So is the Mayor of Vegas saying you should blow your college money in his city?

[Hello_Kitty]

Why does this jerk think he's owed an apology, anyway?

[HipChick]

1. I don't think he needs an apology...I used to go to Vegas a lot...

but its not even on my radar this year..yet

[virgogal]

2. All he's saying is leave his city alone-----something any decent mayor would do.

And forget the apology-----they are becoming so commonplace that they are meaningless.

[Dawgs]

6. Yeah, but he's wrong. Obama didn't do anything to the city.

Vegas decided to be the gambling capital of the world; not Obama. Any mayor of Las Vegas knows that gambling and tourism is what draws people to the city. Obama was only pointing that out.

Are there still people that don't realize this... maybe you?

[harkadog]

15. Obama has trash talked a city twice now that

tens of thousands of people make their living at. That is wrong. I don't see him trashing the frigid corrupt sinkhole Chicago is. Why should people spend their money in Chicago and encourage corruption?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

18. Tens of thousands of people who make their money by other people pointlessly blowing theirs.

Not that it's immoral, it's just a waste.

[harkadog]

21. What do you do for a living?

Whatever it is someone will be able to demonstrate in their mind it is a waste of money.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

54. Maybe, but gambling actually is a waste of money.

Let's not pretend it isn't.

[harkadog]

61. It is a form of entertainment

One of the biggest industries in this country. I think there are hundreds of worthless movies, tv shows and various concert acts that people waste their money on. But it is their money an I am not going to criticize a legal industry that employees hundreds of thousands or more.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

62. Right, it's a wasteful form of entertainment.

And if people are concerned about their money, they shouldn't be engaging in that wasteful form of entertainment

[harkadog]

65. What form of entertainment do you engage in?

I can't wait to hear what we all should be doing according to the power that be.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

67. Making fun of gambling industry employee's phony sense of self righteousness.

Shit is cash.

[harkadog]

70. The response I expected. None.

[Dawgs]

19. I don't think you know what trash talking means.

He's not criticizing those that gamble or the city, just those that blow saved money for college on gambling.

Again, Las Vegas chose to be the gambling capital of the world; not Obama.

[harkadog]

22. Illinois has plenty of Casinos

And Obama's home city of Chicago wants another one. How come Obama isn't criticizing those people who are blowing their college money in Chicago and Illinois?

[SemiCharmedQuark]

25. Get back to us when Chicago's slogan is "What happens in Chicago Stays in Chicago"

Las Vegas has marketed itself as a place to go party.

[harkadog]

30. Oh so that is the reason Obama hates Las Vegas.

Because of marketing slogans. I thought it was because of the loss of money gambling. But those same losses are ok in Chicago.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

38. Yes, obviously this throwaway comment means Obama hates Las Vegas and wants to see it razed &salted

[harkadog]

41. If you are a President you don't make "throw away" comments about anything.

There are too many people who listen to every word you utter. This is the mass media 24/7 world of 2010 not 1910.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

46. Name me a modern president who has never made a throwaway comment.

[harkadog]

52. Name me a modern President that has not been criticized for a throwaway comment.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

59. Implying that Obama "hates" Las Vegas, calling Chicago a corrupt sinkhole etc. isn't

criticizing Obama for his comment or the comment itself.

You aren't criticizing Obama for the comment he made-you're criticizing him for some imagined thing he didn't even say.

[harkadog]

60. I made the Chicago comment not Obama

just so there is no misunderstanding. Yes you are right I am criticizing him for what he did not say. If he is going to criticize an industry he should not pick on just one place. Attack it everywhere. He has not done this.

[zbdent]

40. as I understand it, also,

Vegas is losing plenty of jobs, and people still making payments on their houses ...

[virgogal]

20. Are you telling me that Las Vegas is the gambling capital of

the world? Gee, I didn't know that,what a surprise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I still feel sorry for all the folks that missed out on work because of cancelled conventions.

[farmout rightarm]

31. Vegas is a piker next to Monte Carlo

...

