Thursday, July 30, 2009

Why Steve Wynn Doesn't Make a Good Politician

Sorry, but he doesn't. Yes, he runs two beautiful casinos on The Strip. Yes, I love to visit them, gamble in them, and dine at the wonderful restaurants in them. Yes, Wynn runs a very LGBT-friendly company and I thank him for that. However, he just doesn't get what's going on in Washington.

Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn today used the forum of a telephone conference call about his company's quarterly finances to criticize President Obama.

Critical of the current presidential administration for months, Wynn, chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts, voiced more criticism today in a conference call to investors, analysts and reporters.

“Right now we are more afraid of Washington than we are of the economy. We’ve got people on our backs saying don’t go to Las Vegas which is preposterous,” Wynn said. “People are beginning to ignore some of this bombastic rhetoric from the White House and that’s encouraging.” [...]

“We’ve got the government on our back. Not just Las Vegas but all business. There’s a very definite bias in this administration that business is bad,” Wynn said. “I don’t know how long it’s going to take for them to get over this but it’s awful.” [...]

“In America, we have a government that has decided anybody who creates jobs must be bad; that the job creators must have a target on their back. What a remarkable misunderstanding,” Wynn said. “That’s not the case in Macau and it’s not the case in The People’s Republic of China and maybe we can all learn a lesson on what happens there.”

Wynn was also critical of President Obama’s health care proposal, calling the plan a “train wreck.”

Excuse me, but... HUH??!! First off, need we still talk about President Obama's critique of Wall Street bailouts gone amok from last February? That speech was NOT saying "don't go to Las Vegas", but rather telling corporate executives to stop wasting our tax dollars on their pleasure trips to wherever! I'm sorry, but I'd rather have my tax money be spent on our health care and our economic recovery than giving some stupid, overpaid MBA jocks "play money" to waste at The Palazzo.

And really, does Steve Wynn want to be US President? What are his ideas for tackling corporate corruption (which was what that Obama speech was really about) or getting health care reform passed?

Now don't get me wrong, President Obama has irritated me at times for being overly conciliatory with Republicans and "Blue Dog" Democrats(?) and allowing Wall Street to continue pillaging our Treasury as they whine about how we can't "afford health care". However, I'd still take him any day over someone who messes with card dealers' tips while claiming that he can't afford to pay them all fair wages.

I really don't know if Steve Wynn is deliberately trying to mislead people or if he's so distraught over his new divorce from Elaine that he can't think clearly. Whatever it is, he needs to think twice before putting his foot in his mouth (again!). I really wish Wynn can focus on what he does best, which is running fine Vegas casinos, because he obviously doesn't know much about politics.

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