Mayor: Obama should apologize for Vegas trips quip

I saw this this morning on Breitbart.com.

Here's the link..www.breitbart.com...

It's a small article so I'm going to paste it for you.


LAS VEGAS (AP) - Sin City's mayor wants President Barack Obama to apologize for saying companies shouldn't visit Las Vegas on the taxpayer's dime.

Oscar Goodman spoke after a regular scheduled meeting with tourism officials where he expressed concern that federal lawmakers might be discouraging travel to the city.

"What's a better place, as I say, than for them to come here," Goodman told KLAS-TV. "And to change their mind and to go someplace else and to cancel—and at the suggestion of the president of the United States—that's outrageous."

Obama made the remarks Monday during a town hall meeting in Elkhart, Ind., where the president traveled to muster public support for economic stimulus legislation.

"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," Obama said.

A White House spokesman said it was looking into the mayor's comments and did not have immediate comment.

Goodman said Obama's remarks at the town hall meeting were unwarranted.

"That's outrageous, and he owes us an apology," he said. "He owes us a retraction."

Las Vegas tourism officials worry that increased scrutiny on business travel will discourage meetings and conventions—business that would be crucial for the city already suffering economically. The number of visitors to Las Vegas was down 4.4 percent in 2008 compared with a year earlier, and visits in December alone declined nearly 11 percent.

Late Monday, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said it had moved a three-day conference from the Las Vegas Strip to San Francisco amid what the bank called a broad review of its activities. Goldman Sachs has accepted $10 billion in federal bailout funds.

Last week, Wells Fargo & Co., which received a $25 billion infusion, canceled a planned employee recognition conference in Las Vegas after an AP story reported on the trip and the bank received criticism from Capitol Hill that it was misusing the funds.

Now my thought are this..

I don't fell the a retraction is necessary in this case...do you?? I'm sorry that earning in Las Vegas are down and the convention centers are still empty, but the Mayor should know better than to get in a pissing match with the President right now, givin the current economic situation.

What do you think. Am I just being to hard on the mayor??


[edit on 11-2-2009 by wolf241e]

To me, that is like Obama is saying that people shouldn't go to mardi gras on taxpayers time, LOL.

I think it is justified.

There are plenty of cities with great convention centers that could use the business, and Vegas isn't hurting for business or tourism.

ANd undoubtedly, some spouses are going to worry about their spouses having a convention in vegas.

Vegas needs to just stick with gambling.

Obama is totally justified... companies should not go *anywhere* on our dime.

If they are in such bad straits that they need us to bail them out, then they bloody well need to cut back on trips. Period.

I still have a job, for which I am grateful, and my company has not recieved any tax payer bailout money, but we still have no bonuses, wages are frozen and travel is HIGHLY restricted, all to save expense. And there is NO travel that is not scrutinized at the highest level and must provide a positive business reason. So no "recognition" trips at all at the moment.

It's too bad, but it's too bad.

Originally posted by Open_Minded Skeptic
Obama is totally justified... companies should not go *anywhere* on our dime.

Then Obama shouldn't be in Vegas for a political fundraiser 'on our dime' either.

Story Here

Obama tells people they can't do these things and then a few months later he does the exact same thing. And the COWARD refuses to see the business men and officials that he screwed over.

Dig that change.

reply to post by wolf241e


I think Obama should shut his piehole and not interfere in the private business of America. Who the hell is he to suggest or favor one city over another//

Get his ass back in DC and strap him to his desk where belongs.