LAS VEGAS – Sometimes it’s amazing the power of words. Today’s Americans for Prosperity Right OnLine conference is occurring at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. At the conference’s general session today, delegates heard from Andrew Abboud, vice president of government relations and community development for Las Vegas Sands Corp, the parent company of the Venetian.

Abboud told delegates that when President Barack Obama told the American people last year that businesses taking stimulus funds should not go to Las Vegas, the impact on the hotel was immediate. Abboud told delegates that the Venetian lost $6 million in hotel room revenue due to cancellations occurring in the immediate aftermath of Obama’s speech. He said the lost food and beverage tab came to about $5 million. And that’s just one hotel. Imagine the impact on the whole city of Las Vegas, which is currently experiencing 15 percent unemployment.

We now post the final interview in our series of interviews conducted at the RightOnLine booth at the Republican State Convention June 10-12 in Dallas. The RightOnLine booth was cosponsored by Americans for Prosperity and the Lone Star Report. Rep. Wayne Christian (R-Center) is currently chairman of the Texas Conservative Coalition, and he was interviewed by Americans for Prosperity's Texas Chairman Ben Streusand. Christian talks about the upcoming Texas Legislative session, the Texas Conservative Coalition, and his work as chairman of the platform committee for the Republican Party of Texas.

The interview is in two parts. Click below to view part one:

Click below to view part two:

LSR Managing Editor William Lutz appeared on WFAA's Inside Texas Politics Sunday. In his "rant," Lutz slams the Environmental Protection Agency for its decision to reject the state's flexible permitting program. Lutz's commentary appears just after the interview with Rep. Phil King, approximately 7 and a half minutes into the program (about 10:30 left to go in the program). Inside Texas Politics airs every Sunday at 9 am. Click here to view:

“Openness in government is a First Amendment virtue, not a First Amendment violation,” the brief states. “The fundamental purpose of the First Amendment is to enable and empower people to engage in free, robust discourse about their government, its officials, and the policies they adopt on their behalf. Open meetings laws thus further, rather than frustrate, fundamental First Amendment values, by educating the public about the conduct and content of public business. Indeed, courts have frequently invoked the First Amendment itself to require public access to certain government proceedings.”