“The Greatest Wet Blanket to Business, Progress and Job Creation”

By: EW News Desk Team   Date: 20 July 2011

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EW News Desk Team

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EconomyWatch, News Desk Team

 

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20 July 2011

Wynn Resorts Inc. CEO Steve Wynn launched into an astonishing rant on US President Barack Obama and the White House administration on Monday, while fielding questions at a conference call meeting with investors on his company’s quarterly earnings.

Describing the current administration as “the greatest wet blanket to business, progress and job creation in my (his) lifetime,” Wynn proceeded to blame the administration for hampering business confidence in Las Vegas, particularly that of his own personal ambitions for expansion.

“I believe in Las Vegas. I think its best days are ahead of it. But I'm afraid to do anything in the current political environment in the United States,” he said.

Related: The House Always Wins: World Casino Takings

Wynn also criticised President Obama for a “total lack of leadership” and called for him to “step up and wrangle both parties in congress.”

“Everybody is so political, so focused on holding their job for the next year that the discussion in Washington is nauseating,” he said.

The self-professed “Democratic businessman”, who previously contributed to Senator John Kerry’s presidential run in 2004 and is a staunch supporter of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, did not mince his words as he slammed the administration for numerous economic policies, including healthcare costs and business regulations.

“Everybody's afraid of the government, and there's no need to 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.”

Wynn is not the first business owner to have criticised the current White House administration. According to the Investors’ Business Daily, 3M's George Buckley, told the Financial Times last February that Obama’s policies were anti-business.

"We know what his instincts are," Buckley said. "We've got a real choice between manufacturing in Canada or Mexico — which tends to be more pro-business — and America.”

Boeing's Jim McNerney, also called Obama's handpicked National Labour Relations Board's suit against his company 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,” in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

But, Wynn’s criticism could be seen as slightly surprising considering his previous support for Democratic candidates. This support though has yet to be extended to President Obama, with Wynn having donated money to Senator John McCain during the 2008 presidential race.

“I'm telling you that the business community in this company is frightened to death of the weird political philosophy of the President of the United States,” Wynn said. “And until he's gone, everybody's going to be sitting on their thumbs.”

Read the full transcript of Steve Wynn’s conference call on Seeking Alpha.


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