Mayor Goodman reacts to President Obama's comments about Las Vegas

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Mayor Oscar Goodman holds a press conference inside his downtown Las Vegas office Tuesday, February 2, 2010. Goodman was upset about the following statement made by President Obama: “When times are tough, you tighten your belts,” Obama said. “You don’t go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage. You don’t blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you’re trying to save for college.”
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Mayor Oscar Goodman said obama "is a SLOW LEARNER". Obama made another STUPID IDIOT comment about Las Vegas. On the surface his comment sounds like it could only be made by a buffoon. Obama made the comment about vegas on purpose. He as I have said before is trying to destroy the US economy. The last time obama made a comment about vegas it did hurt the vegas economy. Obama's comments again about Las Vegas will damage the states economy. Obama is a successful failure. Obama is successfuly destroying the US economy. Its not that he is an idiot. This is his plan. Obama appears to be a slow learner but America is learning fast he is a COMMUNIST who is destroying the US economy! Story Reports
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Obama makes a slow learner comment about Las Vegas

By Sun Staff

A year after President Barack Obama remarked during a town hall meeting that corporations using federal bailout money should stop visiting Las Vegas, he made a similar comment at another town hall today in reference to the down economy.

"This isn't how responsible families do their budgets. When times are tough, you tighten your belts," he said at a New Hampshire forum today. "You don't go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage. You don't blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you're trying to save for college. You prioritize. You make tough choices. And it's time your government did the same."

In response to criticism this afternoon, Obama wrote a letter to Sen. Harry Reid saying "there's no better place to have fun than Vegas." In his letter, which was addressed to "Harry," he wrote:

"I hope you know that during my Town Hall today, I wasn’t saying anything negative about Las Vegas. I was making the simple point that families use vacation dollars, not college tuition money, to have fun," Obama wrote. "There is no place better to have fun than Vegas, one of our country’s great destinations. I have always enjoyed my visits, look forward to visiting in a few weeks, and hope folks will visit in record numbers this year."

But Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman delivered a double-barreled verbal blast at Obama for telling people not to spend their money in Las Vegas during the town hall forum.

Obama is "no friend to Las Vegas" and "I think he has a psychological hangup about us," Goodman told reporters he gathered into his office at City Hall.

Goodman, whose face became red as he spoke at his desk, said he was "incredulous" when he heard that Obama had again attacked the city and that a simply apology was not enough this time to undo the damage.

"It has to be a real mea culpa and a promise not to do it again," Goodman said.

"You don't cite Las Vegas as the specific example each time you're talking about spending money. That's what I'm saying," Goodman said. "You could tell people they should save their money to send their kids to college. There's nothing wrong with that. And that's the end of the statement. You don't need 'and blow your money in Las Vegas.'"

Obama's comments last year that corporations using federal bailout money should stop visiting Las Vegas were part of the reason the area lost a chunk of its convention business, he said.

"I can't attribute the 341 lost meetings just to the president's comments. But I'll tell you one thing: He sure doesn't help us," Goodman said.

Shortly after Obama's remarks, Gov. Jim Gibbons fired at Obama's town hall comment.

"How dare he insult any American city," Gibbons said before meeting with Nevada school superintendents in Carson City today. "I'm writing a letter to him today telling him to tone down or temper his remarks about Las Vegas. This is another slap in the face of the hard-working families in Nevada."

Goodman today said there's nothing wrong with Las Vegas' infrastructure -- it's the fact that the economic downturn across the country is bringing fewer visitors, thus creating a 13 percent jobless rate.

"If you come to Las Vegas, you're going to get the best of everything," he said. "You're going to get the best shows. You're going to get the best food. You're going to do the best shopping. Stay at the nicest hotels. But the people aren't coming with money. That's the difference between now and maybe three years ago."

"Every time he talks about people spending money in Las Vegas, it has to hurt us," he said. "It's a natural consequence of his statement."

"He's got his own psychological quirk up there about Las Vegas," Goodman said. "That's our town, folks. You should be angry about it, too."

"I want the president to straighten this out," Goodman said. "If not, he's not welcome in my city, as far as I'm concerned. He's not our friend. I don't know about people in Nevada, but in Las Vegas, he's sure not our friend."

Goodman said he didn't care if he received criticism again for going after the president.

"What? Little weenies are going to criticize me? Forgetaboutit. I could care less about that," he said. "I'm the mayor, I'm trying to protect Las Vegas. And I don't care what these little pundits say."

"I think he has a psychological hangup about us," he said. Because apparently, these statements are not the ones that are on the monitors. He does fine on the monitors. You get him off the monitors and Las Vegas creeps into his mind. He's got a problem with us. I don't know what it is."

It was during a town hall meeting nearly a year ago, on Feb. 9, 2009, in Elkhart, Ind., that Obama said “you can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayer’s dime.”