Is Steve Wynn Right About Obama??

[privateinvestor]

Keep in mind that Wynn’s a self-proclaimed democrat and supporter of Nevada senator Harry Reid, so this is by no means a partisan viewpoint. Here’s some of what the billionaire mogul had to say in the investor conference call:


“I’m saying it bluntly, that this administration is the greatest wet blanket to business, progress and job creation in my lifetime. A lot of people don’t want to say that. They’ll say, ‘Oh God, don’t be attacking Obama.’ Well, this is Obama’s deal, and it’s Obama that’s responsible for this fear in America.”

“The guy [Obama] keeps making speeches about redistribution, and maybe ‘we ought to do something to businesses that don’t invest or hold too much money.’ We haven’t heard that kind of talk except from pure socialists.”

“Business is being hammered. The business community in this country is frightened to death of the weird political philosophy of the president of the United States. Until he’s gone, everybody’s going to be sitting on their thumbs.”

You know, the guy’s definitely not alone in blaming the president for America’s weak economy, high unemployment, and record-breaking national debt. Investor’s Business Daily named a bunch of powerful executives that have had enough of the Obama administration’s “wet blanket” policies:
In the Wall Street Journal, Boeing CEO Jim McNerney called the Obama-appointed National Labor Relations Board’s complaint against Boeing a “fundamental assault on the capitalist principles that have sustained America’s competitiveness since it became the world’s largest economy nearly 140 years ago.” Well, yesterday, American Airlines announced it would split the largest airplane order in history between Boeing and European archrival Airbus. The blow will cost Boeing roughly $20 billion in revenue. How many jobs do you think that would have created?
Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus blasted Obama in a radio interview, saying the president “never had to make payroll,” is “surrounded by college professors” and that “nobody has ever created a job in this administration.”
3M CEO George Buckley told the Financial Times in February, “We know what his [Obama's] instincts are. We’ve got a real choice between manufacturing in Canada or Mexico - which tends to be more pro-business - and America.” 3M competes with a host of foreign and domestic companies in the broad industrial, technology, and healthcare markets.
Warren Buffett, who backed Obama in 2008, called Obama’s bank tax a “guilt tax,” his carbon tax idea “regressive,” and recently blasted Obama for his obsession with the evils of corporate jets.
And don’t forget how Whole Foods CEO John Mackey took on ObamaCare in a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece in 2009. The gutsy move sparked a call to boycott the healthy grocer’s stores by left-leaning bloggers and customers.

So here we have an administration that - in the name of igniting our sluggish economy and creating much needed jobs - has plunged our nation into record debt. And yet, unemployment sits at 9.2 percent and what little recovery we had has stalled.

Let’s not complicate things, folks.

When those responsible for taking risks to create jobs and grow our nation’s economy are saying the Obama administration has created a climate where they can’t do that, shouldn’t we take that at face value?

Shouldn’t we listen? Shouldn’t Washington listen? Oh, right, the politicians are too busy campaigning for next term.

Well, if you ask me, something’s very wrong when our leaders in Washington care more about their jobs and financial well being than ours. Well, we’re the ones that hired them. And you know what they say: Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.



www.bnet.com/blog/ceo/steve-wynns-anti-obama-rant-is-he-right/7976

[Value Buy]

Well, you have to remember, during the Financial crisis, the President did name "Las Vegas" as an area none of the bankers should visit.

Yes Wynn gave a good description of what is happening, and obviously, he has had enough. Too bad a few other execs do not come forward, but, casino owners are just about the only Executives who do not receive some sort of Federal contracts, to hold them in awe of the President, I presume.
I will wait for Bills or Lakhota to disprove this last statement.

[privateinvestor]

I will wait for Bills or Lakhota to disprove this last statement.

Ok thanx for the warning....

[handyman2]

Well it is hard to bash them when they are just stating the obvious. I have been saying all along he has not a clue. They say he is brilliant but that does not always translate in to leadership of a nation.

