Okay, so a few days ago, Obama said this: “You don't blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you're trying to save for college.” Some people clucked, conservatives laughed that Obama was bad mouthing a city in a state where his Senate Majority leader was already in trouble and so on.
But you know what? Obama was basically right.
Vegas is just about the worst place to spend your money. Because really most of what you do is just hand it over. You are hoping to make a profit, but of course you never do against the house. So you walk away with your pockets emptier and what did you get out of it?
I mean compare for instance when I went to Disney World with my family. For the rest of my life, I can remember the look of sheer bliss my niece had when she hugged Tigger. We have a nice picture of it, and I will tell you, there is no better picture of the innocent joy of childhood, of hugging a guy in a big furry suit, but to believe that somehow you are hugging a character leapt out of the movie screen and into reality.
Oh and let’s not forget legalized prostitution in the surrounding areas, and people getting quickly marriages and quickie divorces, and so on. Now I am enough of a states’ righter to think that Nevada should be allowed to do all of those things. But I don’t have to like it. And neither does the president.
That money that was not going to be spent there, would be spent elsewhere, in more productive ways. We all have our vices, but the ones entertained in Vegas are some of the worst. The president was right to say it.
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