If I ever — God forbid! — run for office in Nevada, I’m going to just make stuff up and lie my head off. After all, candidates on both sides of this year’s marquee races have set the “truthiness” bar at subterranean level and, when called it on, just keep reiterating their mendacity. (The amount of money being wasted on political ads here is truly nauseating in a time of such widespread economic malaise.)
Take the latest whopper about MGM Resorts International. An S&G reader was listening to talk radio last week and “on the Mark Levin radio show Sharron Angle disparaged CityCenter and MGM. She claimed not a single job was saved … and that 100% of the employees at City Center were transfers from other MGM resorts. Then she claimed only out of state people were used to fill the vacant positions left.”
It’s obvious that’s a bald-faced lie, the sort of anti-casino rant I’d expect from pediatrician-cum-moralist James Dobson. But it never hurts to double-check. According to MGM spokesman Alan Feldman, CityCenter created 9,200 open positions — not counting jobs at Mandarin Oriental, and various and sundry retailers. He adds, “only 2,700 of those positions were transfers from our other properties. Those transfers created thousands more opportunities for transfers, promotions or new hires at other MGM properties.” Feldman didn’t follow up on my query on the number of in-Nevada hires vs. out-of-state ones — but filling 6,500 CityCenter jobs entirely with non-Nevadans, as Angle claims, is an assertion that beggars credulity.
Feldman goes on to note the economic-multiplier effect of any casino-resort opening. Their massive servicing requirements tend, in good times, to create three to five off-site jobs for every on-site one, “but we haven’t seen any analysis in the current economic environment.” Lord knows why Angle has such a bee in her bonnet as regards Nevada’s signature industry and primary economic lifeline. But she might want to remember that that anybody holding a job at CityCenter — or one that opened up elsewhere on the Strip — isn’t just a voter, they’re also what’s known quaintly as “constituents.” They deserve something better than disdain from their prospective representative in the Senate.
Poor Sharron. Poor Nevada. Poor USA if she wins.
City Center created thousands of jobs in Las Vegas. Sharron Angle knows this but she constantly criticizes City Center because Harry Reid supposedly “bailed out” City Center back in March of 2009. Where would Las Vegas be if the financing for City Center fell through in March of 2009? Numerous media outlets would talk about how bad the economy is and then say, “Look what happened to Las Vegas: City Center, a $8.5 billion dollar hotel/casino/condominium development, is sitting there empty and won’t be finished until who knows when”. This being repeated constantly in the media would have been extremely bad news for Las Vegas (and MGM Resorts International).
Let’s say that she’s right. All 6500 employees came from out of state. This is bad? At this point they are Nevadans. They pay taxes / shop / consume in Nevada. Isn’t increasing population with employed people a goal? Wouldn’t that help out the economy as a whole? Stupidity. Pure and simple.
And I thought Florida was in big trouble.
Is the name “Dingbat” owned by the producers of “All In The Family?” Could we start referring to her as “Dingbat” instead of Sharon Angle?
Oh, I like the fact that she and her husband live on his pension check. You’d think she’d be wiser about the other 95% of retired Americans who need Social Security just to eek by every month.
They might not pay that many taxes. Remember that Sharron said she wants to eliminate the IRS.
Good job Sharron! Citycenter opening in December of 2009 was one of the few bright spots for Nevada during extremely bad times and you find a way to shine a negative light on it. Sharron is the real “Death Ray” of Nevada.
I yearn for the old days myself. It used to be that when a politician was caught in a lie, or even a filp-flop, it was a big deal. Nowadays all you have to do is erase your primary website and start over in the general. Ms. Angle does not appear to even relish the truth, she is just about spin. With the arcane Senate rules that allow secret holds, electing someone allergic to compromise like Ms. Angle will have a negative effect on the entire United States. Already the Republicans are holding up Judicial nominees. Add Ms. Angle and you get gridlock.
“Add Ms. Angle and you get gridlock.”
MORE gridlock. That’s why the Repub establishment is backing these weirdos. They don’t want to govern, they just want to stop anybody else from doing so.