Time to Speak Up

Last month, we gave you a heads up on Mississippi's SB 2681. The Legislature passed it. And Governor Phil Bryant (R) quickly signed it into law.

So now, Mississippi has declared "License to Discriminate" to be state law. And believe it or not, two Nevada based companies are now in the thick of it.

How so? MGM & Caesars both operate casinos in Mississippi. And while the two gaming goliaths have put their money where their mouths are here in Nevada, they've yet to make a statement on Mississippi's new "License to Discriminate" statute.

They'll need to speak up soon. The damage is already being done there. And it's still spreading elsewhere. Kentucky now has "License to Discriminate" on its books. And G-O-TEA Culture Warriors are now pushing in Congress for a federal "License to Discriminate".

We know Cresent Hardy has an affinity for "segregation laws", but does Rep. Joe Heck (R-??!!) share that affinity? Will House Speaker John Boehner (R-??!!) actually allow a floor vote on this while continuing to block ENDA?

Clearly, the struggle over "License to Discriminate" continues. Even though it was stopped in Arizona, the G-O-TEA Culture Warriors have simply moved their fight elsewhere. They've succeeded in Mississippi. They may now try to pass a federal bill through Congress. And more state bills may not be out of the question.

The time to speak up is now. Now is a good time for those who claim to be pro-equality to put their money where their mouths are. After all, we know money talks in out system... Often more so than anything else. Just look at Arizona.

Why Shouldn't Nevada Have a Lottery? (Let Me Explain.)

Yesterday, we touched on both the threats and opportunities to Nevada posed by online gaming. Today, we need to look at another form of gambling that's been getting quite a bit of attention lately.



Northern Nevadans and Southern Nevadans are rushing to buy those "Mega Millions" tickets and catch "Lotto Fever". And we have our next door neighbors to thank for this.

"The amount of money we send to schools is a small drop in the bucket, everyone would admit that," Lopez said. "But during an economic downturn when school districts are looking at what they have to cut, every little bit helps."

Officials are projecting the lottery will provide more than $1 billion for public education in California this fiscal year. For the fiscal year 2010-11, California received $3.4 billion in lottery revenue. The state returned about $1.1 billion of that to K-12 schools, community colleges and University of California and California State University systems.

So we all have a chance to live like the OC Housewives while schools get plenty of money. What's not to love? And why can't Nevada cash in on California's good fortune?

Bottom line: It's unconstitutional.

Yet despite our constitutional ban on state lotteries, many Nevadans are again talking up the possibility of bringing the "Mega Millions" here. Is it time to finally amend the constitution and start selling lottery tickets here in Nevada?

Not so fast. While forty states, including California, sell lottery tickets on the premise that more money will be going to public education, it's not really as simple as that. Earlier this year, there were questions of what's happening with money that the State of Florida has been netting from its lottery.



Looking back at California, here's what often happens with state lottery funds.

"That's a question that is frequently asked. A lot of people think [the state lottery] provides more revenues than it does," said Margaret Weston, an expert in K-12 school finance for the Public Policy Institute of California.

The state Lottery and its myriad games got started in 1985 as a way to generate funds for public education without adding another tax. It's one of the only state funds that are doled out equally to everyone. At least 50 percent of tickets sales go back to the public as prizes. Public schools get about 34 percent of revenue from sales.

Each school gets $135 per student, though they pass it out in different ways. The peak of Lottery funding for kindergarten through 12th grade hit during the 2005-06 school year. The average each year hovers between $40 to $45 billion, less than two percent of the state's public school funding. [...]

Students at Millswood Middle School use their daily planners to keep track of homework and assignments. Funds from the California Lottery provided the $4,000 to dole them out at the beginning of the school year.

"We receive a whopping $8,000 from Lottery funds. Half of that is spent on the school planners the students get at the beginning of the school year. The other approximately $4,000 was spent on a teacher computer and projector," wrote Sheree Flemmer, principal.

Now I'm sure it helps to have that extra change in school pockets to pay for things like daily planners and projectors. However, we have to realize that we're only talking about pocket change here. Lotteries are no panacea for public education.

In October 2007, The New York Times investigated state lotteries and found that, on average, they only deliver about 30 cents for every dollar spent on tickets and games.

For years, those states have heard complaints that not enough of their lottery revenue is used for education. Now, a New York Times examination of lottery documents, as well as interviews with lottery administrators and analysts, finds that lotteries accounted for less than 1 percent to 5 percent of the total revenue for K-12 education last year in the states that use this money for schools.

In reality, most of the money raised by lotteries is used simply to sustain the games themselves, including marketing, prizes and vendor commissions. And as lotteries compete for a small number of core players and try to persuade occasional customers to play more, nearly every state has increased, or is considering increasing, the size of its prizes — further shrinking the percentage of each dollar going to education and other programs.

In some states, lottery dollars have merely replaced money for education. Also, states eager for more players are introducing games that emphasize instant gratification and more potentially addictive forms of gambling.

