Presidential hopefuls fail to impress Atlantic City workers
Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders the Democratic Presidential hopeful went to Atlantic City looking for support prior to the June 7th primary elections in the hope of drawing support in his battle for the nomination against Hillary Clinton.
However for many observers from the gaming industry it failed to generate any traction with casino workers or those who have lost their jobs in the market over recent times.
Sanders said that casino owners were “greedy and reckless” in attacking workers pensions and health care benefits. Sanders went on to say. “Billionaires like Carl Icahn…come in here and attack the standard of living of dishwashers and maids.”
However the fact many within the industry in Atlantic City see the crash of casinos because of the lapse of the 30-year monopoly of casinos on the East Coast of the US, now Atlantic City and indeed New Jersey has to fight off competition from neighbouring states casinos and gambling parlours for customer dollars. Since the lapse of the restriction of casinos in the east of the US Atlantic City has seen a drop of revenues by $2.8 billion.
Mr. Icahn owns two of Atlantic City’s largest casinos, Trump Taj Mahal and the Tropicana. He acquired Trump Taj Mahal, named for its former owner Donald Trump, after the casino entered bankruptcy court.
Mr. Icahn said in a statement that both casinos would have closed if he hadn’t invested millions of dollars in them, saving and creating thousands of jobs.
At the same time as Sanders was drumming up support Donald Trump was at the Boardwalk Hall being loudly booed, Trump is blamed for the crash of some of the biggest casino resorts in Atlantic City with thousands losing their jobs.
However Mr. Trump said through a spokeswoman that he had “great success” in Atlantic City before the market collapsed under competition from surrounding states.
