{"id":18515,"date":"2016-07-14T10:53:16","date_gmt":"2016-07-14T18:53:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=18515"},"modified":"2020-05-01T08:26:49","modified_gmt":"2020-05-01T16:26:49","slug":"acrimony-grows-at-taj-racism-in-nebraska-election-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/acrimony-grows-at-taj-racism-in-nebraska-election-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Acrimony grows at Taj; Racism in Nebraska election race"},"content":{"rendered":"

As protests against Carl Icahn<\/strong> spilled over into New York City<\/strong>, his casino CEO, Anthony Rodio<\/strong>, sent ominously mixed signals about the future of Trump Taj Mahal<\/strong>. On the one hand, he offered a partial restoration of health benefits and a reduction in the \"tony-rodio\"room-cleaning quota to 14 rooms a day (the Atlantic City<\/strong> standard). On the other, he called the Taj “a money pit,” raising questions about the depth of his and Icahn’s commitment to the property.\u00a0\u201cThe company offered to fund a health insurance plan that was offered by Unite-Here<\/strong> but was not quite as rich as the plan at the other A.C. casinos.\u00a0But it did provide medical insurance for all union members and their families. In addition, the Taj Mahal would have extended health insurance to all non-union members, as well. This one concession would have cost the company multiple millions of dollars,\u201d he also offered to renegotiate terms in 18 months, as well as that new job openings would be coming on line. However, he also said his deal was only valid through end of business Monday, raising the specter of a bare-bones follow-up offer.<\/p>\n

Rodio’s rhetoric didn’t impress Unite-Here Local 54<\/strong>, which responded with some of its own<\/a>, accusing Icahn and Donald Trump<\/strong> of looting the Taj’s coffers of money that could have gone to benefits and maintenance. (An unfair slam on Icahn, we think.) Referencing an out-of-date job offer of treasury secretary in a Trump administration, Local 54’s Ben Begleiter<\/strong> said, “Trump thinks Icahn should \"Icahnbe running America\u2019s economy. If that happens, then all of America\u2019s workers are in trouble.\u201d Local 54 President Robert McDevitt<\/strong> was more on point, saying,\u00a0\u201cThis company offered them health insurance that was essentially half of what every other property agreed to, including the Taj\u2019s sister casino [the Tropicana Atlantic City<\/strong>]. These workers want to know why it is OK for Trop workers to be able to go to the doctor, but not them?\u201d Indeed, that’s the question to which Rodio has failed to provide an adequate answer — indeed no answer at all.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, things couldn’t have gone smoother for MGM Resorts International<\/strong>, which received unanimous approval<\/a> from the New Jersey Casino Control Commission<\/strong> to purchase Borgata<\/strong>. You’d never have thought MGM and the NJCCC had once been at odds. Now MGM CEO Jim Murren<\/strong> gets to sit down and write out a $900 million check to Boyd Gaming<\/strong> for its half of the property. Considering that Boyd is going to be considerably more exposed in the Las Vegas<\/strong> market — and no longer has its East Coast cash cow — it’ll need the dough.<\/p>\n

* Like a mirage, the reopening of the Cal-Neva Lodge & Casino<\/strong> keeps receding into the distance. Now owner Criswell-Radovan<\/strong> has filed for bankruptcy<\/a>, putting the project on hold. Although it had planned to open a revamped hotel tower and casino floor, the project has seen delay after delay. The owners are $27 million in hock to their creditors, including lead contractor Penta Building<\/strong>. Luckily for Criswell-Radovan, its construction permit doesn’t expire until October of next year, leaving it plenty of time to get the Cal-Neva renovation finished once the company has its finances in order.<\/p>\n

* I can well remember when Treasure Island Resort & Casino<\/strong>, near Red Wing<\/strong>, Minnesota<\/strong>, was little more than a glorified quonset hut. Now it’s grown to a destination casino-hotel with a new, $19 million water park that’s so successful that it’s already slated for expansion. Treasure Island is also adding two hotel towers, with a combined total of 300 rooms and suites. But it was the Lagoon Water Park & Wave Spa<\/strong> that was the real game-changer. “It has been beyond our expectations as far as popularity,” said Prairie Island Indian Community<\/strong> spokeswoman Cindy Taube<\/strong>, forcing the issue of the tripling of the hotel quotient.<\/p>\n

* Opponents of gambling expansion in Nebraska<\/strong> aren’t blushing to use race-baiting verbiage<\/a>\u00a0to make their point. \u201cWe\u2019ve subsidized the Indians for hundreds of years. There\u2019s tremendous poverty on the reservation, there\u2019s alcoholism, there\u2019s a lot of things where \u2013 that\u2019s where they\u2019ve chosen to stay, and that\u2019s what the result was,\u201d said Gambling With the Good Life<\/strong> mouthpiece Pat Loontjer<\/strong>, an old battleaxe enthusiastically wielding the tar brush. On the other side, Ho-Chunk Inc<\/strong>. CEO Lance Morgan<\/strong> stresses the economic benefits that tribal gaming has spawned.\u00a0\u201cBefore, we used to have \u2018Indian cars,\u2019 [which had]\u00a0only has a couple of gears, no back window, and all beat up, old cars. Now, everybody\u2019s driving nice cars. Almost everybody is living in good\u00a0 housing,\u201d he said in riposte to Loontjer’s White Man’s Burden argumentation.<\/p>\n

If Morgan has his way at the polls this November, Nebraskans will vote to expand gambling to six racetracks in the state, one of which is owned by Winnebago Indian Tribe<\/strong>. The latter’s has parlayed $9 million in revenue from its WinnaVegas<\/strong> casino in Iowa<\/strong> into a $117 million corporate enterprise, one that’s plowing over a million dollars into the election. Said Morgan,\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s more economic activity, more jobs, more everything. We\u2019re dealing with six, seven generations of poverty and pulling out of that is expensive and takes effort.\u201d And how in any way is this a “subsidy” in a free market? While S&G<\/em> sides with the Winnebago in this race, if Gambling With the Good Life wants to win, it should tape Pat Loontjer’s mouth shut until after Election Day.<\/p>\n

* If you want some retail therapy, go to Macao<\/strong>. There, Galaxy Entertainment<\/strong> is thanking\u00a0heavy shoppers with free hotel stays<\/a> that formerly when to high rollers. After all, the shoppers are more high-profit-margin customers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As protests against Carl Icahn spilled over into New York City, his casino CEO, Anthony Rodio, sent ominously mixed signals about the future of Trump Taj Mahal. On the one hand, he offered a partial restoration of health benefits and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23,60,82,42,4,201,86,76,62,11,43,156,111,25,20,21,196],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18515"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18515"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26952,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18515\/revisions\/26952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}