Obama was being honest that he does not want to see bailout dollars being wasted on trips to Las Vegas or at Superbowl parties. Some companies who received bailout dollars have thrown large and luxurious Superbowl parties. Even during last year’s Superbowl festivities, media outlets were uncovering news stories about banks using bailout dollars to fund parties. The President did not want this to occur again so he put the bankers on notice. Considering their behavior in the past, no one should blame him for speaking up when the Superbowl is less than a week away.
Will The Comments Impact The Economy In Las Vegas
The mayor of Las Vegas wants President Obama to apologize for his comments because he said the comments will hurt the city’s economy. This is not a very true statement though. Most people who visit Las Vegas do so because they want to have fun and enjoy themselves. Most people know that going to Las Vegas is not really economical because you gamble and lose money. The comments will not hurt the city’s economy overall. Las Vegas is known as Sin City for a reason, most people do not view it as very family friendly. Las Vegas is mainly a tourist attraction for gambling entertainment and fine dining. The economy is impacted by hard economic times but many airlines and hotels have provided consumers with special incentives to travel to Las Vegas.
Being Careful With Taxpayer Dollars Should Be A Top Priority
The mayor of Las Vegas should have viewed the President’s comments as being those of a protective politician. Bailout dollars have been seriously mishandled by banking executives. The United States has many problems and focusing on comments made about Las Vegas does not outweigh the need for health care reform and new jobs in the US.
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You are mistaken in the lines “The comments will not hurt the city’s economy overall”. Last February when Obama made similar remarks it cost the city over 40,000,000 dollars in just a few weeks- and in a city where quarterlies directly relate to employment, that cost jobs. I worked at a hotel at the time that had groups canceling over his remarks- and yes, they did state that as the reason that they were eating their deposits! If you are unfamiluar with the fact that perception leads corporations to change there meeting plans and that Las Vegas is the #1 meeting destination then you should not be writing this piece. I understand that his remarks this time were T&L directed- but that feeds in to the perception that money spent in Las Vegas is a waste and furthers the already spiraling proble that a city with 13% unemployment and the highest foreclosure rate in the country now faces. No one, especially the President of the United States should be flippant with remarks that cost people jobs. make your point, but leave Las Vegas out of it.