Obama says go to college, not slots; Vegas irate

 
How appropriate that it’s Groundhog Day (or Marmot Day in Alaska): In the eponymous movie, Bill Murray’s character keeps repeating the same silly mistakes.

And so it was that on Tuesday, President Obama, speaking in a state whose economic well-being does not solely depend on tourism, used Las Vegas as a symbol of profligate spending – which it is. (For a time, a downtown strip club’s marquee even touted the, ahem, stimulus its dancers could provide.)

Hours later, Obama apologized. It was inevitable.

But Obama (sort of) did the same thing last year and got harangued by Mayor Oscar Goodman (a Bombay Sapphire spokesman) and the governor (Jim Gibbons, known more for his cast of lady friends than his gubernatorial initiatives). Their chest-thumping got national attention, mostly because Nevada’s one-note tourism economy is indeed in shambles.

Perhaps Obama blocked out the brouhaha?

A recap:

Last year, the president was assailing bailout-coddled bankers while in Indiana, when he said, “You can't get corporate jets, you can't go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayer's dime.” The comment may have been innocuous – do taxpayers really want to underwrite a Goldman Sachs bacchanal? – but the furor was such that Obama had to make nice with Vegas when he came to raise money for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Even after Caesars Palace upgraded Obama to a high-roller suite during his May appearance, the president apparently forgot to find another synonym for decadence. On Tuesday while in New Hampshire, he said, “When times are tough, you tighten your belts. You don’t go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage. You don’t blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you’re trying to save for college.”

The Nevada congressional delegation quickly...

... worked itself into a lather (as did Goodman and Gibbons). Even Reid fired off a terse statement, saying “the president needs to lay off Las Vegas and stop making it the poster child for where people shouldn’t be spending their money."

Obama then sent a letter to Reid, who is facing a tough reelection fight, saying he never intended to knock Vegas. "I was making the simple point that families use vacation dollars, not college tuition money, to have fun," the president said. "There is no better place to have fun than Vegas, one of our country's great destinations."

You see, Mr. President, that might be sound financial advice, but Las Vegas exists only because tourists have long fed their college savings -- and the rest of their disposable income -- into Megabucks machines. Considering the 13.1% local unemployment rate is partly due to tourism layoffs, the locals think the visitors are saving way, WAY too much.

--Ashley Powers

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Photo: Associated Press.

Comments

[JimBo]

From a related article: "Goodman said he thought Obama had a "psychological hang-up" of using Las Vegas as an example of excessive spending, and that this time, an apology wouldn't be enough. "

I'm sorry but if using Las Vegas as an example of excessive spending is a psychological hang-up, then apparently the entire country (other than Nevada's elected officials) is nuts!

[frd rogers]

whatever--The president is right-----layoff Vegas---buy more college bonds your kids will love you latyer on.

[Jake]

My God what a Socialist! This guy thinks education will solve our problems. When will we have a president who understands that Vedas is mor important that collage? Let's give O-dumb-ma the boot before everyone starts saving for collage. NO MORE SOCIALISM!

[Austin]

Let me be the first to comment on this. Why are people upset about Obama's comment? It is complete stupidity. I am not an Obama supporter but I do agree with him whole-heartedly on this issue. Gambling is a vice, just like drugs and alcohol and sadly many people get sucked in to the lie of getting something for nothing.

I am confident that the average tourist spends more money in Vegas, or in any other casino, than they originally plan on spending. After losing some money most think that if they play just a little longer, they'll win big and be able to break even or maybe even gain some. (News flash: They hardly ever do). Someone once said that gambling is a tax on people who are bad at math and I believe it to be true.

So maybe the strip is the life's blood of Vegas, who cares?! I'm sure that if someone calculated the effects of the Vegas strip on the entire nation, it's net benefit would be negative. Too many people blow their life savings and tuition at casinos and only the select few that prey on their weaknesses benefit from it.

I was happy when I read Obama's statement about Vegas and sad when I heard him apologize for it. We need more people in this world to speak out about stupidity such as this. It is common sense, which unfortunately in today's world, isn't too common.

