Obama criticises corporate 'fat cats' for Vegas junkets
Updated
And speaking of popularity, US President Barack Obama's approval ratings may be sky high but there's one part of America where he's distinctly unpopular.
Business and civic leaders in Las Vegas are outraged at his criticism of corporate junkets to America's gambling capital.
Presenter: Michael Rowland
Speakers: Barack Obama, US President; Oscar Goodman is the Mayor of Las Vegas; Rossi Ralenkotter, the president of the Visitors and Convention Authority; Nevada's Republican Senator John Ensign
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MICHAEL ROWLAND: As it is for much of corporate America, Las Vegas is a popular meeting venue for the nation's top bankers. What better place to contemplate the woes of the financial industry than amidst the bright neon lights and all the action on the casino floor?
But now most banks are receiving government bail-out money Barack Obama wants the junkets to stop.
BARACK OBAMA: You can't go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers' dime. There's got to be some accountability and some responsibility.
MICHAEL ROWLAND: The comments may have won the applause of fed-up taxpayers but in Las Vegas they're as popular as a high-roller on a winning streak.
OSCAR GOODMAN: That's outrageous. He owes us an apology. He owes us a retraction.
MICHAEL ROWLAND: Oscar Goodman is the Mayor of Las Vegas.
He's also the chairman of the city's Visitors and Convention Authority.
OSCAR GOODMAN: What's a better place, as I say, than for them to come here? And to change their mind and go someplace else if they cancel - and at the suggestion of the President of the United States - now that's outrageous.
MICHAEL ROWLAND: A number of banks have already heeded the President's warning.
Wells Fargo, Citibank and Goldman Sachs have all recently cancelled planned meetings in Las Vegas.
The city's already doing it hard. The recession has sent visitor rates plunging and home foreclosures soaring.
For businessmen like Philip Cooper, who helps stage some of the big Las Vegas shows, the impact has been devastating.
PHILIP COOPER: We've had lay-offs, we've had days off without pay, reductions in workforce.
MICHAEL ROWLAND: Rossi Ralenkotter, the president of the Visitors and Convention Authority says business meetings and conferences are the lifeblood of his city.
ROSSI RALENKOTTER: The meetings business last year was worth $244-billion. That's a lot of jobs, that's billions of dollars of tax revenue.
MICHAEL ROWLAND: At least one federal politician is braving the public outrage and siding with Vegas. Nevada's Republican Senator John Ensign says the city shouldn't end up as collateral damage in a public relations war against junket loving banks.
JOHN ENSIGN: Business meetings are an important tool. Let's just make sure that we don't leave common sense off of the agenda.