[dancinmama]

Jul 21, 2011 19:22:49 GMT -5 handyman2 said:

Well it is hard to bash them when they are just stating the obvious. I have been saying all along he has not a clue. They say he is brilliant but that does not always translate in to leadership of a nation.

He might have been a "brilliant" community organizer; he has been a failure as President.

We've heard it from the horses' mouths, so to speak and they're not ALL Republicans. Now the question will be whether the liberals/progressives REALLY want job creation so that all the people suffering in this country's crappy economy can get back to work (with the added benefit of increasing the tax base) OR whether they will re-elect their "hope and change" guy just because they can't stand the idea of having a Republican in office.

Anyone with half a brain could tell that Obama did not have the experience to get the job done BEFORE HE WAS ELECTED. After the election, I "hoped" that despite his glaring lack of experience that he could get through 4 years without too much damage.

Can the country really handle 4 more years of this guy?

[billisonboard]

Jul 21, 2011 19:04:45 GMT -5 Value Buy said:

,,, Too bad a few other execs do not come forward, but, casino owners are just about the only Executives who do not receive some sort of Federal contracts, to hold them in awe of the President, I presume.
I will wait for Bills or Lakhota to disprove this last statement.

Gee, that is one involved statement to attempt to disprove.

Are you asking me to disprove:
a) it is "(t)oo bad a few other execs do not come forward"?
or
b) that "casino owners are just about the only Executives who do not receive some sort of Federal contracts"?
or
c) that Executives are "(held) ... in awe of the President"?
or
d) that this is all something that "(you) presume"?
or
e) all of the above.

[privateinvestor]

Steve Wynn is not the only leading exec who is beginning to question Obama's leadership... When Big Money talks people listen, especially in Washington DC.....

[cereb]

Steve Wynn might have tons of cash, but the man is a pig. Ick.

[djAdvocate]

Jul 21, 2011 19:55:48 GMT -5 @privateinvestor said:

Steve Wynn is not the only leading exec who is beginning to question Obama's leadership... When Big Money talks people listen, especially in Washington DC.....

this is the guy who just built that gargantuan Wynn casino, i am guessing?

“I’m saying it bluntly, that this administration is the greatest wet blanket to business, progress and job creation in my lifetime. A lot of people don’t want to say that. They’ll say, ‘Oh God, don’t be attacking Obama.’ Well, this is Obama’s deal, and it’s Obama that’s responsible for this fear in America.”

unsubstantiated claim

“The guy [Obama] keeps making speeches about redistribution, and maybe ‘we ought to do something to businesses that don’t invest or hold too much money.’ We haven’t heard that kind of talk except from pure socialists.”

yes, that would be socialist talk. but Obama never said that.


“Business is being hammered. The business community in this country is frightened to death of the weird political philosophy of the president of the United States. Until he’s gone, everybody’s going to be sitting on their thumbs.”

the weird political philosophy of the president is not terribly different than that of most Democrats in the post WW2 era- a period of unparalleled prosperity until about 1973, and one of continuing promise until 2001. it is the OTHER 21st century president he should be complaining about- especially given his Democratic inclinations.

[privateinvestor]

