Steve Wynn's Anti-Obama Rant - Is He Right?

By now, you've probably heard about casino resort CEO Steve Wynn's epic rant against President Barack Obama in a company earnings call on Monday.

His board may not be happy he did it, but I bet you could fill one of Wynn's giant hotels with CEOs who are ecstatic that he said what they've long been thinking.

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."

• 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.

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.
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