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November 16, 2009

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Letters:

Hotel rate hikes do disservice to economy

David Adams, Las Vegas

Monday, Jan. 7, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Isn’t it ironic that within a week there are two “killing the goose” stories? First, the big casinos argue that ballot propositions to raise the taxes on casino income might be “killing the goose that laid the golden eggs.” There might be some merit in the argument, at least for the proposal that casino taxes be raised up to 18 percent or higher, but realistically the tax rate on casinos in this state is the lowest anywhere. Yet they whine about any tax rate increase.

But then comes the article in Saturday’s Las Vegas Sun that hints that the Consumer Electronics Show may be looking for another city for its business, because the hotels jack up the prices when CES comes to town. Hotel room rates skyrocket for CES attendees, far beyond what are charged for the same rooms in a “normal” week. Losing CES would be a major blow to the Las Vegas economy, not to mention the bottom line of the casinos and hotels themselves. Wouldn’t this mean that the very casinos that are whining about killing the goose that laid the golden eggs are, in fact, guilty themselves of killing the goose that laid the golden eggs?

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