[virgogal]

48. Well,I don't know about that. I'm not a gambler but this link

puts LV ahead of Monaco.

http://www.casinocity.com/casinos/

[Hippo_Tron]

66. Obama didn't say don't spend your money in Vegas

He said don't spend money you don't have in Vegas. Most of the world would never even have heard the comment if Goodman and others hadn't accused the President of "Vegas bashing". The mayor is just trying to score political points like any good politician will do.

[Mika]

3. No. You should bet the kids college money in Vegas and win BIG.

Everybody's doin' it.

:crazy:

---

[marmar]

4. I think sensitivities are very high in Las Vegas right now because of the bleak economic picture....

nt

[malaise]

5. He doesn't care what you blow

as long as he gets your money

[spanone]

7. god forbid that the President points to las vegas as a monetary money pit

after all, we all know that folks go there to get religionized

:sarcasm:

[NYC_SKP]

8. Hookers and Blow!!!

And gambling, of course.

All part of the American college experience.

Why does Obama hate the American college experience??

:sarcasm:

[Cali_Democrat]

34. Of course the hookers must come before the blow

Try it the other way around and you may have some erectile "issues"

[NYC_SKP]

51. Hookers, then Blow!!!

You're sooo right!!!

[FarCenter]

9. Suppose you've saved $4000 from your summer jobs

Take it to Vegas, put it on one number on the wheel and let it ride once.

Either you will have to borrow $4000 more over the four years of college, which is pretty inconsequential compare with what you will have to borrow if you don't go to Vegas, or you will have $144,000 to pay for four years of college.

[Hello_Kitty]

12. Hey it's totally your prerogative to do that!

Lately, I've been buying lottery tickets and joking that they're my "retirement plan". :)

[Pirate Smile]

10. Perfect way to frame this idiotic "controversy". Thank you.

[MindPilot]

11. I've heard UNLV is a pretty decent school.

[yodoobo]

13. They are STILL whining about that? that was last year for gods sake.

Anyhow, why should we care what a former mafia lawyer thinks?

[harkadog]

14. No it was just yesterday.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/state/story/1013481.html

[TexasObserver]

16. The laddie doth protest too much.

A city that uses "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" as its marketing theme cannot be serious about this complaint.

Free TV time for the city and the mayor are the reasons behind this cry fest.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

28. Ah, I see you beat me to it.

As JVS said, they market themselves as a place for being irresponsible. Why are they shocked that this is the image they project?

[Blue-Jay]

17. I just love the false outrage.

Guess what, dicks? Lots of people lose lots of money that they can't afford in Vegas. Pointing out that fact is not an insult, it's a fucking fact. Sorry about your butthurt.

[harkadog]

24. The false outrage is coming from Obama on this one

There are casinos all over Illinois and the nation. How come no complaints about them? How come no complaints about the lottery in Illinois which is a total waste of gambling money? Rich people aren't playing the lottery just poor an working people. Yet Obama is silent at this waste of money because it benefits Illinois.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

27. Because IL has fewer casinos in the entire state than Las Vegas has on the strip?

Because people don't travel from all over the country to gamble in Joliet IL?

[harkadog]

32. Oh so it is the number of casinos that Obama is upset about

Not the fact that thousands of working people lose their savings in the casinos around Chicago. OK.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

35. You're veering into the ridiculous now.

Las Vegas was used as an example because it is synonymous with gambling LARGELY because that is the way it portrays itself. If you say "Las Vegas", people think "gambling". If you say "Joliet, IL", people think "huh?"

[harkadog]

39. So you are more concered with perception

than the actual events. People think of Las Vegas = gambling = bad. People think of Joliet (Why are you just mentioning Joliet instead of all the other casinos there?) = they can't associate it with anything = so it must be ok. No matter that people are losing money in both Las Vegas and Joliet in the same way. BTW when I lived on the south side of Chicago, just 3 miles from Obama, if anyone thought about Joliet at all it would be "there's where they got a casino".

[SemiCharmedQuark]

44. What other place in IL has casinos? Aurora? East Peoria? Rock Island? Elgin?

I don't think anyone outside of IL residents know where those places are.