And so far, it doesn't look like that's changed for the better. Rather, as state lotteries have pumped even more money into building up "Mega Millions" style jackpots and promoting them with ever flashier TV, radio, and billboard ads, the overhead costs are quickly gobbling up money that was originally promised to fund K-12 schools and college education.

Let's go back to my old stomping grounds in "The OC" for a moment and see how local schools are looking forward to that huge lottery windfall.

In Orange County, the lottery provided an additional $135 per student for K-12 schools last school year. The county received a total of $88.6 million from lottery revenue last year, or about 1.2 percent of the $4.2 billion local schools spend annually. Local schools are expecting to cut more than $250 million combined from their budgets for next year alone, on top of the more than $1 billion cut since 2008.

"I want the whole $540 million jackpot all for Orange County. That would really solve all our funding problems," county Superintendent William Habermehl said. "The lottery has never really provided as much money to schools as what was sold to the public when it was implemented. If you look at all 6 million students in California, an extra $100 million will only give you a few extra dollars per student."

Yes, that's really all California is getting when Nevadans line up in Primm and Verdi to cross the state line and buy their "Mega Millions" tickets. Perhaps a school in Lodi will get to buy a few more boxes of day planners, and perhaps another school in Costa Mesa will get to buy a computer. That's really it.

So before we again hear another round of complaints on why Nevada doesn't have a state lottery, remember this. At least with our state sanctioned gambling, the casinos have to pay for their own advertising and their own upkeep. But when the state becomes the casino, we flip the bill and we don't always win the jackpot we were looking for.

Sure, the likes of MGM Resorts CEO Jim Murren are looking out for their own bottom line. But again, under the current system MGM pays to run its own casinos. And considering that we've already had to learn the hard way that casinos alone won't save our economy or our schools, should we really expect a state lottery to solve our budget problems?

Wither Gambling? Wither Casinos? Wither Nevada? (Maybe Not.)

For the first time in nearly three decades, the Gaming Policy Committee met yesterday. Why? Need I tell you why?



As we had discussed last month, online gaming is looking increasingly like reality. So the State of Nevada is trying to neutralize the threat as quickly as possible... And perhaps turn this threat into an opportunity.

After all, "The Las Vegas Recovery" has already been factored into Governor Brian Sandoval's budget plan. If something like online gaming (authorized somewhere else) eats into big casinos' revenue, then his budget is further thrown into doubt.

Yet, the big casinos are fearing what happens if/when online wagering becomes reality. How will the gaming experience change? How can they continue making money? When they figure out how to profit off online gaming, they will jump on it.

And a growing chorus demands that the state jump on this... Or else face the severe economic consequences of being left in the dust.

The Internet gambling policy debate could be one of the most complex issues the committee has undertaken. The result of the committee’s work could yield either some of the most important polices ever produced for the state’s economic future or much ado about nothing if lawmakers fail to address the issue.

Most believe that the need for government entities to generate revenue will pressure lawmakers to act on Internet gambling eventually, but how it would be made allowable is an open question. Sandoval says he wants the state to be ready for any eventuality, including the prospect of Nevada offering intrastate wagering if federal lawmakers fail to act. [...]

Paul Matthews Jr., of Las Vegas-based IncuBET, a game designer, said the Internet gambling issue was critical to Nevada. It offers an economic opportunity if Nevada were to become a host jurisdiction or a regulatory hub for online gaming.

And that's perhaps the silver lining here. If we take the lead on this, we may just realize opportunity. As we discussed almost two weeks ago, Nevada can take the lead on this by taking the role of "Silicon Valley of Gaming". If we play our cards right, that means Nevada can become the I/T hub of the global gaming industry, foster innovation in online wagering, and provide critical infrastructure support for casinos around the world. But alas, that would require us to actually invest in public education so we have a workforce ready to take advantage of this opportunity.

Still, there's really no reason why we shouldn't embrace the future. After all, Nevada faced a difficult crossroads thirty years ago, when New Jersey was staring us down as Atlantic City rose to the top. Yet what ended up happening? Atlantic City is now faltering, and it's betting on everything from going down-market to opening a dazzling new upscale behemoth to change the game. Meanwhile here at home, Las Vegas casinos have actually managed to recover with less gaming activity by turning to night clubs/day clubs and other new "cash cows" to lure tourists.

If neither Atlantic City nor tribal casinos could kill Las Vegas (even if the latter have caused problems for Reno), then how can online poker? Only if we let it. Remember that. Nevada just needs to figure out how to take advantage of the next gaming trend. And if we actually bother to invest in our future by educating the next generation of innovators and leaders, we really can drop our fear and learn to love Facebook blackjack and Twitter roulette (if we can ever figure out how to compress a spin of the wheel into 140 characters or less). ;-)

Mark Amodei to Nevada: Drop Dead (You Red!)

