Vegas Mayor Not Amused

From Oskar Garcia at the Associated Press:
The mayor of Las Vegas told President Barack Obama in a letter that his criticism of companies using taxpayer money to visit Sin City is harmful to the tourist-dependent destination.
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman didn't directly ask the president for an apology and retraction in the letter obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, as he did in interviews.
"I expect him to address it and to correct it," Goodman told the AP.
"When you make a casual, although not malevolent remark, it can have ramifications which affect the industry as well as all of the citizens who live in southern Nevada," he said. "It's affecting some of these people's lives."
In the past two weeks, two financial institutions that received a combined $35 billion in federal bailout money pulled out of large events in Las Vegas at the last minute. Obama, who has been mustering public support for economic stimulus legislation, said during a town hall meeting this week in Indiana that companies shouldn't hold such events at taxpayers' expense.
"You can't get corporate jets, you can't go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayer's dime," Obama said.
Goodman said he is worried that Obama's comments are discouraging travel to a city already suffering a steep drop in tourism business and revenue.
"Mr. President, I understand the enormous burden you carry in dealing with the worst economy since the Great Depression," Goodman wrote in the letter, sent late Tuesday.
"I also understand the need for accountability, but your comments are harmful to the meetings and convention industry as a whole and Las Vegas specifically," he said.
The White House has not reacted to Goodman's comments.