In any case, there’s clearly a very large gap between “Obama the campaigner” and “Obama the leader.” The former promised change in leadership and captured the hearts and minds of Americans, while the latter failed to deliver on that promise. There are big lessons here that we, as managers and leaders, can all learn from:
1.Anyone can be a one-hit-wonder. No matter how brilliant, how spectacular an ascent to power, how highly acclaimed, the world is full of one-hit wonders. CEOs, political leaders, business leaders make a huge splash and, the next thing you know, everyone’s wondering what ever happened to that guy. The reason is simple: failure to deliver on the promise.
2.Change management is really tough stuff. If you’re going to hang your hat on a big change, you’d sure as hell better deliver. For example, if you say you’re going to end partisan politics, bridge both sides of the isle, and bring transparency to Washington, then doing exactly the opposite is a very bad idea. And shoving Obamacare down American’s throats was not effective change management.
3.There’s more to being a great speaker than just sounding like a great speaker. President Obama isn’t the orator that most people seem to think he is. When he’s campaigning, sure, he’s definitely got oratory skills. But when it comes to leading and influencing, he tends to talk down from a lofty perch, leaving the audience feeling disconnected and adrift.
4.When you think you’ve got a mandate, you’d better be right. There’s a fine line between balance of power and stalemate, and I guess Washington will be trying to establish that fine line during the next two years of a split congress. But when you’ve got all the power and you think you’ve got a mandate, you’d damn well better be right. It certainly appears that Obama and congress misread the needs and wants of their constituents.
5.Prioritize and focus. To me, the first two years of this administration felt like a breathless sprint to the finish line, to get as much legislation passed as humanly possible. Everything had such an over-the-top sense of urgency that there was never enough time to debate or even read the bill, for that matter. Clearly, the Obama administration bit off too much. Not only that, but jobs and the economy should have been priorities one, two and three.
6.In America, business trumps ideology. Nobody’s interested in ideology when they’re losing their jobs and their homes. The only exception is that we all feel strongly about our freedom and leaving this place in better shape than we found it. The policies of this administration not only failed to deliver jobs and boost the economy, but they mortgaged our nation’s future in their mad rush to pass groundbreaking legislation.
7.Leaders and managers must surround themselves with star players. Leaders may be the lightening rod, but their teams do much of the heavy lifting. By all accounts from both sides of the isle, from communications on healthcare and stimulus to failed promises about unemployment and the economy, Obama’s team of advisors and czars failed to provide the expertise he needed to deliver the results he promised.

You know, I’m certainly no expert on politics, but over the past two years it has seemed abundantly clear, at least to me, that we were seeing a failure of leadership in Washington. What do you think?




www.bnet.com/blog/ceo/7-leadership-lessons-from-obamas-first-two-years-in-office/5960?tag=content;drawer-container

[mmhmm]

Jul 21, 2011 19:58:13 GMT -5 cereb said:

Steve Wynn might have tons of cash, but the man is a pig. Ick.

Gawwwwd, yes! In fact, that's an insult to pigs.

[djAdvocate]

the madness of supporting Reid in what is probably the worst economy in the West, and blasting away at Obama makes me wonder how much time this guy spends tipping his own juice.

[Value Buy]

Jul 21, 2011 19:51:56 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Jul 21, 2011 19:04:45 GMT -5 Value Buy said:

,,, Too bad a few other execs do not come forward, but, casino owners are just about the only Executives who do not receive some sort of Federal contracts, to hold them in awe of the President, I presume.
I will wait for Bills or Lakhota to disprove this last statement.

Gee, that is one involved statement to attempt to disprove.

Are you asking me to disprove:
a) it is "(t)oo bad a few other execs do not come forward"?
or
b) that "casino owners are just about the only Executives who do not receive some sort of Federal contracts"?
or
c) that Executives are "(held) ... in awe of the President"?
or
d) that this is all something that "(you) presume"?
or
e) all of the above.

I thought it was obvious, but then, maybe not, so,

B.

[billisonboard]

Jul 21, 2011 21:11:27 GMT -5 Value Buy said:

Jul 21, 2011 19:51:56 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

...

b) that "casino owners are just about the only Executives who do not receive some sort of Federal contracts"?
...

I thought it was obvious, but then, maybe not, so,

B.

Thanks, you gave me the easy one.

Owners aren't executives.

[Value Buy]

Bills,
Wynn Resorts is a publicly traded company, so he is an Executive......and a successful one at that.
Sold one mega resort company to start a new one.

[2kids10horses]

Ya know, if the media would treat Obama like they did Nixon, and ask him the tough questions they're too chicken to ask, I think Obama would get the message.

Questions I would like to see asked:

"Are you happy that you caused Boeing to lose a contract to AirBus since you prohibited them from producing in South Carolina?"

