Carl Icahn would like to revitalize the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City and save your self thousands of jobs along the way, but he says it can not be done unless local union workers are ready to compromise. Unhappy union employees, shown here at an early on protest, feel otherwise.
Billionaire Carl Icahn has acquired the Trump Taj Mahal, exchanging $292 million he’s owed for complete ownership of the casino in a deal that was approved by the latest Jersey Casino Control Commission this week.
Icahn says he shall invest another $100 million to revitalize the resort and also to keep the Atlantic City landmark solvent.
‘We think when you pull into the Taj Mahal, it is dirty, it’s dated, and it requires to be freshened up,’ Trump Entertainment CEO Robert Griffin stated associated with the settlement. ‘we feel extremely strongly that the Taj Mahal will excel.’
That is going to be no easy task, but, because the north end boardwalk gambling venue continues to operate at a loss, including being $8.7 million in the red for 1st quarter of 2015. The hotel’s 2,010 rooms had been less than 50 percent full during the first three months regarding the year, a drastically reduced price than that of one other seven casino hotels that averaged occupancy levels of around 70 to 85 %.
Icahn’t Stand Unions
Icahn is optimistic he can restore the Taj to its former days of glory. But one key condition the mogul insists on is that Local 54 additionally the UNITE HERE unions stop their pursuit of experiencing a court mandate Icahn to reinstate benefits for employees which were terminated by Trump Entertainment during bankruptcy procedures.
The other Atlantic City casino under his ownership on Wednesday, Icahn told reporters he sees the Taj being reestablished much like he did with the Tropicana.
‘Although neighborhood 54 seems fixated at all costs on damaging the Taj, and risking its closure and the loss of almost 3,000 jobs, we am positive,’ Icahn said.
Icahn also released a letter to Local 54 Taj employees this week that likens the nationwide UNITE HERE organization to a Ponzi scheme that uses dues to enrich the lives of its leadership at a cost that is detrimental its people.
‘It can be an undisputable undeniable fact that your union leadership refused to negotiate with the Taj as its losses were mounting and it was pushed into bankruptcy. Your union leadership declined to take into account any concession that would have assisted keep the Taj afloat, and that is because your jobs usually do not matter to the union leadership,’ Icahn published.
Icahnoclast
The once bustling gambling mecca of the east coast is now house to just eight total casinos, and Icahn now has control of two, or 25 per cent of the city’s gaming venues. That means along with Caesars Entertainment, owners of Bally’s, Caesars Atlantic City, and Harrah’s, Icahn has a little monopoly on town where the game of Monopoly relies.
Thought it is understandable union workers want and need their wellness insurance coverage and retirement advantages reinstated, their tactics might be going about this in the incorrect way. This week, Local 54 delivered a page to Icahn’s midtown Manhattan workplace having a list of its demands, along side an apple pie, a dig in reaction to Icahn saying ‘apple pie and flowers isn’t how a world works’ previously this year.
Jeb Bush Latest GOP Candidate to Enter Republican Presidential Race
Today officially official: After many months of unofficial fundraising, Jeb Bush confirmed his bid for the 2016 GOP nomination. The son and sibling of two past US presidents is hoping to separate his campaign from his rather famous family name. Type of. (Image: Erik Schelzig/AP)
Jeb Bush joined the ever-expanding crowd of Republican candidates within the 2016 election that is presidential Monday, with an announcement at Miami-Dade College in the afternoon. But unlike many of the more than a dozen prospects within the GOP field, Bush will be hoping to run from a position of strength, as he will be one of the favorites for the celebration’s nomination into the early going of the campaign.
‘ In almost any language my message are going to be a confident one, that we can make the decades just ahead in America the greatest time ever to be alive in this world,’ the latest Bush political dynasty candidate opined, using both English and Spanish to address the live and undoubtedly massive TV audience because I am certain.
Columba Bush, a first-generation Mexican immigrant who married Jeb 41 years back, could prove critical in helping him reach Hispanic voters. (Image: Bill Ingalls/NASA/Getty)
Columba Bush, who happens to be hitched to your politician for 41 years and was originally from León, Guanajuato in Mexico, will certainly be an essential force in a country grappling with immigration and dual-language problems on a almost daily basis.
In reality, the story goes that Mrs. Bush did not speak English when even she married Jeb back in 1974. Her mother had been reportedly a worker that is migrant food server.
Bush may need the assistance. Although the Florida that is former governor frequently the first choice in national polls of Republican voters, though that advantage is incredibly narrow. In reality, it may be more accurate to consider Bush, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, and Florida Senator Marco Rubio as co-leaders only at that early stage.
Strong Establishment Candidate
That said, Bush has plenty of advantages that will make their campaign a strong one. For one, he will haven’t any trouble raising cash.
One super PAC that is supporting him had hoped to improve $100 million by the finish of June, and even though they’ll almost certainly come up short of the goal, it’s clear there’ll be lots of funding for the Bush war chest.