[abouttime]

And why aren't we hearing cries of outrage from the boat builders as well? Don't they realize how badly they've been dissed, and how much further their businesses will plummet, once people hear Obama's message to pay their mortgages before they go buying boats? Have they not gotten the message that "oversensitive" is the new "normal"?

[Prudence]

Discretion is the better part of valor; that's probably the message when picking one's bad examples. Friends who live in Vegas and run a multitude of businesses that do not have slot machines, find using "Vegas" as synonomous with "vice" and "gambling" -- an unfair stereotype. If the POTUS wants to encourage people to save for college, say it! Don't tell them not to go to Vegas, as city in his own country which does not deserve to be his whipping boy.

[Ingolf]

It's a sign of how low we have sunk as a nation, when a leader cannot speak the truth any longer without being verbally assaulted by members of his own party. He is absolutely correct; while everybody blames the financial system for our recession, and it is certainly true that it was the initiator of our current deep recession, note that countries whose economy is based more on technology and innovation are weathering this storm much better than the US where the vast majority of recent (last 1-2 decades) growth was mainly based on the low-skilled service industry, for which Las Vegas is the poster child. Folks, it is foreigners living in the US, specifically Chinese and Indians, that hold the vast majority of intellectual fire power - wait until those 2 countries can offer their expatriates better working conditions and many of them will be leaving (we see it already in higher ed where more and more of them return to their country after getting graduate degrees instead of staying here and bolstering our economy), and with them the intellect that still keeps our country running. Too many Americans, if they get an education at all, go into business management or soft sciences / humanities, so we can plaster the world over with MBAs and lawyers and non-educated "Black-Jack table operator" types, which do not make up a sustainable economy - you have to have something to sell in the world market, and a beer at a pub ain't it!

[AngryMobVoter]

First Obama says: “When times are tough, you tighten your belts. You don’t go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage. You don’t blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you’re trying to save for college.”

He follows that up with: "There is no better place to have fun than Vegas, one of our country's great destinations."

This is a man who speaks out of both sides of his mouth time and time again. Obama has proven he is not sincere when he speaks. Every day, the American people get more and more fed up with Obama and the Congress. Obama and Congress are going to make what ever backroom deal and special interest payoff the have to in order to ram through a healthcare bill the American people do not want. Obama lied to the American people about transparency and bipartisanship. He rebuffed an organization like C-SPAN who just wanted to make the process TRANSPARENT to the American people.

The current Congress and Administration has put the country on a course of reckless government spending that has mortgaged the future of all Americans especially future generations. We are witnessing the greatest intrusion into the private lives of individuals and business in history.

What Obama should do is wake up and show the American people his is a statesman not a lowlife politician. If Obama and Congress do not listen to the American people and stop the dirty politics as usual, the American people will make them listen when they vote. It is time to VOTE THEM OUT!!!

[cbrad]

He cleaned his statement up. He said when things are not going that well you should not be spending money on things like boats and trips to Vegas.
Or huge social policy experiments like health care reform.

That is a gamble he is willing to take.

[Original Pechanga]

Very few people spend their kid's college money in Las Vegas casinos.
His poor choice of words shows how little he knows about Las Vegas.

Go visit NY City and you can stay in a basic room at the Marriott for $299 + $47 more for taxes. You can get a suite in Las Vegas for $120, sometimes less. For the $150 a night or more I save, I can gamble, eat, see a show over the course of a week.

Las Vegas has skiing, both snow and water close by, GREAT restaurants, good shows, bad shows, shopping and sightseeing. And it's cheaper than New York, D.C, Chicago or Hawaii.

No sense going to Las Vegas in two weeks, Mr. President, people will KNOW you are NOT sincere...

[Occam's Razor]

Even a broken clock is right twice daily.

[Ca]

Obama, stop trying to tell me what is best for me. The president can not tell people how and where to spend their money. That is not his job. Adult people should be free to think and decide how to live their lives. Further more Mr. President, you and Nancy Pelosi should stop some of your partying, ball games and golf, flying every day. Cut your own wasteful spending of tax payers money. I can say that because you're spending my tax money.

[d cordova]

First of all... let's set the record straight. Obama wants to spend "our" tax dollars like a drunken sailor and then tell us how we should be spending what's left of OUR money???