(Also at Daily Kos)



So Mark Amodei, just after being crowned the GOP nominee in NV-02 (we'll see how long that lasts!), releases some silly ad full of xenophobia.

But the debt, THE DEBT!!! What about THE DEBT??!! Well, here are some facts about the national debt that Mark Amodei doesn't want you to know.



When George Bush was President, Republican Congressional leaders voted 19 times to raise the national debt ceiling by $4 trillion! Funny enough, I don't remember Mark Amodei screaming then about REPUBLICANS "surrendering to China"... But I do remember REPUBLICANS in Congress chiding anyone who tried to negotiate budget reforms into any debt ceiling vote.



So what changed? President Obama is now in office. And we're just barely getting out of a brutal recession that would only worsen if Mark Amodei has his way and we reduce public investment exactly when the economy needs more investment.

And by the way, why does Mark Amodei hate China? Clearly, he hasn't received the memo from the great titans of Nevada industry!



Yes, that's right. Wynn Resorts, MGM Resorts International, and Las Vegas Sands all have huge investments in Macau... Which happens to be a part of "BIG BAD COMMUNIST CHINA!!!" So is Mark Amodei ready to call these great Nevada capitalist institutions "COMMUNISTS!!!" for investing so much in China?

And is Mark Amodei also ready to hurl that same insult on the entire Las Vegas Strip corridor? As international tourism continues to pick up and the weak dollar continues to lure even more tourists to visit America, the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority (LVCVA) plans to invest another $3.5 million in international promotion, including opening an office in CHINA (!!!), in hopes of encouraging more of those international tourists to include Las Vegas in their itineraries.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board of directors [last week] approved contracts for 10 international offices and an extension of its advertising agreement with R&R Partners as it said goodbye to five elected officials, including its chairman, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman.

The two-year deals for international representation run from July 1, 2012, to June 30, 2014, and will cost the authority $1.7 million in fiscal year 2013 and $1.8 million in 2014.

In addition to approving offices in Canada, Mexico, Japan, several western European nations, Australia, China, Brazil and Russia, the board authorized a request for proposals for representation in South Korea, India and France.

The authority is developing a strategy to increase the percentage of Las Vegas visitors from other countries from the current 18 percent to 30 percent within 10 years. Last year, 6.7 million international visitors came to Southern Nevada and spent an estimated $6.6 billion, which would support 58,000 jobs.

International visitors stay longer and spend more money than their domestic counterparts. The U.S. Commerce Department says international visitation to the United States is expected to grow by 49 percent through 2016 and LVCVA President and CEO Rossi Ralenkotter said Las Vegas needs to take the opportunity to get a good share of those visitors.

So when will Mark Amodei call out the BIG BAD COMMUNISTS!!! at LVCVA?

Let's face it: Our nation will suffer immensely if the debt ceiling is not raised very soon. We simply can't afford for the federal government to shut down after defaulting on its debt. All it would do is cause a global economic catastrophe unseen since The Great Depression.

And guess what? If all that comes to pass and the world falls into deeper recession, maybe even depression, following a failure to raise the federal debt ceiling, then I doubt Las Vegas will be able to bring in all those foreign tourists we had hoped for. And last I checked, Las Vegas tourism and gaming are the biggest source of revenue for the entire State of Nevada.

So does Mark Amodei really want to further cripple our state by killing what just happens to be propping up Nevada's sickly economy at the moment? Think of all the jobs Nevada would lose if Mark Amodei and the teabaggers had their way in holding our country hostage over the debt ceiling. And think of what prospective international travelers think of people in our government essentially spitting on them and their culture (which is what Mark Amodei is essentially doing). And again, why are they so gung-ho to push the economy off the cliff now when they refused to do anything about George Bush's deficit spending five years ago?

I smell something fishy here. Am I the only one?

Endure THIS! Everything They "Know" Is Wrong.

Well, isn't this lovely? Nevada's biggest beneficiaries of government largesse now bite the hands that built them and tell us to "endure the pain".

“You can’t argue gloom and doom. People don’t want to hear it right now, not when hundreds of thousands remain out of work or have had their hours cut.” [...]

In a March 8 letter to faculty and students at UNLV’s Boyd Law School, Smatresk wrote of likely tuition increases to counter lost revenue from budget cutting: “These additional increases will undermine the law school’s successful formula and render it a mediocre institution.”

He’s also been quoted as saying “we’ve already squeezed the blood from the stone. This is horrific to talk about people like this.”

The Strip [casino executive] counseled Smatresk that UNLV should endure the pain during the current legislative session, then he should reach out for a communitywide commitment to rebuild the university during upcoming sessions.

“Neal heard the message, and he’s seemed to have softened his approach,” the second executive said.

Corporate executives and education reform advocates want to hear talk of academic, spending and administrative reform by the university and School District. They do not want the debate to be purely focused on the spending side of the equation.

