Obama allies hope for CityCenter visit

Might President Barack Obama make time for a quick visit to Las Vegas' CityCenter during the holiday season?

The possibility is dancing in the heads of Obama's business and political allies at MGM Mirage and in the office of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Sources connected to the hospitality company and the senator's office have said they're hopeful Obama will drop by to acknowledge the opening of CityCenter, the biggest private construction project in the United States, which is creating jobs despite a woeful recession hammering Nevada.

CityCenter is opening in phases beginning this week. The opening for Aria, the project centerpiece, is scheduled for Dec. 16, a Wednesday in the middle of a week that the Washington Post says "at this point appears wide open on (Obama's) schedule."

If not that week, Obama is scheduled to head west to Hawaii for the Christmas holiday, a trip that could easily include a quick stop in Las Vegas.

A presidential visit could provide a morale boost to the struggling Las Vegas hospitality industry as it seeks to rebound from the recession with help from the massive CityCenter project.

A visit would also remind Nevada voters that Reid isn't just another senator, but is instead the most influential member of the Senate and has the ear of the president.

HORSFORD LOSES A VOTE

An inconsiderate parking decision has cost Nevada Sen. Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, at least one vote.

Last week Channel 13 reported a sport utility vehicle with Horsford's Senate license plate was parked as long as six hours in front of a wheelchair ramp at Aviary Park in North Las Vegas.

A woman visiting the park with her daughter, who uses a wheelchair, reported the blocked ramp to the television station, which determined the truck was Horsford's.

"I purposely look, just because I'm sensitive to it, if there's a handicapped placard. There was no placard in it," the television station quoted the woman as saying. "It made me very uncomfortable and made me want to find out who is this, so that I don't vote for him again."

Channel 13 said Horsford didn't respond to questions about the incident. A spokesperson for the state Senate majority leader told the station that Horsford was unavailable to go on camera. The spokesperson wouldn't go on camera, either.

Horsford issued a written statement apologizing "for any inconvenience I may have caused in inadvertently parking" in the spot. Horsford didn't return calls from the Review-Journal about the incident, either.

'SHARE THE SACRIFICE' PROPOSAL

A proposal by Rep. Dave Obey, D-Wis., to charge a tax to pay the escalating financial cost of war in Afghanistan is generating discussion in Congress.

Obey says if Obama intends to maintain or expand America's commitment to the fight, the government has an obligation to pay for it.

The Los Angeles Times reports his proposed "Share the Sacrifice" act would impose a 1 percent surtax on people earning less than $150,000. The tax hike would be higher for people earning between $150,000 and $250,000 a year, and double that for people with higher incomes. The bill does not give exact figures for what upper surtax rates would be, but says they would be high enough to cover the previous year's war costs.

Two of Nevada's three members of the House of Representatives, Democratic Reps. Dina Titus and Shelley Berkley, talked about the importance of confronting the cost of the war.

Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., who has been supportive of war efforts and critical of deficit spending, didn't respond to requests for his position on options for paying for the war.

Titus says she's opposed to a new tax to pay for the war and that funding should come from spending cuts elsewhere.

"Rep. Titus thinks it's time for a new direction, one that gives an honest accounting for the cost of a continued war and pays for that cost. She does not support the Obey proposal that increases taxes. She instead thinks Congress should first look at spending cuts to offset the cost," said her spokesman, Andrew Stoddard.

Berkley said "deficit spending to avoid answering the war funding question" is unacceptable.

"When President Obama makes the case for sending more troops to Afghanistan on Tuesday, he should also ask the American people if they are still willing to fund this operation," Berkley said.

She continued: "I do not support asking only a portion of Americans to pay for this effort. If we are going to impose such a surtax -- and I am not saying we should at this point -- then it must be across the board. Either we are in this collectively, or we are not, and if we do not want to pay for this military operation, then it is time to look at bringing the troops home."

Berkley also said she would consider spending cuts if she knew how they would affect Nevadans.

Contact Benjamin Spillman at bspillman @reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861.