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Posted on 02/20/2010 7:27:57 AM PST by ricks_place
One of the odder political subplots of President Obama's term so far has been his relationship with the tourism-dependent city of Las Vegas. A year ago, Obama irked Nevadans by demanding that corporations not use federal bailout money for trips to Vegas. A couple of weeks ago he infuriated them again by telling a New Hampshire audience to save their cash for college instead of “blowing” it in Vegas. No Nevadans were more annoyed, of course, than the state's Democratic politicians, among them Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who faces an uphill fight for re-election this fall.
So now the president is falling all over himself to make amends. He stopped in Nevada Friday, where he rolled out some new federal housing aid and urged people to, indeed, live it up in Sin City. “He's spending some money here in Vegas,” Obama told one town meeting, pointing to a tourist from Arkansas in the audience. “That's good! We like to see that!”
Frankly, I think the president had it right the first time. It was undoubtedly impolitic for him to single out Las Vegas, rather than, say, Atlantic City, as a particularly wasteful destination. But as an objective matter, his broader point is correct: Americans need to tighten their belts -- for quite a while, probably. During the boom, the ratio of household debt to household income reached 128 percent in 2008, according to the McKinsey Global Institute, far more than leading economic competitors such as Germany, Japan or China. This burden was concentrated most heavily on the middle class, McKinsey notes. And the proof that it was not sustainable is all around us, in the form of personal bankruptcy filings and foreclosures.
(Excerpt) Read more at voices.washingtonpost.com ...
Frankly, I don’t need to hear about how I should consume less from a guy who lives in a mansion...
Ah, so the media complains that Americans consume too much in times of economic growth, too little in times of economic uncertainty, and now they’re crossing the message wires.
The media describes Tea Partiers as incoherent. The true incoherency is on the part of the media.
How about the Government consume less? Now that’s a novel idea! If the Government consumed less then taxes could be lowered and thus the consumer can spend more putting more people back to work because of the increase in productivity.
FUBO
Especially from a guy that was living off of credit cards before he lived in the White House. Amazing!
The Fuhrer can start with himself and Congress first. These vermin think they’re Royalty and We The People are their serfs!
We The People will clean the sewer that is this Congress in November.
Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Vegas is a cancer.
Having destroyed what is left of manufacturing, Obama turns the wrecker on the consumer market.
I can still hear him talking so he must not have consumed enough.
It’s weird to see a U.S. President get up each day and look into the camera and LIE.
He would be much more comfortable in Kenya talking to ignorant shoeless Kenyans.
LOL!!
Listen, bud, just because the Washington Post is telling you to take a pay cut does not imply I have to consume less.
Welcome to zimbabwe....
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