"Endure the pain"? Really? I don't remember MGM Resorts doing that when they came close to bankruptcy and losing CityCenter. Nope, instead they reached out to Harry Reid and had him call the banks to secure the funding needed to save the project (and the company, and The Las Vegas Strip!).

"Endure the pain"? Seriously? I don't remember Caesars Entertainment doing that when they came close to going bankrupt as all their debts were catching up to them. Nope, instead they reached out to Harry Reid and had him insert a provision in The Recovery Act so they can restructure their debt and stay afloat (which also helped keep The Strip afloat!).

"Endure the pain"? The gaming industry didn't have to do too much of that, and they've always been able to snatch a life preserver when needed. But when our state is failing, our schools are about to be obliterated, and our chance at basic survival is iffy at the moment, we're told to just suck it up and "endure the pain"?

No more. We the people have endured enough.

Why is it that casino execs and their Wall Street corporate fat cat buddies can roll in the bailout money provided by our tax dollars, but then whey whine and scream and throw a fit and demand "reform" when we're trying to stay in school, get better jobs, and make better lives? We the people are being responsible, yet we have to "endure the pain" while they get help whenever they need/want it?

UNLV tuition has nearly doubled in the last 3 years, and it's slated to be raised even higher if "benevolent butcher" Sandoval's budget is adopted. In the mean time, 6 academic departments have been eliminated and more are slated to be axed if Sandoval gets his way. Many teachers and staff have already been laid off, and 350 more may be out of work if Brian's brutal budget is passed. Sorry, anonymous casino executive, but we have already "endured the pain" and we shouldn't be forced to endure our own community's death because a few big mining conglomerates and other
multinational corporations refuse to pay their fair share.

If that anonymous gaming exec were serious about making those "endure the pain" who have been sheltered for far too long, he would call his Carson City lobbyists and at least tell them not to whip against AB 336 and AB 428, simple bills that would respectively enact a long needed net-profits tax on large corporations (AB 336) and reduce the most heinous mining tax deductions (AB 428) that allow the mining industry to get away with getting something for nothing.

Elliott Parker, esteemed economist at UNR, had to go to Nevada Appeal last week to appeal to Governor Sandoval to remember common sense.

[... W]e are deciding which faculty to fire, and which students will lose their degree programs. These are productive faculty who have worked hard, to help us improve this university. We have been cutting budgets by firing many good people over the past four years. This is really getting old, and it is completely reversing years of effort to make Nevadans proud of their oldest university.

My university alone has already lost 350 positions, mostly very educated people who then left the state — and Nevada already has too few of those. Now we have 150 more jobs on the block, and many more to come since we are less than halfway to your target. We aren't that big of a university, and these cuts are starting to cripple us. Your proposals will do incredible damage.

You are mistaken when you say these cuts are best for the state's economy. As an economist who looks at the data, I know these cuts are bad for the economy. Cutting state expenditures during a recession, especially educational expenditures, makes the economy worse, not better.

We know that education matters for the future of the state, both K-12 and higher education. Without our monopoly on gambling, Nevada doesn't have many resources, but nowadays the most productive resource is in the knowledge and skills of the workforce. It will take many years to undo the damage we are doing now.

This is a death spiral. If we gut higher education, productive people and productive investment will flow out of the state, not in.

We know this is not a temporary problem. Gaming is a much smaller share of our economy than it used to be, even though our state budget still largely depends on it. We have known for years that we need a tax system that better reflects our economy, a tax system that can apply low rates to a much, much broader base. Yet we keep procrastinating on the solution.

The budget problem is not too big to solve. While the state's budget gap is a large fraction of the general fund, it is only 1 percent of our state economy. For the average resident, it is roughly the cost of eating out once a month.

And he's correct. We can't endure any more of this pain. It's killing us, and it's time to start letting our state and our people heal.

Ultimately, a diversified economy will help the gaming industry in that it will lessen their tax burden here in Nevada. I guess that's why this strange rant surprised me. I know MGM and Caesars and other Nevada gaming companies haven't had the easiest of times, but we're not asking anything unreasonable from them. In fact, none of the bills mentioned above even affect them!

So instead of forcing working class Nevadans to endure any more lethal "pain", why not let our state heal, make us less dependent upon the casinos, and invest in our schools that we so badly need to produce the kind of educated workforce that will make our economy healthier in the long run?

10 of '10: Are We There Yet?

This week, I'm introducing 10 of '10, aka the ten most memorable Nevada stories covered here in 2010. Haven't we been through a lot this year?

And without a doubt, one of the biggest ongoing stories of 2010 was our brutal recession and whatever signs emerged of potential recovery. It seems the worst is finally over, but that's cold comfort to those here in Nevada who still can't find jobs.

Back in January, there was our first sign of hope when Goldman Sachs turned bullish on MGM Resorts as Vegas visitation numbers started rising again.

So is everything looking up from here? Apparently.

But is all the bad news over yet? Not so fast. Room rates are still hovering under $93 per night, and total spending is still down.

