{"id":97,"date":"2009-09-23T15:26:00","date_gmt":"2009-09-23T19:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/blogs\/dmckee\/index.cfm\/2009\/9\/23\/From-the-mailbag-5"},"modified":"2021-06-18T04:02:19","modified_gmt":"2021-06-18T12:02:19","slug":"from-the-mailbag-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/from-the-mailbag-5\/","title":{"rendered":"From the mailbag #5"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our Comment-Eating Server<\/strong> has been at it again, so here are a few reader remarks that got devoured in cyberspace (where no one can hear you scream at your computer) …<\/p>\n

With regard to “Gambling Scandal Ensnares Eight More<\/a>“:<\/p>\n

This is disgraceful! How dare the Federal government<\/span> interfere with private enterprise like this? Undoubtedly the casinos’ self-government practices would have detected these infractions, right?<\/em><\/p>\n

If — and I’m not sure about this — you’re referring to tribal casinos, all generalizations are false, including this one. The Tran Organization<\/strong> took down 26 scores that ran the breadth and depth of casino industry: Strip resorts, locals casinos, backwater Isle of Capri<\/strong> operations, U.S. ones and Canadian ones, the smallest tribal casinos and the biggest, too. Even Barona Casino & Resort<\/strong>, which prides itself on being ahead of the industry, technologically speaking, got taken. The moral I draw from this is that too much stock is being put in game-protection technology and not enough in the human component. All the king’s PTZ cameras and all the king’s digital scratch pads don’t know what a “false shuffle” is.<\/p>\n

Another reader caught<\/strong> a hasty slip-up I made, when I wrote that Harrah’s Entertainment<\/strong>‘s “$10 million a year for energy conservation isn’t even ‘a blimp on the radar’ when it comes to Harrah’s gargantuan annual budget. Heck, it’s less than 2\/3 of CEO Gary Loveman<\/strong>‘s compensation package for 2008 alone.”<\/p>\n

Maybe his compensation has gone down since 2002? I don’t think so: <\/em><\/p>\n

\"\" “Loveman, himself, is doing a bit better too: His business school professor’s salary, approximately $120,000 (before consulting fees), is now well over $3 million, including stock options. He shuttles between his Boston-area home and Harrah’s casinos around the country in a corporate jet. He has long since traded in his professorial Honda Accord<\/span> for a Ferrari F-355 Spider. After 12 years in the same house, the Lovemans are currently building what neighbors describe as ‘a very large’ house in the Boston suburb where they live.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Maybe he’s riding in a “green” corporate jet now?<\/em><\/p>\n

Good point. What I was trying<\/em> to compare was Harrah’s $60 million in energy savings over six years. That<\/em> is less than 2\/3 of Loveman’s $92 compensation for 2008. (His base salary for ’09 is $1.9 million.)<\/p>\n

And with regard to labor strife<\/a> at Trump Plaza<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

“While the casino’s latest appeal is tied up in federal court, Trump Plaza<\/span><\/strong> management has refused to bargain at all.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc<\/span><\/strong>., which owns Trump Plaza<\/span>, has said it expects to win in court. The case was first filed in September 2008.<\/em><\/p>\n

“The court could side with the casino or uphold the National Labor Relations Board<\/strong>‘s ruling requiring the casino to bargain.<\/em><\/p>\n

“‘Throughout this entire process, it has not been our intention to attack any dealers who have chosen to support the union,’ Juliano continued.”<\/em><\/p>\n

… David, you said “Kudos to Trump Entertainment Resorts<\/span> CEO Mark Juliano<\/strong> for going out of his way to soothe potential animosity between labor and management.”<\/em><\/p>\n

– I would say: Kudos to Juliano if Trump would bargain in good faith with the union that won the election. As it is, Trump Entertainment Resorts owns & controls Trump Plaza and refuses to dignify their employees with negotiations that they voted for.<\/em><\/p>\n

That’s a major reason that we need passage of a “card check” law, which includes heavy fines against employers like this who refuse to negotiate (for years) with their workers’ duly elected representatives<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Fair enough. And finally:<\/p>\n

I don’t gamble on the Internet because of security concerns with unregulated offshore sites, but I agree with this comment [same blog entry, under [“Health care reform + Internet gambling?”<\/strong>]: This is great! Ron Wyden<\/span><\/strong> is an innovative and responsible law maker. As an Internet gambler, I’d be happy to support American-based companies, and pay my patriotic taxes, instead of sending my “business” to Costa Rica<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Thanks to everyone for corresponding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our Comment-Eating Server has been at it again, so here are a few reader remarks that got devoured in cyberspace (where no one can hear you scream at your computer) … With regard to “Gambling Scandal Ensnares Eight More“: This … 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":[23,28,42,117,7,22,37,85,16,25,87,9,20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97"}],"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=97"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29727,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97\/revisions\/29727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}