[quixotic59]

Originally Posted by BellevueWa

Is this because the Dems control Vegas these days??

Noooo, it's because the good old US of A had 8 years of Republican brand Wild West Economics. As I drive around this magnificent city and see the gross overdevelopment of homes that took place over the last few years it is frightening. Every state in this country is now paying the price for Republican deregulation and Wall Street's unrestrained greed. Believe me, as a native New Yorker, I have seen this on a smaller scale every time Wall Street hiccuped in the past. Now it's just disgusting what they did to this country.
By the way, first time visiting Las Vegas and we love it. Even with the heat (it really is better with lower humidity). We are doing our best to help the local economy by spending all the money we saved all year by not spending it in NYC.

[aacole]

Its not a Republican or Democrat problem. Its an American problem. The government and citizens spend more than they make and wonder why they are in debt, broke, and suffering ills.

The unemployment rate includes a lot of people who have just quit looking for a job, which is just lazy. If you really need a job you can find one, but it may not be the one you are looking for.

[armyjimb]

Originally Posted by aacole

If you really need a job you can find one, but it may not be the one you are looking for.

It is very easy to say, "If you really need a job you can find one, but it may not be the one you are looking for."

If you are looking to pay your mortgage, you probably need 4 of these min wage jobs. Forget about the medical insurance; you need to buy that yourself.

[pommysmommy]

Originally Posted by quixotic59

Noooo, it's because the good old US of A had 8 years of Republican brand Wild West Economics. As I drive around this magnificent city and see the gross overdevelopment of homes that took place over the last few years it is frightening. Every state in this country is now paying the price for Republican deregulation and Wall Street's unrestrained greed. Believe me, as a native New Yorker, I have seen this on a smaller scale every time Wall Street hiccuped in the past. Now it's just disgusting what they did to this country.
By the way, first time visiting Las Vegas and we love it. Even with the heat (it really is better with lower humidity). We are doing our best to help the local economy by spending all the money we saved all year by not spending it in NYC.

Scary is all I can say. If you are board with the current spending levels of our government, you are out of touch.

[armyjimb]

I hope next year at this time we can see unemployment levels at 6 percent. Unfortuantely my gut tells me that we'll see unemployment levels between 16-20 percent. Inaddition to high unemployment we'll see crime rocket to new levels. This is just a prediction.

Las Vegas can only take so much.

[lvkewlkid]

Please keep this on-topic to Las Vegas, anything general about American politics belongs in the Politics and Other Controversy's forum...Any more off-topic posts will lead to posts getting deleted and/or the thread getting closed...

[LVinWA]

Off-topic:

I believed the moderater implored we don't allow this thread to devolve into petty party vs. party politics.

[KevK]

Originally Posted by dawgs63

Las Vegas is a town completely reliant on tourist dollars. While the occupancy and traveler volume hasn't dropped significantly, the amount of money people are spending, has plummeted.

Think of it this way. A round trip flight averages about $250 to Vegas. Average daily room rate is hovering around $112 and the average number of nights people are staying is around 3. So for one person, for 3 days in Vegas is just under $600...dirt cheap. Previously, the room rates were around $175 with an average of 3.5 nights/person. At that, it was about $860 for 1 person.

With the decrease in room rates and the decrease in gambling revenue, you'll also see a decrease in spending in general. Vegas was hit hard and that only accounts for leisure travel. If you add in the loss of business travel, things look even worse.

I will turn around, but probably not for awhile. The service industry is always hit first by recessions and unfortunately, Las Vegas is nothing but service industry.

You are not including what we spend there on meals, shows, amusement and other things. It can add up quite a bit. I have never spent less than $1000 on a trip there and that is staying in a cheaper hotel. And I don't even gamble. A gambling man is going to spend a whole lot more. It is just that, since my wife has lost her job (they always fire PT employees first which is understandable) and I now have to make that up and make her car payment, we do not have the money to go there at any price this year. I wish we could.

[pommysmommy]

Originally Posted by KevK

You are not including what we spend there on meals, shows, amusement and other things. It can add up quite a bit. I have never spent less than $1000 on a trip there and that is staying in a cheaper hotel. And I don't even gamble. A gambling man is going to spend a whole lot more. It is just that, since my wife has lost her job (they always fire PT employees first which is understandable) and I now have to make that up and make her car payment, we do not have the money to go there at any price this year. I wish we could.

I agree. Our room is always comped but for a three day stay we spend approx $850 on meals and entertainment. This does not include the airfare to get from TX to LV.

[nancyinvegas]

Having lived in Las Vegas for over 30 years I will not feel sorry for the hotel/casino industry. This is the first time the economy has hurt Las Vegas. In the past, people still came here to get away from their problems. The hotels overbuilt and ridiculously increased the room rates, the cost of food, the cost of entertainment. In addition, we lost sight of providing good customer service. Also, we have people moving into to Vegas at the rate of 5000-7000 people a month because they think the jobs will be better here than in other parts of the country. Too bad we can't go back to the good old days when "the boys" ran the city. We had decent room rates, comp'd food and shows and we didn't have gangs. We also didn't have casinos in the neighborhoods...people went to the strip or downtown. Also, we can thank our new government for their increased spending and not living up to their promises of providing more jobs. It's very scarey!