But at the very least, more signs are finally appearing and telling us that the worst is over and recovery is arriving. This is the third month in a row with year-over-year gains in tourist volume, and this is the first time since 2007 that Nevada casino winnings have actually seen year-over-year gains. Also remember that this is for November 2009... Before CityCenter opened!

And now with Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs betting on MGM Mirage's and Las Vegas' overall success, it's no longer looking so "crazy" to invest in Southern Nevada's future.

But still, we've had to deal with the changing dynamics of this town. In March, I wrote about the challenges posed by casinos investing more in emerging markets and less here in Nevada.

It's the law of diminishing marginal returns, plain and simple. As the 1990s Strip construction boom came to a close and the 2000s "luxury megaresort craze" began, Las Vegas began to reach the point of saturation with high-end megaresort casinos. The law of diminishing marginal returns began to take hold as the potential for profit decreased as the number of megaresorts vying for tourist dollars continued to increase.

This is why the Las Vegas of 2010 is a whole new ball game. We're no longer that tiny outlaw outpost in The High Mojave, but rather a maturing resort destination that already attracts over 37 million visitors annually. And while there are still some possibilities to expand that tourist pool, we don't have as much growth potential in gaming these days, like we did in 1950 or 1990. [...]

Now contrast this to newer markets, like Florida and Pennsylvania domestically and Macau globally. Pennsylvania and Macau are nowhere near full saturation yet, and Florida is a potential gold mine with already desirable tourist destinations that haven't yet been tapped by casinos. Now we can see why all the big casino companies are rushing to build abroad as they only agree to minor spruce-ups at their respective Las Vegas home bases.

So what does this mean? No, it's not the end of the world! Las Vegas will go on, albeit now as a more mature gaming destination rather than some place with unrealistic "limitless" growth potential.

And two days later, I wrote the rant I just can't stop using.

[... T]he casinos can no longer be counted upon as a "free ride". We can't just expect new casino construction to prop up demand for construction jobs, which props up demand for new housing, which props up demand for housing construction, which props up the rest of Southern Nevada's economy. We may have lucked out in seeing this model work from 1989 to 2007, but all it really did was hide the weaknesses in this shaky economic model that ended up being exposed when "The Great Recession" hit and all the artificial demand for new casinos, new homes, new whatever fell like a row of dominoes. [...]

Yes, there are signs of hope here. We're no longer seeing the mountain of foreclosures that seemed so mind-numbingly painful a year ago. We're no longer seeing the unemployment rate rocketing up to dangerous new highs, even though it's bad enough that it's still hovering around an already too high 13.8%. We are starting to see a return of economic growth, however so slight and lagging behind the rest of the country it is.

But again, I have to point out that we are lagging behind. We're especially lagging behind metro areas that have better PreK-16 education systems and more stable employment sources. Salt Lake City and Ogden, Utah, both have GMP (gross metro product) growth rates exceeding the national average and unemployment below the national average. Same goes for Denver, Boulder, and Colorado Springs, Colorado. So why is this? All of these areas boast a highly educated workforce employed in stable sectors like high-tech and biotech, and none were as dependent on the housing bubble and artificial "construction for the sake of construction" as Southwest areas, like Las Vegas and Phoenix (which is also lagging behind in economic growth).

So again and again, we come back to this dilemma. As long as our education system is broken and as long as we continue to make ourselves overdependent on the casinos and casino-fueled development, Las Vegas will continue to suffer under this radical boom and bust cycle that lives and dies on discretionary consumer spending. Sorry, but this is not how a major metropolitan area with 2 million residents and a state with over 2.7 million residents can survive!

So it all comes back to this. Will Nevada remember the lessons learned the hard way during The Great Recession? I have a feeling we have no other choice. Gaming revenue likely won't return to pre-recession levels until 2014. And moving forward, there's no more chance of "limitless" "growth for the sake of growth", as there just isn't much room left for The Strip to grow and competition can now be found almost everywhere.

Looking forward to 2011 and beyond, Nevada needs to look to more stable job sectors to find the stable economy we've always been looking for.

Looking Ahead: What's Next for Nevada? And for Vegas? (Part 1)

2010 has definitely been a wild ride... But what might 2011 possibly have in store for us?

Soon-to-be-Governor Sandoval is already loading up his future staff. Education activists are already threatening law suits if Governor Sandoval and/or The Legislature try to cut too much. And speaking of that budget, it will be quite brutal and internal GOP strife may cause a number of additional headaches and/or opportunities.

Nevada's unemployment rate is finally dropping... But that doesn't mean happy days will be here again so soon. Sheldon Adelson may be feeling bullish about the future, but that's largely because he's now investing in Asia... Only 15% of Las Vegas Sands' revenue actually comes from Vegas, and word has it the numbers at Wynn Resorts look awfully similar. Harrah's Entertainment will soon become Caesars Entertainment, but that still doesn't answer the question of when Harrah's/Caesars will finally finish the Octavius Tower at Caesars Palace, along with that "entertainment district" near Harrah's that they've promised for some time. Apparently MGM Resorts' bookings are up and Wall Street is feeling more bullish about MGM and Vegas these days, so things are looking better. Just don't expect a return to the mythical "glory days" any time soon.

