What Capitalism Really Looks Like

By Wayne Allyn Root, 2008 Libertarian Vice Presidential nominee

This week I got a chance to see what capitalism really looks like. You see, capitalism - for better or worse - is alive and well in Las Vegas. The headlines in the Las Vegas paper were filled with pain, losses, doom, gloom, bankruptcy and, yes, CAPITALISM. Station casinos reported they might file for bankruptcy by April 15th. Bally's Hotel announced they were closing their Race & Sports book until next fall. The Riviera Casino Hotel and Hooters Casino Hotel both missed interest payments and could file for bankruptcy soon. Herbst Gaming is already in bankruptcy. None of the bad news in yesterday's headlines even included news about the three biggest gaming companies in the world. Harrahs, MGM Mirage and Las Vegas Sands (Venetian) are all multi-billion dollar conglomerates on the verge of bankruptcy (with stock prices off by more than 90%). And to top it off, one of the biggest developers in Las Vegas, James Rhodes, also made headlines by filing a petition for bankruptcy on behalf of a multitude of his businesses. It's all just another day at the office in the midst of the worst economic crisis since 1929. And I have a feeling - with Obama's tragic economic policies soon to take effect - we are heading for an economic crisis worse than 1929. This, folks, is what a full-fledged depression looks like. [more...]