"Are you going to let the employees of America's private jet manufacturers have more than 99 weeks of unemployment?"

"You promised that if we passed the stimulus bill, unemployment would not exceed 8.2%. It passed. Unemployment now exceeds 9%. When are you going to accept that your policies don't work?"

"When you were elected, you rode a wave of popularity into office along with a strong majority in both houses of Congress. The election of 2010 reversed the House of Representatives, and barely held a Democratic Senate. What do you think the message the American pubic is telling you about the Change you brought to Washington?"

"You say that creating jobs is your number one priority. How does 1) punishing American corporate jet manufacturers add jobs? 2) preventing Boeing from expanding in South Carolina create jobs? 3) forcing Americans to buy health insurance add jobs? 4) Taking more taxes from people making over $200,000 add jobs?"

[billisonboard]

Jul 21, 2011 21:46:56 GMT -5 Value Buy said:

Bills,
Wynn Resorts is a publicly traded company, so he is an Executive......and a successful one at that.
Sold one mega resort company to start a new one.

got me on that one.

[Deleted]

“The guy [Obama] keeps making speeches about redistribution, and maybe ‘we ought to do something to businesses that don’t invest or hold too much money.’ We haven’t heard that kind of talk except from pure socialists.”

God I have been saying that FOREVER. Now I understand that socialism does have an attraction for some people. The thing that I find strange is that most Democrats don't come out & say that they want that kind of government. Trying to argue that a socialist program isn't socialist seem like a waste of time. Arguing that wealth redistribution isn't socialism is also a waste of time. Why not use the "S" word & get it over with.

As for President Obama, I can pretty much understand most things. I see where he's coming from & where he's going & from his perspective I'm guessing that he means well. The problem is that liberals always mean well but they don't get it. And understand that President Obama makes most liberals look conservative by comparison. He is ultra left wing.

He does have several things going for him.

1. He is a GREAT TelePrompTer reader & speaker (if it's prepared). I would put him in the same class as President Reagan & Adolph Hitler. I am NOT comparing him to Hitler by any means except his being able to hold a crowd in the palm of his hand. His politics are actually about the opposite of Hitlers. President Reagan could do that too.

2. He has a core groups of people that totally believe in him. By totally I mean that they are so completely in awe of him that everything he does they can somehow twist to make it a positive. In the past I've called them true believers but I really think of them more like disciple's. They idolize him much the same as they would a savior.

[billisonboard]

Jul 21, 2011 22:36:15 GMT -5 @oldtex said:

...Arguing that wealth redistribution isn't socialism is also a waste of time...

Socialism - a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole. dictionary.reference.com/browse/socialism

Not "wealth redistribution." Sorry.

[Deleted]

a theory or system of social organization (the U.S. government) that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution (or re distribution - taking from one person & giving it to another), of capital (our tax money), land, etc., in the community as a whole (through the welfare program, Obamacare, school lunch programs & every other paid for by the government entitlement program)..


Yelp Socialism. I couldn't have said it better myself. Of course this is the first or 2nd state of socialism. We won't get to the "fun" parts until we have adapted these new programs & we are forced to change things to keep businesses afloat. Businesses will be in trouble because people will be paying 50% or more in taxes & won't be able to buy enought to keep our economy going.

[billisonboard]

Jul 21, 2011 23:26:31 GMT -5 @oldtex said:

a theory or system of social organization (the U.S. government) that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution (or re distribution - taking from one person & giving it to another), of capital (our tax money), land, etc., in the community as a whole (through the welfare program, Obamacare, school lunch programs & every other paid for by the government entitlement program)..


Yelp Socialism. I couldn't have said it better myself. Of course this is the first or 2nd state of socialism. We won't get to the "fun" parts until we have adapted these new programs & we are forced to change things to keep businesses afloat. Businesses will be in trouble because people will be paying 50% or more in taxes & won't be able to buy enought to keep our economy going.

cute try.

