LAS VEGAS – Nevada lawmakers lashed out at President Barack Obama on Tuesday after he made another reference to Las Vegas while explaining how people should make tough choices on spending.

The issue is sensitive to Sin City because its economy is largely based on tourism, and several lawmakers said they were shocked that Obama singled out Las Vegas again after commenting one year ago about bailed-out banks holding meetings here.

"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."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100203/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_las_vegas

WOW!!!!! Maybe he should take his own advice and stop spending money our country doesn't have!!!!!!!!

Nahhh...it's MUCH better for him to just say " Do as I say...not as I do ".

I went to vegas a couple of weeks ago.. I stayed and gambled at the Venetian. I left with $3000 more than the trip cost. Pretty sweet..

I doubt that anything he has said about Vegas was received by the people he was trying to educate . Some people don't ever learn , they have no reason to because we always give them more don't we .

Well I think what he said was taken out of context for some. Seems to me it was only and example more or less telling others that when your trying to save money you should not go and gamble it away. Which many do in Vegas when they should stick it back. He could have used many different places but Vegas is known for people going there to gamble regardless if they have the money or not.

Truth is in fact he should practice what he preaches as well the way I understand his wife has 5 consultants and a hairdresser that flies every where with her come on WTF. Right there is a few million a year that could be cut as well.

Any who I did not see that the statement was anything but and example....

That's common sense to me.

why does the stimulus plan and pork spending come to mind????

Same here. Aww, did some witoo casino owners get their feelings hurt? So some thin-skinned Nevadans are making a big deal about semantics now? Should he have said "gambling" instead of Vegas? What if he said don't blow your money at the Bellagio, would that have made a difference? Come on, it's semantics, in an off the cuff metaphorical remark. As in don't borrow more than you can afford to pay back. Yes, times are tough, Vegas should be accepting that now, and find innovative ways of luring people there for tourism and gaming, which does not include the continual building of megamillion super-casinos. How about improving or expanding the ones that are already there? How about new venues, instead of running the same ones for 3-5 years straight. Nevada lawmakers probably should sit down and shut up over this "lashing-out" business.

Coming from the top man in the white house who can't balance our countries budget.
What right is it of his to tell people how to spend there money?
Why didn't he refer to those who waste there money on drugs and alcohol? I think that would be a more important issue to campare it to over those who gamble.
And I would like to know where he got the information that people are wasting there money in Vegas.

I'm no Obama fan , neither any _____ (insert a party or man) fan, but what I have seen so far for 2 years now, that some people pick apart and analyze every single breath Obama takes, and try to turn it against him.

This is why this country in a stalemate i think, tiny and completely irrelevant things gets analyzed, then trumpeted across the media while unemployment is rising, businesses continue to go bankrupt and absolutely nothing gets done.

I guess...the only way to have things done, some people actually and physically have to get bitchslapped across the face in the government or hundreds and thousands gonna suffer because of the stalled works.

I would actually do that..people who want to derail everything - I don't care which side it is - I would slap them on the face so hard, they would remember it forever!

Well if the President thinks it's important enough to tell Pepole how to spend their money when he is proposing record defacite budget,
then yes I'm going to talk about it.

What's to budget? The deficit was $1.3 trill to begin with! So magically in 12 months this will all just vanish like wisps of smoke? It's going to take a very loooooong time to get out of this hole. People will and can "risk" their money in Vegas, always has, always will, nobody can ever change that, not even the president.

It was all received very poorly by the Mayor, whom decided that the Pres. owed LV a apology. This was the man who answered the question "What would you bring with you on a desert island?"posed by school children, stating "a bottle of gin" 2 years ago. The loudest complainers are the guilty ones. Las Vegas has planned very poorly for anything, the growth and building, where thousandsof new homes and foreclosed lay empty. It was all 'fun and games' until the party was over...and now they are upset the party goers won't come clean up their mess. We're 3rd in debt with the fed for welfare and unemployment in the nation, asking only a mere pittance from the casinos, as always. Theres alot more money moving going on behind closed doors than any one suspects. I think Obama was just dropping a hint.

I think that is currently what he is pushing,,,and people will criticize that too, no doubt.

I live in vegas and agree with him. He didnt say anything untrue, he could have used any example of extravagant spending and I think people should grow a bit thicker skin if they took it personal. Vegas happens to be known for gambling, an activity that is based on BLOWING MONEY.