With a Friend Like This ...

Does Barack Obama really want to take on the city of Las Vegas and a former lawyer for the mob who happens to be a Democrat?

The president, who has taken plenty of shots at Wall Street in recent weeks, maligned the nation's gambling capital when he knocked firms that have accepted federal aid while planning conferences for its executives. "You can't take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers' dime," Obama said Monday when he hit the road himself and campaigned for his economic stimulus plan in Elkhart, Indiana.

The remark didn't sit well with Oscar Goldman, Las Vegas' mayor, whose legal career has included stints representing organized crime figures like Meyer Lansky, Phil Leonetti, and Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal. On Tuesday, Goldman said Obama's comment was an insult to the city. "I take serious issue with that and would demand an apology and a retraction," he said.

Goldman and city tourism officials aren't just reacting to the implication that they live in, well, sin city. They're feeling the economic sting of lost business. Last week, Wells Fargo cancelled a Las Vegas meeting. After that, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs shelved plans for events in the city.

Lost conference business means empty hotel rooms, restaurants, and casinos. As Portfolio.com's Joe Brancatelli pointed out recently, there's "panic in paradise" at the nation's resorts this winter.

Obama might want to rethink taking on Las Vegas. Yes, it doesn't look right when banks that are taking taxpayer dollars hold conferences (and with them parties and other events) at nice hotels. But real taxpayers work in those locales, and without the business, they might be soon be out of work.

Plus, there's a political equation--Nevada voted for George W. Bush twice, but shifted Democratic and gave Obama its five electoral votes last year. There's a chance Obama might lose the bet next time around if too much conference business stays away.

by J. Jennings Moss