Nevada politicians seem to be a thin-skinned bunch.
Last year, Barack Obama said that federally bailed out companies should not take a trip to Las Vegas “on the taxpayer’s dime.”
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman did not like Obama’s comment then, and he does not like the one Obama made now.
“Responsible families don’t do their budgets the way the federal government does. Right? 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 on Vegas when you’re trying to save for college. You prioritize. You make tough choices. It’s time your government did the same,” said Obama.
That is too much for Goodman.
“An apology won’t be acceptable this time. I want to assure you when he comes I will do everything I can to give him the boot back to Washington and to visit his failures back there,” Goodman responded.
In December, Goodman changed his party affiliation from Democrat to nonpartisan, but party affiliation does not seem to matter when one is a Nevadan politician, and the honor of that dear cash cow Las Vegas is at stake.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid commented, “The President needs to lay off Las Vegas and stop making it the poster child for where people shouldn’t be spending their money.”
Rep. Shelley Berkley, who represents Las Vegas, told Obama that the people of Las Vegas do not deserve his “scorn.”
Rep. Dina Titus also criticized Obama’s “pattern of bashing Las Vegas.”
Reid, Berkley and Titus are all Democrats. Republican Rep. Dean Heller and Senator John Ensign also joined in by condemning Obama’s remarks.
What is so bad about what Obama said?
No reasonable person blows cash on a gambling binge when tough choices have to be made.
What do these Nevada pols want Obama to say?
“Times are tough so bring your unemployment, college savings and social security checks to Vegas and maybe you will hit the big one.”
Goodman, Reid and the rest would probably praise Obama for that comment. At least the administration has not fallen to that level to get us out of the recession.
Obama also said not to buy a boat when there is a mortgage to be paid. I don’t hear the boat manufacturers getting riled up over Obama’s comment, and if they do, they are just as wrong as Nevada’s lawmakers.
Goodman had more to say about Obama.
“This President is a real slow learner,” said Goodman.
Hopefully, the President is not going to learn what Goodman is teaching.
These Nevada politicians are bound so tightly to the casinos that they squeal on demand at the slightest itch of common sense.
