For the second time in less than a year, Nevada officials are annoyed with President Obama for a remark he has made about Las Vegas–essentially the same remark, in fact, he delivered before.
Speaking in New Hampshire about budget austerity, the President 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. It’s time your government did the same.”
The mayor of Las Vegas is demanding an apology. True, in tough economic times, the President should refrain from specifically discouraging tourism to a particular location. What he said, however, was 100% true. The statement didn’tgo far enough, in fact. You don’t blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you’re trying to build a savings account. You don’t blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you’re out of work, or your kids need a tutor, or you have no health insurance. You probably shouldn’t blow a wad in Vegas while the people of Haiti are struggling to survive. In fact, it is irresponsible to blow money gambling on games with slanted odds anywhere, unless you really have money to burn. Even then there are more responsible uses for it.
President Obama enjoys using the moral authority of his office, and discouraging adults from spending money irresponsibly when their children depend on them is an excellent use of it. There is so much lying and deceit in our government and politics. It makes no sense, ethically or logically, for the President to apologize for telling the truth.
Ethics Alarms 
The president should use this as a wonderful opportunity to encourage financial responsibility. If he feels he needs to apologize, how about this.
“A recent comment I made offended the mayor of Las Vegas. I should apologize for singling them out. When you are saving for college, you shouldn’t blow your money in Vegas, you shouldn’t take a vacation to France, you shouldn’t spend your money on a bunch of video games, and you probably don’t need to buy a new dirtbike. You have to prioritize your money especially when times are tough. You have to spend on the important things first, and spend on the less important (no matter how enjoyable) only after the most important things are taken care of. It may not be fun and it may hurt, but it is the responsible thing to do. It is what you need to do for yourself and your family and it is what this government needs to do. This is how I propose to do it…”
Excellent!
If Obama wants to “encourage financial responsibility,” he should immediately ban all state lotteries. The sham that proceeds from lotteries go to state education systems is just that — a sham. I have been surveyed by the Virginia State Lottery and asked such questions as: “How often do you play the Lottery?” “How many of your friends play the Lottery?” “How much money do you spend weekly on the Lottery”
I took the opportunity to tell the surveyor that I never played the Lottery, never spent a dime on it, didn’t know one person who played the Lottery, and that only when in the 7-11 did I see people who clearly could not afford it buy tickets for the Lottery.
As far as I’m concerned, the Virginia State Lottery is a regressive tax. Poor people, according to statistics here, spend up to $30 a week on the Lottery, money they can ill afford, on a million-to-one chance they’ll hit the jackpot. I’ve also seen people win $10 and immediately put $15 back in on new tickets.
For Obama to go after Vegas is shallow and just another tone-deaf attack. The state lotteries are the organizations that take money from people who (1) can’t afford to play the incredible odds; (2) couldn’t get to Vegas or Atlantic City if they wanted to; and (3) have lottery outlets on every corner in Northern Virginia, and play the lottery because it is their only hope for making money they don’t have.
If Obama wants to send a message it is this: DON’T PLAY THE LOTTERY. IF YOU WANT TO SAVE MONEY, TAKE THE MONEY YOU WOULD SPEND ON LOTTERY TICKETS AND PUT IT IN THE BANK, A PIGGY BANK, OR A COOKIE JAR. You would be helping your family, saving money, and not wishing on a star that will never come through for you.
Obama Administration: Please do your research. Vegas is not your problem. State Lotteries are. The biggest scam on poor people in this nation. Do something about it.
The middle class and the upper middle class don’t play the lottery. Those least able to do so are the ones that do. If you want to be professorial and teach a lesson, start here.