Andrew Malcolm points out the latest hypocrisy from Barack Obama. The President reacted in righteous indignation in early February when a taxpayer-subsidized group decided to hold a meeting in Las Vegas in order to drum up business:

President Obama has repeatedly urged Wall Street executives to show restraint if they expect government help. “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 at a town meeting this week in Elkhart, Ind.

Apparently, that’s no problem for another set of taxpayer-subsidized recipients looking to drum up business:

And what better way for a new Democratic administration to symbolize cutting out excess in a time of hardship for millions of Americans than to hold a mega-fundraiser in Las Vegas, that urban personification of understatement, for a guy with millions in hand already and no one to spend it against?

Though the Democratic Senate Majority Leader’s May 26 fundraiser at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace will feature Strip headliner Midler and songstress Crow, the biggest draw will be the Commander-in-Chief himself. …

Well, now that they finished their $357,012 taxpayer-funded photo op over the Statue of Liberty, Air Force One is coming to the capital of neon with the somewhat less-new president, who’ll become the fundraiser-in-chief at least for a night.

Maybe they’re looking for another photo op over Mandalay Bay, or perhaps over New York, New York. I think they have a Statue of Liberty there that would make a good backdrop for Scare Force One.

So let’s recap. Companies that take TARP money can’t hold business conferences in Las Vegas, but politicians who run up $2 trillion deficits by throwing TARP money at businesses can hold fundraisers there. Ohhhhh-kay.

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