So where am I going with all my wild and crazy ramblings? Come on. I laid it all out for you in March.

[T]he casinos can no longer be counted upon as a "free ride". We can't just expect new casino construction to prop up demand for construction jobs, which props up demand for new housing, which props up demand for housing construction, which props up the rest of Southern Nevada's economy. We may have lucked out in seeing this model work from 1989 to 2007, but all it really did was hide the weaknesses in this shaky economic model that ended up being exposed when "The Great Recession" hit and all the artificial demand for new casinos, new homes, new whatever fell like a row of dominoes.

The Cosmopolitan will be opening next month, but once that opens we probably won't be seeing any new Strip casino-resorts opening for at least five years. We've really learned the hard way that we can no longer rely upon an unsustainable "growth begets growth" model of construction being fueled by artificially inflated "demand" fueled by real estate speculation. Those days ended three years ago, and it makes absolutely no sense to even try to return to that model. Even though the gaming industry will most certainly improve, that and the "growth industry" that has come with it can no longer be our sole source of sustenance.

Nevada needs to change, that much is clear. We need to change dramatically. We need to change our priorities. We need to change the way we think of our economy. We need to go beyond our "comfort zone" of relying upon the casinos for everything, slapping together "quick fix budgets" loaded with "legislative band-aids and duct tape", continuing to delay the building the kind of infrastructure our state needs to move forward, and putting so much effort into making today's "quick fix" that we forget about the challenges facing us tomorrow.

So how do we change? Later, I'll be talking about where I think we need to go.

Sharrontology Spinning Out of Control

Oh, jeez. It gets worse. Sharrontology attacks the workers of CityCenter, bashes Harry Reid's work to secure financing so MGM Resorts could finish CityCenter, and now lies about it by calling it "stimulus" and "bailout" that she "would not have voted for".





HUH??!! Reid helped secure funding... Private funds. There was no TARP money involved, and there was no ARRA money involved. Clearly, Sharrontology Obtuse Angle knows nothing of which she speaks.

And by the way, Reid has worked hard both to bring our tax dollars home to create jobs AND to encourage private companies to come here to Nevada to create jobs.





And if you think that's bad enough, it gets worse. Much, much worse!

Sharron Angle, the Republican nominee for Senate in Nevada against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, fired back at Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT), who predicted that she would lose to Harry Reid because of her associations with the Tea Party movement. In response, she says that Bennett, who lost his renomination at the state GOP convention this spring, has "outlived his usefulness."

"I'm glad to be lumped to a crowd of mainstream Americans who believe as they showed at the polls that Sen. Bennett has outlived his usefulness. I suppose he's not mainstream any longer," Angle said during an appearance Monday on the Neil Cavuto show. "He has become one of those elitists that is no longer in touch with what the country is really thinking about in these economic times."

"Not mainstream"? "Elitist"? Oh boy, Sharrontology didn't wait long to resume attacks against her own fellow Republicans for not being batsh*t crazy wingnutty enough for her own personal taste. And for the record, Bob Bennett was defeated at a convention, NOT at the ballot box.

And wait, I thought Sharrontology didn't like "death panels"... Apparently when she's a death panel of one making all the life-or-death decisions, she relishes it!

Oh, and Bob Bennett not alone in rejecting her extremism. An increasing number of Nevada Republicans are doing the same.

A growing number of Nevada Republicans are expressing skepticism over Angle's Senate candidacy. Some are even signaling they may not vote for the GOP contender over Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in November.

Mayor Geno Martini, the Republican mayor of Sparks, Nev., bucked his own party this week when he endorsed Reid over Angle.

"Harry Reid's been very good for us for many, many years," Martini said of his decision to support the majority leader. "We can't rely on a new person, especially Sharron Angle, to do anything for us here in Sparks."

After first withholding her support, former Nevada Congresswoman Barbara Vucanovich, a well-respected figure in the party, announced this week that she would back Angle. But Vucanovich's endorsement ended up sounding more like a scolding.

"I said, 'Sharron, you're scaring the bejesus out of everybody,'" Vucanovich told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, describing "a long, candid conversation" with Angle. "I told her you better make damn sure people really understand what you're trying to do." [...]

State Sen. William Raggio, who Angle tried but failed to unseat in 2008, recently said he will "find it very difficult to support" the Senate candidate and also wagered he's hardly the only member of the Nevada GOP who has concerns.

"I would say there are a lot of Republicans who will find it difficult to support Sharron Angle," Raggio said shortly after the Nevada primary. "Abolishing the Department of Education, phasing out Social Security, those are pretty extreme positions. I think any incumbent is vulnerable, but you have to have somebody that is also acceptable if you're going to win."

