Obama: Don't Go to Vegas

UPDATE, February 2, 2010:

It's been nearly one year since Obama warned bankers to stay out of Vegas.

I guess he decided it was time to issue the warning again, but this time directing it to more than just bankers.

President Obama is catching heat from Nevada lawmakers and business leaders regarding his comments Tuesday criticizing trips to Las Vegas.

During the president's town hall meeting in Nashua, New Hampshire, he discussed the need to curb spending during tough economic times. "When times are tough, you tighten your belts," the president said. "You don't go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage. You don't blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you're trying to save for college."

What is wrong with Obama?

After all the flack he caught from his anti-Vegas comments the first time, why would the guy do it again?

Really stupid.
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Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman is not happy with Barack Obama.

Here's why:

Oscar Goodman, the colorful mayor of Las Vegas, is outraged over comments President Obama made about his city, and has demanded that the president pay him an apology.

At issue are remarks about corporate responsibility Obama made at a town hall Monday in Elkhart, Ind., when responding to a question from an audience member.

“We’re going to do something to strengthen the banking system," Mr. Obama said, “You are not going to be able to give out these big bonuses until you pay taxpayers back. 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 taxpayers' dime. There's got to be some accountability and some responsibility.”

Goodman responded today with outrage at Obama’s singling out his city in a negative light, dissuading -- in his view -- travel to Sin City.

“That's outrageous," Goodman, a Democrat, said to KLAS-TV today. "He owes us an apology. He owes us a retraction. What is a better place, I say, for them to come here. For them to change their mind and go someplace else and to cancel at the suggestion of the president of the United States, that is outrageous.”

To be fair to Obama, his comment was about banking execs using taxpayer funds to go to Vegas.

Obama was making a point about the misuse of taxpayers' dollars, not that there's something wrong with going to Vegas per se.

That said, Obama did single out Goodman's city. That wasn't necessary. It certainly isn't good advertising for Las Vegas tourism to have the U.S. president associate the destination with something negative.

Goodman is really ticked off.

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- The mayor of Las Vegas has written President Barack Obama to say that his comments about companies using taxpayer money to visit Sin City are harmful.

Mayor Oscar Goodman is not asking for an apology, though, as he did a day earlier in a television interview.

Goodman says in a copy of the letter obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday that he knows the president has an enormous burden in dealing with the economy, but that he should stop "calling out" individual destinations.

I think that's fair.