FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
It's pretty safe to say President Obama shouldn't bother sending billionaire and casino mogul Steve Wynn an invitation to his next fund-raising event in Las Vegas.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/images/07/19/art.steve.wynn.jpg caption="Steve Wynn"]
During his company's quarterly earnings conference call, Wynn, CEO of Wynn Resorts, went on a rant about the harm he believes the President has done to the economy and business community. Wynn told listeners on the call, "this administration is the greatest wet blanket to business, and progress and job creation in my lifetime."
Since he was elected, President Obama hasn't had the strongest relationship with business leaders who strongly oppose the health care and Wall Street reform laws he's pushed for during his administration. Wynn says business leaders like himself, who have business opportunities and the capital to act on them, are sitting in fear of the president's policies.
Despite Wynn's tirade, his company Wynn Resorts did well in the second quarter. But Wynn said he could be doing even more if it wasn't for Obama's policies and overall philosophy as president. Wynn claims his company alone could add 10,000 jobs in Las Vegas if it wasn't for this political climate.
Wynn is a self-described "Democratic businessman" but he says he supports both Democrats and Republicans. But he's not happy with anybody in Washington these days. He believes Congress and the administration are so focused on holding their jobs for the next year that the discussion in Washington right now is quote "nauseating."
Here's my question to you: Steve Wynn calls the Obama Administration the greatest "wet blanket" to business and job creation in his lifetime. Is he right?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Dennis in Los Angeles:
Yes! The proof is that business is sitting on trillions of dollars of cash, refusing to invest capital and not hiring anyone. Not because of any political reason, but because we're scared of all the regulation, taxes, debt, pro-union, anti-business rhetoric and uncertainty this administration has thrown at the private sector.
Joe in Houston:
Steve Wynn is only right in that Obama is the current example of administrations which have been accumulating piles of "wet blanket" policies for decades. About the only way Obama could be considered less than the greatest wet blanket would be if he repealed some of the Executive Orders and Presidential Letters of past administrations’ wet blanket policies.
Mike in Minneapolis:
According to Forbes, last year Steve Wynn was worth $2.3 billion, up from $1.5 billion the previous year. What on earth does he want from Obama? A taxpayer funded bailout? Besides, his business is gambling; not exactly an R-and-D driven enterprise. He sounds like a bit of a false authority to me.
Janne in North Carolina:
Contrary to what the Democrats think, businesses are in business to make money, not provide "social justice" or whatever the heck the Left-wingers think. If you regulate them to the point they are not making money, then what exactly is the motivation for being in business? You cannot regulate business to the point of strangulation and then expect the economy to grow!
Chandler in Rockaway, New Jersey:
Jack, why should we believe anything from a man who made billions preying on the gullible through legalized gambling? Like the other robber barons, he wants absolute freedom from government oversight of any kind, and of course, to push all of the tax burden onto the working classes. This silly whining that "uncertainty" is the cause of high unemployment is a merely a smokescreen masking the agenda of the ultra-wealthy.