Who the hell does he think he is???? This is still America isn't it? Land of the free???? I realize California has a love affair with over-bearing government (look at your mess of a budget) that strip the liberty of their own citizens. So be it, but if my "vice" is gambling well I am damn well going to gamble till the cows come home and all you liberal no smoking in public, no drinking, no SUV's, no God, no carbon, no noise before 8AMers can kiss my ever loving rear end!

When does the tyranny end? If Obama made a flippant negative comment on citrus you guys would be going nuts, and well you should! So why begrudge Las Vegas for taking issue with the president's second idiotic statement regarding Las Vegas? Hypocrites! You guys deserve the likes of Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Boxer!

If you were really concerned about out of controls spending where is the outrage over Pelosi's shameless use of military aircraft for her own PERSONAL whims? She has turned a proud organization called the USAF into a taxi service for her and her family.

All the sarcasm in this article tells me all I need to know about the writer... another in the tank "journalist" (and I use that term loosely) who shamelessly supports this administrations "the ends justifies the means" policies.

[Amy]

Here's the thing, what Obama is doing by targeting a specific destination, is like telling the country. In tough times like this, save your money and don't buy cars or trucks. Then you have the whole city of Detroit pissed off, because they have a huge unemployment rate right now. The President telling people not to buy the one thing that helps those families survive and be employed, is like salt in the wound. So if the country listens to the President and stops buying new cars (I understand that the car industry sucks right now, but I am trying to make a point so bare with me)more people lose their jobs and the unemployment rate goes up more.

As this article states, Vegas has a huge unemployment rate right now, over 13%. They are giving away hotel rooms. It is a great time to go to Vegas, very affordable. Since the president has targeted them twice now, they have a serious beef with him.

If he told people not to go on Vacation to Florida or Orlando. Florida would be saying the same thing right now, especially if he said it twice.

I understand he's telling people to tighten up their budgets, but he should be more general and not target just Vegas. He also has no room to speak considering how much more we are in debt since he took office.

[Qtztutz]

What many of you seem to be missing is that large conventions moved from Vegas because of the President's first remark because it was made during the height of the TARP distributions. Businesses cancelled company conventions because they didn't want to put themselves on the President's radar by virtue of their convention city choice when they were profitable enough to even hold a company gathering. Clearly they were doing something right and didn't want to risk the bad publicity by showing up in Vegas. I've attended company gatherings in Las Vegas and it's a city of boundless restaurant and entertainment choices absent gambling (which I do not engage in). It is an excellent choice for low-cost lodging and world class food. To focus only on the issue of gambling is grossly misrepresentative of what the city has to offer. I'm wondering why the President doesn't throw in Atlantic City once in a while. Maybe his Chicago buddies wouldn't appreciate THAT reference? Who knows?

[John]

Obama our dear president has said two times, in over a year, people who are saving money for college should not go to places like Las Vegas, or the other one was, companies, that borrow money, should not go to places like Las Vegas. He failed to say, places like Hawaii,, Houston, Disney Land, Dallas, or even a small city like Rapid City South Dakota to see Mt. Rushmore. And aside that to many places he has used your dime to fly to.
So lets do this, presidents while in office, should not use the peoples money to fly many places and spend money or ours while we are in DEEP dept. As soon as the National Debt is paid in full, we will promise to send him to Disney Land. What he does not understand is places like the above, bring in Mega dollars from many Foreign countries, more so than exporting goods. Aside that it cost a bundle to a local economy to support his visits. We are broke Obama,, stay home.. Pass this around to all. If your going to speak, name all the places we should not go. To even the playing field. Oh yea add to the list, Should not play any Bingo in churches or much needed State lotteries, might as well piss off everyone while he is at it.

[L.Marie Crandall]

I agree we ALL have to tighten our belts.
How about that 2.5 million dollar ad for the census during the super bowl? When the government gets on board with that statement I'll do away with my twice a year trip to visit the one armed bandit.

[Jim]

It's all a complete scam now. College is just as much a scam as throwing your money down on roulette. There is no guarantee of a job anymore in this economy. Young people are in a lot of trouble and on the brink, with the amount of debt they have. You can see it in the stories and over on sites like http://www.thegreatcollegehoax.com It's appalling what we have done to our young people.