Will Obama's "You don't blow a bunch of cash in Vegas" statement affect how the locals view him? Visits?
Looks like there was a statement by President Obama that "You don't blow a bunch of cash in Vegas." Add this to last years, "You don't get to go to Vegas" statement about banks and it is twice now.
I was wondering two things. First, how you locals feel about this. Second, do you think it really affects visits?
On the second part I think it does affect at least convention business somewhat, and the loss of even one small convention could mean $2-3MM in lost revenue. The attitude of the White House trickles out to business. For example I remember how "business casual" got big during Clinton and less so when Bush took over and said, "there is no casual day-this is the White House!" Also think how hatmakers still blame JFK for killing that market.
Thoughts?
Now, to apologize to Las Vegas and Nevada, to whom does he send his regret? Not the city, not the state, not the Governor, not the people, but Senator Harry Reid, best known Democrat in the state.
How about just apologizing, rather than sending the apology to someone you know will be able to grant you forgiveness beforehand? Maybe they've stumbled a new way out of taking responsibility. My hat is off to them. Oh wait, I haven't worn one since President Kennedy.
I'd speculate that because he is a smart, ultra-educated guy who had to work very hard to get where he was, the very idea of gambling in Las Vegas is antithetical to him. Some people are conditioned that way. (Hell, I was until a few years ago). This is why some people find the President aloof and unable to relate to the more "common folk."
That's just my opinion.
Quote: cclub79I find it telling that the administration likes to apologize to friendly crowds. Last week, Rahm Emmanuel said that a group was "f---ing retarded," and he apologized to the same person who runs the Special Olympics, longtime Democrat Somebody Shriver. The President apologized to the same person when he said that it looked like the Special Olympics when he was bowling, but that made a little more sense.
Quote:
When he made that bowling comment I wished he could have had the experience I had on it. Then he would really mean it when he realized how foolish he looked. I'll share as it is a kind of funny story.
About 20 years ago my company had a Bowl-A-Thon for I don't even remember who. Management liked having employees involved so a few of us signed up. One was a grocery-bagger who was slow but functional. Not sure what his condition was but probably high-functioning autism or the other one where you get an extra chromosone (the name excapes me right now.)
So we solicit "pledges" on a per-pin basis. People feel good this kid is doing it but also don't think he will do much so they pledge high.
Well, turns out the kid was the best of all of us, a near 200 bowler. Just a few frames in it is clear it isn't a case of "luck" and he will clean up. Our manager is going crazy because she knows why people bid high-that they thought he would be a 100 at best bowler. She is telling the charity not to expect his card to pay off completely. It is even worse since we by-chance were in the lanes next to some very high-up execs.
No idea what he collected, but a lesson to be learned.All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others
"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. "
What makes it worse is it comes while Vegas is still bitter about this remark, referring to how companies depending on a government bailout should or should not spend it:
"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 taxpayers' dime..."
Speaking only for myself, the "taxpayers' dime" remark was much worse. Conventions are a normal part of doing business, and Vegas is actually a cost effective and enjoyable place to host them. After his remark, Goldman Sachs moved a scheduled Vegas conference to San Francisco, which is much more expensive, not to mention the cancellation fee they had to pay to the Mandalay Bay. (source)' rel='nofollow' target='_blank'>http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/feb/10/goldman-sachs-moves-meeting-las-vegas/]source)
About the second remark, of course parents should not be gambling with the kid's college fund. However, why bring up Vegas as an example again? Why not say to not spend it on lottery tickets, which are a much worse? I hear Obama is a good poker player, so must not be morally opposed to gambling. However, between the two remarks, he seems to think Vegas is patronized by fools, excessively gambling their kids college funds and taxpayer bailout money. Certainly there is some of that, but I think the vast majority of gamblers stay within a reasonable budget, and lose roughly what they would spend on other forms of entertainment.
Finally, to get political, isn't he not practicing what he preaches, as he just proposed a budget with a record high deficit? (source)' rel='nofollow' target='_blank'>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/01/obamas-trillion-budget-deficit_n_444031.html]source)
The result on the American public is that Democrats will listen, look at their balance sheet, and may cancel a trip to Vegas based on their spending. Republicans who don't like Obama will do the opposite. :)
He can say whatever he wants and to be honest I agree with him in this manner... but it's something you really don't say. I mean nobody will argue that Vegas is a complete and utter indulgence. The average American will only go there when he can afford it, and stay within his means.
