Does the host of the leftwing "The Young Turks" internet talk show, Cenk Uygur, realize that he has provided some really good reasons to defeat Harry Reid in November? I'm sure that wasn't his intent when Uygur went into some detail on the sad state of the Las Vegas economy which sure wasn't helped when President Obama openly discouraged businesses from making trips there last year despite the fact that he had no problem visiting that city recently for fundraising purposes.
The state of Nevada is in massive economic trouble. No, no. It's not a big deal. I told you about it on the program. Yeah, I said what is going down first? I said Vegas is going down first. The heart of Nevada's troubles? Vegas and its outlying areas. The highest growth in unemployment in the country. 14.2% now. When you look at houses that are underwater, again the worst in the country. 6% of the houses are underwater in just these last 6 months. Facing foreclosure. See, 6% of the market, not bad. But just in the last 6 months. That's colossal! It's in a death spiral. They're starting to shut down casino projects.
Cenk goes on to cite a Huffington Post blog by Ryan Grim and Arthur Delaney about Las Vegas which has this revealing tidbit:
Sarcastic references to President Obama's 2009 stimulus bill can be seen throughout the Las Vegas area, from glossy Keno fliers at Vegas hotels to the mysterious sign by the front entrance to the Nugget advertising a "Great opportunity" to "stimulate yourself" and make money. "You won't need a bailout. Call Barry."
Uygur concludes with what he sees as the final stage of the Las Vegas death spiral...free hotel rooms for "shmos":
One of the ways you'll know that it's coming is when hotels start send you deals for zero dollars. If you're a big gambler you get that all the time. But if you're a regular shmo and a Vegas hotel sends you, and not some flea-bitten place or whatever, but a legitimate thing on the Strip, a deal saying here come stay for zero dollars, that means they're in a panic. That they want you to come and gamble there and that they ran out of all options. That's another indicator. Now we have gotten there yet but it's starting to shut down casinos and 3 billion dollar projects. We're getting there! We're getting there! And a panic do a couple more Vegas trips before it goes under.
By coincidence your humble correspondent, who has something of a reputation for being a coupon fanatic, was searching for Las Vegas deals just last night and while you might not get a hotel room on the Strip for free, the "regular shmo" can get one for an incredibly low rate. In addition, you can easily find coupons on the Web or in casino magazines offering lots of free play money as well as great buffet and entertainment deals. Travel to Las Vegas on weekdays and the deals are even better. The secret is to carefully plan ahead by intelligent use of casino coupons and deals. Yes, Las Vegas will recover...but no thanks to Obama or Reid.
One big question is how long will it be before Cenk Uygur's comments will appear in a Sharron Angle campaign video.
