Vegas vs Obama

Recent comments by President Obama against Vegas has struck a cord. These are Obama's words:

"When times are tough, you tighten your belts," Obama said, according to a White House transcript of his appearance Tuesday at a high school in North Nashua, N.H.

"You don't go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage," Obama said. "You don't blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you're trying to save for college. You prioritize. You make tough choices."

This has led to a tremendous amount of criticism. Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman:

"I'll do everything I can to give him the boot," Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said during a hastily called news conference, adding that he was incensed when he heard about the comments and said he would no longer welcome the president here if he visits.

"This president is a real slow learner," said Goodman, who is not affiliated with a political party.

"He has to step up right away and say, you know, he wasn't thinking," Goodman said. "Sometimes when he's not using his monitors and reading what he says, he doesn't think. And this is one of those times he didn't think, and he should straighten out the record because he's been here, he knows Las Vegas is a great place."

Shelley Berkley:

"Enough is enough!" Democratic Congresswoman Shelley Berkley said in a statement. "President Obama needs to stop picking on Las Vegas and he needs to let Americans decide for themselves how and where to spend their hard-earned vacation dollars."

Senate Majority Leader, 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," Reid said. "I would much rather tourists and business travelers spend their money in Las Vegas than spend it overseas."

Reid later released a letter he received from Obama in which the president said he "wasn't saying anything negative about Las Vegas."

Obama's response:

"I was making the simple point that families use vacation dollars, not college tuition money, to have fun," Obama said, according to the letter. "There is no place better to have fun than Vegas, one of our country's great destinations."

Senator John Ensign:

Sen. John Ensign, a Republican, complained that Obama "failed to grasp the weight that his words carry."

"Once again he has threatened the struggling economy of Las Vegas," Ensign said, recalling what he characterized as Obama's "irresponsible" comment in February 2009.

Obama really dropped the ball on this one. There is no more important an endorser of tourism than the President of a country. If the President is depicting a place in a negative light, why would anyone want to go there?