Spat of the Day
Obama: “When times are tough, you tighten your belts…You don’t blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you’re trying to save for college.”
Harry Reid: ” . . . the President needs to lay off Las Vegas and stop making it the poster child for where people shouldn’t be spending their money.”
Senator John Ensign: “I certainly hope that companies across this country understand that his comments are simply cavalier assumptions about a city that offers dollar for dollar the best rates in the country.”
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman: ” . . . 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.”
Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons: “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.”
Let Obama keep bashing LV and hopefully the voters will punt Reid out of office.Report
So, wait, I should blow a lot of money in Vegas? Now I’m so confused!Report
Humph, well if the Nevadans are going to get so snippety maybe Obama should revisit his shutting down the nuclear waste repository there. If they punt ol Reid out who’s going to keep throwing monkey wrenches into the repository project?Report
North, great point! Where are we going to deposit our nuclear waste?Report
Well my own suggestion would be to burn out “waste” in a fast reactor like the French do. The French store the portion that can’t be re-used in glass cylinders. After half of century of storage they’ve filled up a room about the size of a large college gymnasium. Perhaps we could store our waste under congress?
Or we could reverse our mistake in the 50’s and build new reactors that use thorium. Thorium doesn’t really produce much waste in general and what little it does produce decays down after about 100 years.
Or there’s always fusion!!! (but seriously, we should consider thorium)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/28/MN5K1BOF4V.DTLReport
North, you’re like a scientist on this stuff! Now, we do agree on Nuk-e-ar energy!Report
When I was living in Gardanne, outside of Marseille, I used to like to take strolls on the weekends down around the nuclear plant and back. The French really lapped us on this one, I think. Something like 85% of their power comes from nuclear and they’re really the best in the world at building the plants. But there’s always room to catch up now that nobody remembers watching The China Syndrome.Report
Rufus, I agree entirely. The French (and it agonizes me, a rabid anglophile to admit this) have completely stolen the show on the subject of commercial nuclear power. Yes they generate between 80-85% of their power from nuclear which is one reason why they’re the tough-on-Russia bloc in the EU. Russia rattles its’ oil lines and Germany swoons but the French yawn.Report
You’re so kind Bob, nuclear is a hobby of mine. If I had discovered it earlier in my life (and if the practical sciences didn’t give me The Fear) I might have gone into the field myself.Report
I thought Yucca Mountain was already dead? Thank you Obama and Reid.Report
It’s dead currently but it’s a gigantic reinforced titanium bunker under a mountain. It doesn’t just vanish into a poof of butterflies when a politician cuts its budget. It could be reactivated easily (and then the sunk costs that went into it would be partially recouped).Report
I’ll tell you what I found offensive in that town hall; there was a point at which Obama said something like, “You don’t want Washington to politically exploit your problems; you want us to solve your problems!” The crowd cheered, but I thought, “hey, wait, no I don’t!”Report
Wow, this might be the stupidest political hissyfit I’ve ever heard of. I can’t believe that any of these guys didn’t collapse into paroxysms of laughter immediately after saying this garbage.Report
I think we’re forgetting the real issue here. Apparently there is so much power invested in the executive branch that an off hand remark at a town hall in New Hampshire is enough to force people to not go to Las Vegas.
Furthermore, Nevada’s economy is evidently based on people throwing money away, in one city.Report
I’m no expert on Nevada but what else do they have there other than a really big dam?Report
Well, ….how about Area 51 and Art Bell?Report
Obama is clearly right. In an economy like this, you don’t plonk down all your cash in Vegas. You go outside of Vegas, where prostitution is legal.
Here’s where someone makes a good joke about “priming the pump.”Report
yes, it’s ridiculous – it’s obvious the president meant people should spend their money wisely and not frivolously (though this isn’t the first time he’s singled out Vegas in such comments).
On the other hand, it’s sort of the tax-and-spend mantra right? People shouldn’t spend their money on frivolous luxuries but instead on socially optimal goods. Which might be better for the nation but it isn’t cost-free, something made all the more apparent when we’re talking about spending money in Las Vegas…Report
Thank goodness that we have finally elected a president who isn’t afraid to tell people that they need to live more moral lives and need to spend less time sinning.Report
I might have more sympathy if that is what Obama really meant instead of just making stupid off the cuff remarks.Report
I don’t think it was a stupid off the cuff remark. It was a decent point that when times are tough you (citizen, government, corporation whatever) prioritize your spending and investing in college is wiser than spending on gambling or some other frivolous entertainment for which LV is noted. Maybe you disagree with it, but it is a sound point worthy of engaging with a little something more than whining about the president picking on Las Vegas.
I didn’t read a transcription of the whole town hall, but I didn’t see evidence in what I have seen that suggested he was talking about sin or morality, but about spending priorities with limited funds. I welcome correction on that.
People involved with Las Vegas from the earliest gangsters to the present politicians and local tourism bureaus have dedicated themselves to convincing the world that LV is synonymous with gambling, extravagant entertainment and decadent consumption (What happens in LV stays in Las Vegas is the current slogan) and there is nothing wrong with any of that. But they can’t turn around and whine when that connection is exploited to use LV as a rhetorical stand-in for all luxury spending.Report
Also, you spend too much time watching television. You should go to cooking school or something. And put on a decent outfit instead of those rags you usually just throw on.
And, for god’s sake, quit slouching.Report
hah.
“investing in college is wiser than spending on gambling.”
Is it and how do you know?Report
Speaking as someone who’s tried both, I’m not sure there’s a definitive answer, Kyle.Report
So the folks in LV are more deserving of unemployment b/c their city is one giant tourist trap?Report
Quite right, JB, he gives me a warm sensation down my leg!Report