He will have numerous endorsements from Republican establishment figures, in addition to a name that voters are familiar with, although his Jeb! 2016 slogan seems to indicate he is attempting not to ride on at the very least the most obvious of coattails. After all, that famous name that is last a double-edged sword, according to which voters you are speaking to.
While both his daddy and brother have previously offered as president, Jeb Bush is wanting to avoid being seen simply while the next in line of succession, with a ‘royal’ aspect that numerous voters may not be comfortable with.
Campaign Happens To Be Unofficial for Months
Needless to say, by any reasonable standard, Bush’s campaign has been underway for months, but he’s got carefully skirted the line in order to avoid formally launching a campaign organization until now. Throughout the weekend, Bush told CNN that becoming a candidate that is official allow him to better articulate his message to the US individuals.
‘we think this transition to a candidacy will allow me to be more direct about my advocacy associated with the leadership abilities essential for the next president to fix a few things,’ Bush said while in, of all places, Estonia this weekend. ‘ And as a candidate, contrary to someone who has been listening and learning along the real way, we’ll offer up alternatives to the road we’re on aswell, so I’ll be more specific on policy.’
Historically Opposed to Gambling
It is uncertain whether we’ll get any information on Bush’s video gaming policies, but his past stances on gambling problems while governor of Florida make it pretty clear as he strongly opposed gambling expansion in the state that he is no fan of casinos. His stances on Internet gambling are less clear, though it’s hard to imagine he could be any friendlier to online poker and casino games than he was for their land-based counterparts.
Perhaps moreover to his campaign, Bush may need to make an impression on conservative voters who’ren’t necessarily on board together with stances on immigration and training, both areas where his wife could become an important campaign ally. He also recently struggled with questions over how he’d have managed the war in Iraq, and fired their campaign manager week that is just last to squabbles inside his camp.
New Jersey Casinos See Online And Live Gains In May
The Golden Nugget has seen huge gains in its online gambling operations throughout the previous year. (Image: GoldenNugget.com)
New Jersey’s online gambling market continues to grow, helping strengthen the remaining eight casinos still running in Atlantic City.
But while the entire numbers are positive, maybe not all games and casinos are sharing equally within the fortune that is good.
According to the New Jersey Department of Gaming Enforcement (DGE), on line gambling revenues were around $12.47 million in May.
That represents an increase greater than 19 % over last May, when the sites brought in just $10.47 million.
Online Casinos Up, Poker Down
But that growth has been fueled very nearly entirely by online casinos. In comparison, online poker rooms are struggling. Internet poker brought in only under $1.93 million in May, down from $2.27 million in identical month this past year.
That figure marks the second-lowest monthly revenue for online poker in New Jersey, with only last November trailing the most recent month.
Once responsible for a quarter or more of on line gambling revenues in nj-new jersey, poker is now just about 15 percent regarding the market.
The 888/World Series of planet 7 oz casino login Poker partnership felt most of the damage on the poker side of things. The $831,799 they brought in through their Internet poker partnership ended up being a low that is all-time while their only competitor in the state, Borgata/partypoker, held fairly steady.
Holding steady ended up being a theme for the Borgata, as its general Internet revenues were down by about one percent too.
It is still the online market leader, collecting about 32 percent of most revenues, but growth appears to have stalled: the company has yet to beat out its 2014 performance online in any month this present year.
On the other hand, a few companies have observed their online offerings remove, none less compared to the Golden Nugget.
The casino has taken full advantage of the fact that BetfairCasino.com is now operating through them because the closure associated with Trump Plaza, and it has ridden that new partnership to a clear second invest hawaii’s iGaming landscape.
Real time Numbers Promising for Atlantic City
But while the figures that are online show a mixture of ups and downs for Atlantic City’s casinos, the overall numbers for the industry had been very encouraging in May. Overall, casinos won $208.6 million for the month, 5.3 per cent more than those same eight casinos took in a year ago.
To be certain, the pie that is overall still smaller: if you consist of three more casinos that have been operating last might but have since closed, the revenues are down by about 9 %.
However with fewer casinos in the mix, the might revenues still represent a result that is excellent the casinos that are nevertheless in business.
‘That’s a showing that is strong what our detractors say is a weak market,’ stated brand New Jersey Casino Control Commission Chairman Matt Levinson. ‘Whether you look during the results for usually the one thirty days or for the initial five months of the year, total video gaming income is up for the existing operators. The dimensions of the market might be smaller, but the wellness regarding the current operators is getting stronger.’
The biggest champion ended up being Caesars, which saw its monthly revenues increase by 51 % over last might. That was largely as a result of month that is particularly unlucky high-stakes table games last year for Caesars.
Just two casinos were down year-over-year, including the Borgata, which saw revenues fall by 4.7 per cent but still easily led the city with $56.1 million for the month. Also down was the Trump Taj Mahal, that is in the process to be acquired by Carl Icahn.