Steve Wynn: Obama Is Killing the Economy

I've had this on my list for a while. I'm sure you've seen this if you pay any attention to politics at all. But just in case, here is one businessman's take on why our economy is floundering. It's not that complicated if you have any understanding of economics at all (go to http://mises.org if you don't). Remember, Wynn is a self-described Democrat.

From Moneynews.com:
"Steve Wynn: Obama Is Killing the Economy" by Forrest Jones
http://www.moneynews.com/StreetTalk/Steve-Wynn-Obama-Killing/2011/07/19/id/404088?s=al&promo_code=CA45-1

From YouTube:
"Steve Wynn Goes On Epic Anti-Obama Rant On Company Conference Call"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTbjcKZzrmM

"This is Obama's deal and it's Obama that's responsible for this fear in America. The guy keeps making speeches about redistribution. And, maybe we [the administration] ought to do something to businesses that don't invest, they're holding too much money. We haven't heard that kind of talk except from pure socialists. Everybody's afraid of the government and there's no need soft-peddling it, it's the truth. It is the truth! And that's true of Democratic businessmen and Republican businessmen, and I am a Democratic businessman and I support Harry Reid. I support Democrats and Republicans. And, I'm telling you that the business community in this country is frightened to death of the weird political philosophy of the President of the United States. And until he's gone, everybody's going to be sitting on their thumbs."

"I could spend the next three hours giving you examples of all of us in this market place that are frightened to death about all the new regulations, our health care costs escalate, regulations coming from left and right."


Interestingly, Wynn Resorts continues to expand in ... China!

From the Wall Street Journal:
"Wynn Macau Sets Positive Tone for Casino Rivals" by Kate O'Keeffe
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303661904576455693374202196.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

And from Forbes:
"Wynn EPS Triples To $1.60 On Macau Strength" by Agustino Fontevecchia
http://blogs.forbes.com/afontevecchia/2011/07/18/wynn-eps-1-60-on-macau-strength-and-a-stronger-las-vegas/

Think about it: China is less socialistic, in some ways and in some places, than the United States are! If we continue to make it difficult to do business here, companies will do business elsewhere. It's just not that complicated.


Bernie Marcus, co-founder of Home Depot, also made similar remarks. Consider this article from the Investor's Business Daily:
"Home Depot Co-Founder: Obama Is Choking Recovery" by John Merline

"Marcus: The U.S. government. Having built a small business into a big one, I can tell you that today the impediments that the government imposes are impossible to deal with. Home Depot would never have succeeded if we'd tried to start it today. Every day you see rules and regulations from a group of Washington bureaucrats who know nothing about running a business. And I mean every day. It's become stifling."

"Marcus: His [Obama's] speeches are wonderful. His output is absolutely, incredibly bad. As he speaks about cutting out regulations, they are now producing thousands of pages of new ones. With just ObamaCare by itself, you have a 2,000 page bill that's probably going to end up being 150,000 pages of regulations."

"Marcus: They are all tied together. If we don't lower spending and if we don't deal with paying down the debt, we are going to have to raise taxes. Even brain-dead economists understand that when you raise taxes, you cost jobs."

"Marcus: I'm not sure Obama would understand anything that I'd say, because he's never really worked a day outside the political or legal area. He doesn't know how to make a payroll, he doesn't understand the problems businesses face. I would try to explain that the plight of the businessman is very reactive to Washington. As Washington piles on regulations and mandates, the impact is tremendous. I don't think he's a bad guy. I just think he has no knowledge of this."


When researching these remarks, I also came across some old articles. From the Atlanta Journal Constitution a little less than a year ago:
"Bernie Marcus unloads on Obama administration in CNBC interview" by Henry Unger
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=8&ved=0CFYQFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.ajc.com%2Fbusiness-beat%2F2010%2F09%2F17%2Fbernie-marcus-unloads-on-obama-administration-in-cnbc-interview%2F&rct=j&q=bernie marcus obama&ei=sNkpToLADoy4tgeBvanXAg&usg=AFQjCNHotMPvsvh3umjd99m818aRi5B4mg&sig2=u5ebbmNjfd5AtoSxL9Bx0g&cad=rja

"In a scathing criticism of the Obama administration, Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus told CNBC Friday that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner should have a reality-TV show about small business to illustrate how out of touch Democrats’ policies are with the private sector."

"'My solution is that you take a guy like Timothy Geithner and put him in a new reality show. It’s called ‘Timothy Geithner Does Small Business’, something like [the porn movie] ‘Debbie Does Dallas’, and it ends up the same way,' said Marcus. 'Basically, what they’re doing to small business is very similar in this case [to what ‘Debbie’ did to Dallas.]'"

"Hyperbole aside, Marcus said the administration’s poor performance warrants the Democrats being voted out of office."