[privateinvestor]

Hey if you are OK with Obama as the leader of this country, the free world, and as Commander in Chief than more power to you.

It is just that some of us lifelong Dems don't agree with you in that regard, so take your best shot at us because that seems to be all you have unless you can change a lot of minds by proving us all wrong....go for it if you can...

This should be interesting especially now with Obama being under the microscope lately to show his presidential leadership of the lack of the same..

And again I repeat this challenge:

You know, I’m certainly no expert on politics, but over the past two years it has seemed abundantly clear, at least to me, that we were seeing a failure of leadership in Washington. What do you think?

[billisonboard]

Jul 22, 2011 7:54:39 GMT -5 @privateinvestor said:

...

And again I repeat this challenge:

You know, I’m certainly no expert on politics, but over the past two years it has seemed abundantly clear, at least to me, that we were seeing a failure of leadership in Washington. What do you think?

I would agree. Neither the president or those elected to leadership positions by our senators and representatives have shown great leadership skills.

[privateinvestor]

Jul 22, 2011 8:11:08 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Jul 22, 2011 7:54:39 GMT -5 @privateinvestor said:

...

And again I repeat this challenge:

You know, I’m certainly no expert on politics, but over the past two years it has seemed abundantly clear, at least to me, that we were seeing a failure of leadership in Washington. What do you think?

I would agree. Neither the president or those elected to leadership positions by our senators and representatives have shown great leadership skills.

I think the thing you are missing is that Steve Wynn is not the only Business Exec who is beginning to question Obama's Leadership capabilities........I just don't see how any one can defend Obama's Leadership since he took office in mid January 2009 as our President.

[billisonboard]

Jul 22, 2011 8:39:37 GMT -5 @privateinvestor said:

Jul 22, 2011 8:11:08 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

I would agree. Neither the president or those elected to leadership positions by our senators and representatives have shown great leadership skills.

I think the thing you are missing........I just don't see how any one can defend Obama's Leadership since he took office in mid January 2009 as our President.

[ugonow]

Companies have suffered so bad ever since the communist takeover started in Feb. 2009. I read about it in the financial section and in my account statements everyday.........

[privateinvestor]

Jul 22, 2011 8:49:04 GMT -5 ugonow said:

Companies have suffered so bad ever since the communist takeover started in Feb. 2009. I read about it in the financial section and in my account statements everyday.........

Not really it is the average workers who have not fared too well since our government was taken over by Obama's so called European Socialism..which is not supposed to happen but businesses just don't think much of Obama's economic agenda, I guess??

[djAdvocate]

Jul 21, 2011 23:26:31 GMT -5 @oldtex said:

a theory or system of social organization (the U.S. government) that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution (or re distribution - taking from one person & giving it to another), of capital (our tax money), land, etc., in the community as a whole (through the welfare program, Obamacare, school lunch programs & every other paid for by the government entitlement program)..


Yelp Socialism. I couldn't have said it better myself. Of course this is the first or 2nd state of socialism. We won't get to the "fun" parts until we have adapted these new programs & we are forced to change things to keep businesses afloat. Businesses will be in trouble because people will be paying 50% or more in taxes & won't be able to buy enought to keep our economy going.

how would PROFIT taxes impact capital purchases? expenses are either COGS or overhead. taxes are on profit, which are left over AFTER all expenses are made.

[djAdvocate]

it is amazing how well the masters of industry have their pets trained.

[djAdvocate]

Jul 22, 2011 9:42:35 GMT -5 @privateinvestor said:

Jul 22, 2011 8:49:04 GMT -5 ugonow said:

Companies have suffered so bad ever since the communist takeover started in Feb. 2009. I read about it in the financial section and in my account statements everyday.........

Not really it is the average workers who have not faired too well since our government was taken over by Obama's so called European Socialism..which is not supposed to happen but businesses just don't think much of Obama's economic agenda, I guess??

average workers have not fared well since the 70's.