So why would Obama use those as an example of a place college kids go to gamble?

[harkadog]

53. If he doesn't like gambling why does he take their money?

And seek their votes and endorsement? http://www.lvrj.com/news/12785077.html Their money is obtained from people losing it. That is the money he is taking.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

58. My husband loves steak. But he does not eat steak when we are trying to save money.

Understand?

[harkadog]

64. No.

[Blue-Jay]

29. Oh, bullshit.

Most people, when gambling is mentioned, think first of Las Vegas. You knew that, right?

Obama threw out "Vegas" as an example of how gambling is basically flushing your money down the toilet.

So then... You're drawing some kind of conclusion that his off-handed comment somehow reflects on his support of Illinois casinos? How do you figure that?

Fer fuck's sake. It was just an unrehearsed comment on how you lose money when you gamble. And the gambling capital of the US is......wait for it.... Las Vegas.

[harkadog]

36. Obama didn't always have a problem with Las Vegas gambling.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/12785077.html He was happy to take their money which they obtained from destroying peoples savings.

[Blue-Jay]

42. He doesn't have a problem with it NOW!

Neither do I.

If you want to blow your money at a casino, go for it. That's your right.

I'll type this slowly, so you can follow along: He made an off-handed comment about gambling being a waste of money (it is, for most people - the house always wins), and mentioned Vegas because Vegas is the first place that comes to mind when gambling is mentioned. That's all. He didn't infer that people shouldn't be allowed to gamble, nor did he imply that gambling in Illinois is somehow better than gambling somewhere else.

Why is this such a big fucking deal?

[SemiCharmedQuark]

45. Apparently this poster thinks he should have used "Joliet", "Rock Island" or "Elgin" as examples

Because everyone will know exactly what he means if he uses those examples.

[Blue-Jay]

47. Let's back up, OK?

WTF is your point?

Are you against gambling? Are you against mentioning Las Vegas? Are you just picking apart a single comment made by President Obama for some reason?

You've lost me. What the fuck kind of point are you trying to make?

[treestar]

55. It's being literal

when clearly Obama was using it as a literary device - an allusion. something like that. There are always people who just don't get it. I think they must have flunked poetry class.

Exactly, it's a cultural allusion. Even "Atlantic city" wouldn't be as good.

I can't see being upset about this, and wouldn't had Obama been in my state and referred to "Delaware Park" or made some remark reflecting it was the state that made incorporation easy. Life is too short for this kind of thing!

[fishwax]

69. it's the same as when people who complain about movies frame it as complaining about Hollywood

Yes, there are movies made in Des Moines, but Hollywood is the center of the industry, so when people talk about the industry, they generally focus on Hollywood.

Yes, there are casinos in Illinois, but Las Vegas is the center of the industry, so when people talk about the gambling industry, they point to Las Vegas.

It's really not that complicated. It's a cost of success.

[JVS]

23. Las Vegas cultivates this image of being some kind of New Babylon, and then when people...

people buy the image, they get mad.

[asdjrocky]

26. Fuck Vegas.

Cali's got the weed.

[Beaverhausen]

37. +1

:rofl:

Hi Rocky!!!

[asdjrocky]

49. HEY YOU!!!

It's great to "see" you. :hi:

[WolverineDG]

33. He needs to get over himself

there go my Vegas vacation plans. Damned if I'm going to drop coin in a city run by that lunatic.

dg

[Emit]

43. Reid's response: "The President needs to lay off Las Vegas ..."

... embattled Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took offense.

"The President needs to lay off Las Vegas and stop making it the poster child for where people shouldn't be spending their money," Reid said in a statement. "I would much rather tourists and business travelers spend their money in Las Vegas than spend it overseas.

Nevada Congresswoman Shelley Berkeley concurred with Reid although to illustrate her level of ire, she threw in an exclamation point.

"Enough is enough!" Berkeley said in a statement. "President Obama needs to stop picking on Las Vegas and he needs to let Americans decide for themselves how and where to spend their hard-earned vacation dollars."

