Vegas Mayor Counters Obama Attack on Corporate Gambling Trips
Oscar Goodman, the mayor of Las Vegas, is defending his city against what he perceives as slurs by the President of the United States. Barack Obama has warned corporate bigwigs that no government stimulus money should go to luxurious entertainment, saying, "You can't go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers' dime. There's got to be some accountability and some responsibility.”But Goodman says that what's good for Las Vegas is good for the US economy. Despite his city's image as a playground of casino gambling, drinking, and carousing, Goodman says, "The assumption that all meetings, event and incentive travel are wasteful is wrong. Now more than ever, we need businesses to travel and hold meetings and events."
Las Vegas has seen four straight months of double-digit decline in visitors. The town's economy, so dependent on tourism and conventions, is in disarray as layoffs dominate local news.
Still, Goodman is partially to blame for the exclusion of the casino gaming industry from the bailouts of the economic stimulus package. Goodman had previously proposed that fifty million dollars of the stimulus bill should be set aside for the creation of a museum in Las Vegas detailing the town's history with the mob and organized crime.
This ridiculous idea led to the insertion of a clause in the stimulus package specifically denying money to any casino or gambling company or venue. Also, museums, aquariums, and other leisure projects were excluded.
Goodman has stated Las Vegas receives six million business visitors a year, with an economic impact on the city of $8.5 billion. But Obama is making it clear that those numbers will not be generated on the public dole.