All in all it's an incredibly (retarded) comment to make about the city/state that your majority leader comes from. On that note, the Special Olympics doesn't accept Rahm's apology.
Quote: WizardFirst, let's look at the whole remark, so that the Vegas part doesn't get taken out of context:
"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. "
Speaking only for myself, the "taxpayers' dime" remark was much worse. Conventions are a normal part of doing business, and Vegas is actually a cost effective and enjoyable place to host them. After his remark, Goldman Sachs moved a scheduled Vegas conference to San Francisco, which is much more expensive, not to mention the cancellation fee they had to pay to the Mandalay Bay. (source)' rel='nofollow' target='_blank'>http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/feb/10/goldman-sachs-moves-meeting-las-vegas/]source)
I agree with the Wizard. The statement last year led to measurable results in convention business. Probably no one would have heard the quote this week if Nevadan politicians didn't react to the statement. Of course he could have made the statement more generic, but the first part about the boat was already innocuous. It was a minor mistake on the part of the POTUS this time.
Goldman Sachs bought the Stratosphere Casino through their real estate arm, Whitehall Street Real Estate Funds. What the heck are they doing patronizing one of their own corporate rivals? No one could accuse them of being spendthrifts if they held this conference at their own mid to lower level market resort.
Quote: pacomartin
Goldman Sachs bought the Stratosphere Casino through their real estate arm, Whitehall Street Real Estate Funds. What the heck are they doing patronizing one of their own corporate rivals? No one could accuse them of being spendthrifts if they held this conference at their own mid to lower level market resort.
Good point! Perhaps their personal standards are too high for the Stratosphere.
Quote: ahiromuWarning: I am a conservative and believe that Obama is a fool that will lead us into despair.
He can say whatever he wants and to be honest I agree with him in this manner... but it's something you really don't say. I mean nobody will argue that Vegas is a complete and utter indulgence. The average American will only go there when he can afford it, and stay within his means.
All in all it's an incredibly (retarded) comment to make about the city/state that your majority leader comes from. On that note, the Special Olympics doesn't accept Rahm's apology.
It goes to how the POTUS thinks of how smart Americans are I think. When gas hit $4/gal President Bush took some heat from some corners for not telling people to do things like drive slower, etc during a speech on the issue. His reply was that Americans are smart enough they don't need to be told that. I mostly agree with you that Vegas is an indulgence. However, Vegas is also full of cheap rooms and convention space for a company meeting.
What people forget is these conventions are not all play. While a company I was at had 2 years of 4-hours of meetings and the rest was your own time, the same company also had several years where you met for breakfast at 7:00 (skip it and you would be missed), training from 8-5 with just a lunch break, then dinner from 6-7:30 or so, and again you would be missed if you skipped it. Friends and family thought I had a "fun time in AC" during that. Reality was a big part of the reason we had it there was only the bigger resorts like that could handle 1,000+ people.
And that is the rub. If you are a company and having 1-5,000 employees show up for a few days your choices for a place drop to half a dozen or so in al of North America. Most of those are going to be "resort" type places because that is where the big hotels are located. Then you look at airfares and connectivity.
I am a conservative also and find Obama's comments on Vegas to be typical one-dimensional thinking like most of what he wants. Just like saying we want more electric cars to reduce pollution but forgetting the electric plants run on coal.
Quote: WizardQuote: pacomartin
Goldman Sachs bought the Stratosphere Casino through their real estate arm, Whitehall Street Real Estate Funds. What the heck are they doing patronizing one of their own corporate rivals? No one could accuse them of being spendthrifts if they held this conference at their own mid to lower level market resort.
Good point! Perhaps their personal standards are too high for the Stratosphere.
As Goldman Sachs prepared to announce its fourth quarter earnings and employee compensation levels yesterday, the bank had bomb-sniffing dogs and police barricades on hand at its New York City headquarters, the New York Post reports. The decision to boost security as its offices was apparently driven by growing fervor over the bank's huge profits and bonuses. Yesterday, the bank announced that it earned $13.4 billion for the year, and set aside $16 billion for employee compensation.
It probably wouldn't hurt their image to have a conference at their own casino. Besides, how much are the executives going to suffer if they stay in the Penthouse Suites with strip view. It's not like they are being asked to pitch in and serve dinner.
# Presidential Suite - 980-square-foot suite
# VIP Suite - 1,550 square feet of Vegas-style living
# Penthouse Suite - 1,950-square-foot Penthouse
# Premier Suite - 2,165 square feet of pure hospitality