What's surprising is that the Vegas line made it in his speech again. Perhaps it was a different set of speechwriters this year. Or perhaps they just didn't recall the firestorm from last year.

...

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/The-Vote/2010/0203/Obama-slams-Las-Vegas-again-Reid-upset-again



And Congresswoman Shelley Berkeley (D) was not pleased, either. It was all over the local news last night.

“Things are very tough in Las Vegas right now. We have the second highest unemployment rate and the very highest mortgage foreclosure rate in the country. People are hurting.

“We rely on our tourism to fuel our economy as our major industry. When the President singled out Las Vegas again by saying, when times are tough, you tighten your belts, you don't blow cash in Las Vegas, he's hurting the people I represent badly.

“What he should have said is that Las Vegas is the most amazing place to vacation. It's a bargain right now and everyone should go and enjoy our wholesome family entertainment, our great hotels, our fabulous shows, great restaurants, shopping, convention space, gaming, our great weather.

“We are near the Grand Canyon and Red Rock Canyon and Hoover dam. Las Vegas has it all. That's what the President should have said. “Mr. President, words matter, and you need to watch what you say. “Your words are hurting the businesses and families that call Las Vegas home. And they are hurting me.”

http://berkley.house.gov/

[kiva]

50. Clark County gave Obama Nevada's electoral votes in 2008.

Guess he doesn't think he'll need them again :shrug:

[laughingliberal]

56. That's what I was thinking. We turned the state blue in '08 but it's precarious.

Killing Yucca mountain for us will help but he does really need to stop bashing on Vegas. Our state is #2 in unemployment, #2 in foreclosures, #1 in negative equity. We could do without the denigration of our tourist industry.

OTOH, I live in Reno. Might I suggest people who don't want to blow their money in Vegas consider a trip to the northern part of the state?

[kiva]

68. Clark County didn't get any of the latest round of HUD funding,

despite its foreclosure crisis; even though there is a question about the strategy applied to the funding request, it was a blow, particularly to North Las Vegas. Also nothing toward the proposed maglev train in the latest round of funding of high speed rail. Again, you could argue that other regions had equally valid claims to the money, but these funding snubs, combined with the president's anti-Vegas comments, could easily return Clark County (and Nevada) back to the Republicans.

I'm seeing the same people in this thread who don't give a damn if states that barely came into the Dem column in the last election turn red again; the same people who snark about Texas, ignoring Democratic gains. If we learned anything from the 2000 theft, it should be that every state's electoral votes are important - Howard Dean understood it, hence his 50 state strategy.

And laughingliberal, don't you go trying to steal our tourists :spank:

[KingFlorez]

57. I guess all those casinos in Vegas have nothing to do with gambling

It's not like no one has ever made an analogy about Vegas and someone spending all their money, it's hardly offensive. People sometimes behave recklessly in Las Vegas, that's where the analogy comes from.

[marmar]

63. Oscar Goodman was more respectable when he represented mobsters.

He's a joke.

[izzybeans]

71. Because he's a douchebag mayor in a town full of em'.

I know some very good people in Vegas and they are far outnumbered.

If there is a place on earth as soul sucking at Vegas, I'd like to see it.

The strip is one thing but the endless stream of exurban cul-de-sac neighborhoods are even worse. Just sucking the river dry and your bank account, is all its good for.

[Blue_Tires]

72. I don't get it:

WHAT is wrong with this statement??

"When times are tough, you tighten your belts," Obama said, according to a White House transcript of his appearance Tuesday at a high school in Nashua, N.H.

"You don't go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage," Obama said. "You don't blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you're trying to save for college. You prioritize. You make tough choices."
==========
==========

I know the Mayor is trying to make a name for himself, but COME THE HELL ON...Manufactured outrage is soooo 2007

[Lilyeye]

73. This was it?

I read a headline that the President caused a firestorm with his statement, but I didn't click on the article. Then I come on DU and find out that its nothing but a bunch of horseshit. Talk about a non issue. People are really pissed about this comment? The saddest part is that some people on DU are actually agreeing with this moron of a Mayor.