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.

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.

Mark Meeks, Wife Jennifer Dallas-Meeks & Two Children Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide

Well, here we go again. Another murder-suicide. According to the Columbus Dispatch, police suspect a murder-suicide in the deaths of a couple and their two small children. The cops have not released the names, but Mike Meeks said that they are his brother, Mark Meeks, 51; his brother's wife, Jennifer Dallas-Meeks, 40; and their children, Abby, 8, and Jimmy, 5. The bodies were found in a ranch home owned by the couple at 918 Beechwood Rd.

Whitehall police refused to say last night how the four died or whether a weapon was found. "It has the markings of a murder-suicide," Sgt. Daniel Kelso said without elaborating. "This is not a high-crime area."

Relatives of the couple called police a little before 2 p.m. requesting that officers check on the family's well-being, Kelso said. Police found the four bodies upon arrival. Neighbor Stephanie Grunkemeyer, 37, said she saw Mark Meeks shoveling his driveway about 11 a.m. yesterday.

"They were really good people. I'm shocked," she said. "The kids were just the cutest. They'd come play in our yard -- they always wanted to play -- and we'd color the same coloring book a million times."

Mark Meeks worked as a service manager for a car dealership and Dallas-Meeks was a stay-at-home mom who sold candles from home, said Mike Meeks, 49, of Columbus. "He was just a good family guy," Meeks said of his brother. "Mark was just the kind of guy who never met a stranger, and he could sell ice to the Eskimos." Source: Columbus Dispatch

A neighbor said that the father had recently lost his job and was rehired three weeks ago. Investigators have said that this may have been a factor in the deaths. This news comes one day after police in Wilmington, Ca., found the bodies of Ervin and Ana Lupoe and their five children. Lupoe was in debt and had recently been fired from his job. This is a really sad turn of events and I suspect that we will hear more murder-suicides in the news as the economy continues to deteriorate. This is a selfish way to go, but sometimes one comes to a breaking point of irrationality where there seems to be no hope. There is hope, no matter how dark and treacherous the path forward seems to be.

I am appalled that this case has flown under the radar. This was not broadcast in the mainstream media as the murder-suicide of the Lupoe family in California. It would be equally shameful if this is a deliberate move on their part to keep this out of the daily news. If that is the case, I can only conclude that this action was racially motivated. The outcry should be the same. Mr. Meeks, for what is worth, committed a selfish and heinous act. Yes, no matter how dark it may seem, neither Mr. Meeks nor Mr. Lupoe had the right to take the lives of their wives and children.

Mark Meeks, Wife Jennifer Dallas-Meeks & Two Children Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide

Well, here we go again. Another murder-suicide. According to the Columbus Dispatch, police suspect a murder-suicide in the deaths of a couple and their two small children. The cops have not released the names, but Mike Meeks said that they are his brother, Mark Meeks, 51; his brother's wife, Jennifer Dallas-Meeks, 40; and their children, Abby, 8, and Jimmy, 5. The bodies were found in a ranch home owned by the couple at 918 Beechwood Rd.

Whitehall police refused to say last night how the four died or whether a weapon was found. "It has the markings of a murder-suicide," Sgt. Daniel Kelso said without elaborating. "This is not a high-crime area."

Relatives of the couple called police a little before 2 p.m. requesting that officers check on the family's well-being, Kelso said. Police found the four bodies upon arrival. Neighbor Stephanie Grunkemeyer, 37, said she saw Mark Meeks shoveling his driveway about 11 a.m. yesterday.

"They were really good people. I'm shocked," she said. "The kids were just the cutest. They'd come play in our yard -- they always wanted to play -- and we'd color the same coloring book a million times."

Mark Meeks worked as a service manager for a car dealership and Dallas-Meeks was a stay-at-home mom who sold candles from home, said Mike Meeks, 49, of Columbus. "He was just a good family guy," Meeks said of his brother. "Mark was just the kind of guy who never met a stranger, and he could sell ice to the Eskimos." Source: Columbus Dispatch

A neighbor said that the father had recently lost his job and was rehired three weeks ago. Investigators have said that this may have been a factor in the deaths. This news comes one day after police in Wilmington, Ca., found the bodies of Ervin and Ana Lupoe and their five children. Lupoe was in debt and had recently been fired from his job. This is a really sad turn of events and I suspect that we will hear more murder-suicides in the news as the economy continues to deteriorate. This is a selfish way to go, but sometimes one comes to a breaking point of irrationality where there seems to be no hope. There is hope, no matter how dark and treacherous the path forward seems to be.

I am appalled that this case has flown under the radar. This was not broadcast in the mainstream media as the murder-suicide of the Lupoe family in California. It would be equally shameful if this is a deliberate move on their part to keep this out of the daily news. If that is the case, I can only conclude that this action was racially motivated. The outcry should be the same. Mr. Meeks, for what is worth, committed a selfish and heinous act. Yes, no matter how dark it may seem, neither Mr. Meeks nor Mr. Lupoe had the right to take the lives of their wives and children.