Behind on this one so let us catch up real quick.
Barack Obama made the comment last February, stating "You can't get corporate jets. You can't go take that trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers' dime."
This caused Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman to demand, then retract his demand for Obam to apologize.
Fast Forward
Being slow on the uptake from the last time Obama mentioned Vegas negatively, pn Tuesday at a New Hampshire town hall, Obama compounded his original mistake by saying that people should not "blow a bunch of cash" in Vegas and continued on to state "When times are tough, you tighten your belts. 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."
Mayor Goodman says Obama is a "slow learner", Harry Reid tells Obama to "lay off Vegas" and Obama writes a "Dear Harry" letter responding to Reid.
Reid's comments:
"I just spoke to the White House and told them that while the President is correct that people saving for college need to be fiscally responsible, the President needs to lay off Las Vegas and stop making it the poster child for where people shouldn't be spending their money," Reid said in a statement. "To truly reenergize our economy, we need people to travel to Las Vegas. I would much rather tourists and business travelers spend their money in Las Vegas than spend it overseas."
A couple points here, one of which Hot Air makes and the other, my own.
Hot Air on Obama's extreme hypocrisy in his comments about Vegas:
On top of all this idiocy, these digs at Las Vegas absolutely reek of hypocrisy. Obama has turned the White House into some kind of night club, hosting weekly parties for celebrities and DC insiders. He jets back and forth to Copenhagen on the taxpayers’ dime. He takes his wife and family out to Broadway shows and and concerts. He uses taxpayer dollars to fly to New York for dinner and a play, for Chrissakes. And other Democrats are no better. Nancy Pelosi is the best example, as she’s apparently been using the Air Force as a personal chauffeur for herself and her family. Not too long ago, the House Appropriations Committee was ordering another round of Gulfstream jets for politicians to use. There was an 11-day trip a group of politicians took to New Zealand “to study climate change”, featuring fireworks, snorkeling, reef dives, and a trip to the South Pole. It ended with a stay in a luxury hotel in Hawaii. The government wastes money in a million different ways, yet Obama wants to lecture us about how to spend money responsibly? This from the man who has quadrupled our deficit in just one year?
The next point is that Obama is supposed to head to Nevada to "help" Harry Reid in his campaign for reelection, to where Reid is trailing all Republican candidates.
How much "help" is Obama going to be after remarks like these when Nevada is running at 13 percent unemployment rate, well above the national average?
January 2009, when Obama took office, Nevada's unemployment rate was at 9.4 percent and in the last year it has risen to 13 percent. (Trend found here at the Department of Labor)
Harry Reid would benefit by telling Obama not to "help" him anymore.
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