Republican Reno Mayor Bob Cashell, who backed Angle's GOP primary opponent, Sue Lowden, recently criticized Angle by calling her an "ultra right-winger." Cashell does not mince words when it comes to Angle: "Our state [would] suffer and we would never get anything done." The Reno mayor intends to hit the campaign trail for Reid.

No wonder why Sharrontology has to depend on corporate funded outsiders like Sal Russo, Ralph Reed, Dick Morris to raise money. If even a growing chorus of conservative Republicans are rejecting Sharrontology, she's toast... Or should I say charbroiled chicken?



And by the way, why wasn't Suzy Lowdown at the GOoP Convention last weekend? Hit too close to home for Sweet Suzy? She now has the experience to smell the start of a losing campaign?

Obama & Reid Did a Rally... At the Place Sharrontology Would Have Let Fail

So I saw Obama at CityCenter yesterday. And he stuck up for our Senator, Harry Reid.

“There’s a guy from Searchlight, Nevada, who has been fighting for Nevada his whole life, and he’s fighting for working-class families,” Obama said of Reid. “He comes across soft-spoken. But anyone who knows Harry knows he’s made of strong stuff. He’s one tough guy.”

“He doesn’t always do what’s easy, he doesn’t always do what’s popular, but he always does what’s right.”

Obama also discussed the state of the economy, along with Harry Reid. They both discussed the need to continue working to bring more jobs back to Southern Nevada. And hey, what more appropriate venue to do this than at CityCenter, the complex Reid worked to save when financing was pulled and MGM Resorts (then MGM Mirage) nearly went bankrupt.



Actually, one of our Clark County Commissioners summed it up best...

Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani told the crowd: “Sharron Angle would not have lifted a finger to help any one of you ... If it’s not your job to create jobs, what the hell is your job?”

Oh yes, that's right. While Reid has worked hard to bring Recovery Act funds to Nevada, bring more renewable energy projects here, and prevent the collapse of Las Vegas' tourism industry...

Sharron Angle doesn't believe it's her job to ensure we have jobs.



Yep, that's right. If Sharrontology had her way, some 22,000 workers at CityCenter, along with many thousands more MGM Resorts workers, would likely be out of work.



In fact, one of these workers, Penny Webster, spoke and reminded us just exactly what the stakes are in this election.

"If Sharron Angle had her way, I would not have my job today. [...] Thanks to Harry Reid, I have a job".

Yep, that really summed it up well. Is Harry Reid some sort of "messiah" for Nevada? Nope. Is President Obama right about Harry Reid being so soft spoken that he may seem dull at times? Sure. And is Reid the best public speaker out there? No, not really.

But hey, I don't need all of that. (And last I checked, Ms. Obtuse Angle isn't all that great in her communication skills.) I need a Senator who works hard for me every day... And for you, and for our friends and family, and for our entire state of Nevada. That's what Reid does, and that's what Obtuse Angle refuses to do.

The choice is clear. And I didn't even need President Obama to tell me that, but it was still great to see him again. And yes, it looks like he's having a good time here in Vegas. :-)

Food Rant: Thankfully, Some Things Never Change

After crying so hard when learning about the news of Fleur de Lys closing to make room for a "new tapas/small plate concept", I was a little frustrated. WTF is going on here?

Well, I felt much better after reading of Mr. ELV still enjoying nearby Aureole. As y'all know by now, I LOVE me my Aureole! And love affair only strengthened during Vegas Uncork'd last month. Aureole has really earned my respect the hard way, by serving great food in a great atmosphere with great service.

I can hardly wait to return to Aureole this summer to taste more amazing things. In my humble opinion, Aureole is one of the finest "underappreciated hidden gem" fine dining establishments in Vegas. And it's just the perfect place for a perfect dinner on The Strip.

And honestly, this is another reason why I'm so excited to be back in Home Sweet Vegas. Here is one of the most exciting and dynamic fine dining scenes in the world. And hopefully with old "tried & true" favorites like Aureole keeping the magic working, along with new favorites turning up the allure factor, foodies everywhere will keep looking to Las Vegas for more fine dining wonders.

Casinos: It's Official, MGM Resorts Intl., Moody's No Longer So Moody on Vegas,

So before I come home later today, I want to catch up on some of the important gaming news I've been missing.

- It's official, MGM Mirage is now MGM Resorts International. The company says they did it to "better reflect the resort developer's global presence as it expands in Asia, the Middle East and elsewhere", but I'm wondering if this means The Mirage will be up for sale next. MGM Resorts denies it (wow, I need to get used to saying "MGM Resorts"), but we'll see. Whatever they want to call themselves, they still have $13 billion total debt. And while they are making progress in paying it off, they may need more cash on hand soon if they intend to fast-track more debt payments and/or buy Cosmopolitan to integrate it into CityCenter and/or restart stalled renovation projects for their other casinos.

