Oscar Goodman, Mayor of Las Vegas, Wants Apology from President Obama Over Comments About Increased Scrutiny of Bailout Funds

Photo: Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman

We all know that politicians embellish the truth and will do just about anything to win an election, but this is a new low. Oscar Goodman, the mayor of Sin City, wants President Barack Obama to apologize for saying companies shouldn't visit Las Vegas on the taxpayer's dime. He expressed concern that federal lawmakers might be discouraging travel to the city. I am guessing he has absolutely no qualms about executives spending taxpayers' money to have fun while the economy is in a downward spiral. Sounds very selfish to me.

"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. Source: Yahoo News

The President's comments were warranted and I think Mayor Goodman owes him an apology. There needs to be increased scrutiny of the banks that received bail-out money. They need to use that money to help Main Street and stimulate the credit markets, not to go to Las Vegas to gamble and take in all the city has to offer on taxpayer dime. No way.

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. Source: Yahoo News

The tourism officials there are only worried about themselves and their bottom line. According to media reports, 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. In case Mayor Goodman hasn't noticed, there is an economic downturn in just about every major city in this country. I am sure he has heard of what's going on in California and Indiana, for example. This is the same mindset that got us into this financial quagmire in the first place.