- In some much appreciated good news for the gaming industry, Moody's has upgraded is overall outlook for gaming from "Negative" to "Stable".

"Although monthly gaming revenue by jurisdiction varies considerably, overall, U.S. gaming revenue was flat year-over-year in March and April 2010, and it appears the trend will hold for May," Keith Foley, senior vice president at Moody's, said in a statement. "While not a stellar performance, it's a marked improvement over the consistent -- and often substantial -- declines of 2008 and 2009. It also has favorable implications for gaming company operating profits, a majority of which comes directly from slot machine and table game revenue."

While Moody's is not yet all-out bullish on gaming (they later noted the continuing struggle to get more tourists to spend more money), it at least reflects Wall Street's re-embrace of the casinos after going so sour on gaming in 2008 and 2009.

- There's some increasing controversy over online hotel reviews and who's actually doing the reviewing. Apparently, paid casino promoters are now taking to sites like Expedia, Yelp, and TripAdvisor to shill for their clients and/or attack their clients' competitors. I guess the 'net is always prone to this kind of abuse. Whatever. The travel sites say they're cracking down on it, and the casinos deny that they pay people to do this kind of sh*t. And moi? Well, I have ways of determining which reviews are real and which aren't... And ultimately, it isn't these anonymous reviews that make my hotel decision for me.

- $1.2 billion in Fontainebleau contracts have been pulled... So construction will be resumed soon? Not so fast. Carl Icahn has said for some time that he wants to wait until Vegas stabilizes some more before he finishes F-bleau, so we can't be so sure this is a sudden change of heart.

- And finally, Steve Friess recently did an interview with Donny Osmond. He talks about the recent death of Marie's son, their return to The Flamingo, his "teen fame" in the 1970s vs. Justin Bieber mania today, and more. As always, Mr. Steve keeps it interesting!

And that's all for now. I may pop out one more blog post before I fly out of Long Beach this afternoon, and I promise to resume regular Nevada blogging later this week once I settle back into "life in paradise".

Casinos: MGM Mirage to MGM Resorts International? And Are MGM's Fortunes Really Looking Up?

So MGM Mirage is about to become MGM Resorts International? If the shareholders approve, MGM will have a new name.

The Strip casino giant told shareholders the proposed name reflects the company's current vision and future growth. MGM Mirage, through its MGM Hospitality Division, has plans for nongaming hotel brands in several international markets, including China, India and the Middle East.

The company's first international venture was the MGM Grand Macau which opened in December 2007.

"MGM Resorts International better represents our company's growing global presence," company Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jim Murren told employees this morning. "As a truly international company, our name should clearly reflect that.

"This is a significant step and we don't take it lightly," Murren said.

It also reflects what would happen if The Mirage were no longer part of MGM's casino collection. Now The Mirage's earnings actually held up fairly well in Q1 2010, especially compared to other MGM casinos. So in the short term losing Mirage makes no sense... But what about the long term?

Let's face it, both the sale of TI early last year and the opening of CityCenter late last year shifted MGM's center of gravity further south of Flamingo Road. With the exceptions of The Mirage and Circus Circus, all other MGM casinos are now south of Flamingo: Bellagio, Aria, Monte Carlo, New York New York, MGM Grand, Excalibur, Luxor, and Mandalay Bay.

MGM is also looking to possibly buy Cosmopolitan when it opens to integrate it into CityCenter. And in order to do this, MGM will need to raise capital... But can it?

And is more trouble on the way? Jim Cramer trashed MGM (while talking up Wynn Resorts in advance of Encore Macau opening tomorrow) yesterday on CNBC...



But Goldman Sachs (yes, them... And I'll get to them tomorrow.) likes what it's seeing with MGM Mirage.

Shares of MGM Mirage rose on Tuesday as a Goldman Sachs analyst said the casino operator's stock could move 25 percent higher on momentum in Las Vegas and strength in Macau.

Analyst Steven Kent said in a client note that competitors Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd. will be reporting their first-quarter results shortly, with both likely to indicate that business is improving in Las Vegas and Macau remains solid.

Macau, the only place in China where gambling is legal, has reported strong gaming revenue gains since last summer. The same cannot be said for Las Vegas, which has been hindered by the housing downturn and economic slump. But signs are beginning to emerge that the U.S. economy is improving, which has led some consumers to increase their discretionary spending at casinos.

Kent anticipates that solid quarterly results from Las Vegas Sands and Wynn will boost investor confidence and bump MGM Mirage's stock higher.

The analyst added Las Vegas-based MGM Mirage to his Conviction Buy list, which indicates top stock picks.

So perhaps things are really looking up for MGM Mirage, possibly soon to be MGM Resorts International? Perhaps, so. No matter what they want to call themselves in the future, their future success depends on the return of consumer spending. And if consumers are feeling better enough about their personal finances to start spending again, MGM will be back.