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Steve Wynn: "If This Is Good Government Then I Am Mary Poppins"
One of the most scathing reviews of Obama's handling of the economy (but not the stock market) comes courtesy of Las Vegas billionaire Steve Wynn:
"This administration without any experience is doing more damage than is easy to assess at the moment, but I can tell you I am sure that we are moving in the wrong direction and i say that as half a democrat and half a republican. What we are seeing now just doesn't make sense. The priorities have all been inverted."
The self-professed half democrat/half republican gives a scathing review of the administration's handling of healthcare, of the economy, and of numerous other critical issues.
Wynn, who should know Vegas better than anyone, does not join the Las Vegas analyst cheerleading squad: "We are occupied on weekends but the rates are much lower and what is missing is the mid-week convention and meeting business" and not coming back for an indefinite period of time.
Also some observations on which social class is impacted by Obama the most: "the wealthy can "duck" tax increases, they can postpone income - when the government starts to overtax the economy, as they are in the process of doing, the pain of it is felt by the very people that the politicians claim to be serving: the working middle class. Inflation and devaluation of the dollar is making everybody's buying power who voted for Barack Obama go through the floor."
On the economic system at play in the US:
"The kind of money that is being spent, and the amount of taxes that are directly and indirectly being proposed, are huge. We are seeing socialism-lite here- it would be ok if it worked, it never works. We are now in a position of complete unpredictability with the Obama administration and Congress: i don't know what will happen. I have a sense that if once the public gets the drift and understands what's afoot here, and these bills pass, then there's going to be a very painful midterm election for the democrats."
And the blistering conclusive condemnation:
"It's a pleasure to do business in China: the government is much more even-handed, much more considered, much more gentle than it is here. I feel much more secure as a businessman in China than I do at the moment in the United States of America."
Video courtesy of Fox Business Network:
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Wow... that is quite a statement coming from a proven entrepreneur who operates on a massive scale and someone who has more of a bird's eye view than the rest of us... really makes you think about our country from an entirely different perspective... we're f%cked... I can just feel it...
I feel much more secure as a businessman in China than I do at the moment in the United States of America."
wow. Just wow. Is anyone in any government in the U.S. paying any attention at all?
Why is this so surprising?
The world view of this Admin is that the US style economy is oppressive, unfair, and totally awful.
So they will break it. Once it is broken, a new way will replace it.
Expect to see "Mission Accomplished" banners before too very long.
Obama winning Peace Prize
Gov't buying debt to pay debt to keep rates low for mortgages people can't qualify for, and banks that won't release inventory as they mark to myth and present feloniously misrepresented balance sheets.
Monetizing without restraint.
What if every state, municipality, local government and indeed every business enterprise adopted that model?
Hard times require intervention and stimulus. Let's manufacture earnings. Let's print more stock certificates. Let's increase sales and profit (on paper only of course).
http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/1510-Waterboard-JP-Morgan-an...
http://www.cnbc.com/id/33310096/
Let's reward failure and inefficiency while destroying real jobs in the productive economy.
Jam up stocks and celebrate a meaningless threshold breakthrough.
It is all going to end very, very badly and made worse than if we had just allowed quick liquidation.
But until then celebrate while the cause-effect relationship has completely broken down.
It is all corrupt and pricing is undeniably unreliable.
Stocks - Bonds - Commodities - currency. Every exchange has gone full-tilt compromised.
Our world is a world of discontinuities. Nothing is what it represents.
Very eloquently said.
Why somany of you are taking a Gambler's remark seriously?. Just curious to know. What is he saying new?
I believe he's saying the last face lift has change his appearance so much that he now looks like Mary Poppins.
Wynn is no gambler. The guy who runs the House never gambles. He just works the percentages like an actuary. Getting fat wallets through the front door is Wynn's specialty.
Nevertheless, he is still pissed that Obama scared away that big WFC convention last Spring. He figures it cost him tens of millions.
No. The guy who runs the house does too gamble, and "big time" -- he gambles when he builds (or expands) the house in -- he just doesn't bother playing the "slot machines" (or any other penny ante BS).
Just ask Wynn how his gamble on the Encore property is working out . . .
"Gambler" .... it's his customers who are the gamblers - the house doesn't gamble, common misconception! He talks an awful lot of sense and his shares are a screaming SCREAMING short.
It's not so bad in China. A friend of mine was in Tiananmen Square last year and had a nice conversation with one of the natives about the historical significance of the location.
Never mind that the Chinese keep their own from learning about the massacre - the fact that he didn't end up with a black bag over his head, tossed in the back of a van, and deposited in the nearest landfill shows ME that China has truly embraced change that we can believe in!
China. The OTHER western capitalist democracy.
As soon as healthcare is passed and the average middle class family spends the estimated 13% of their income o insurance, their effective tax rate jumps from 25-28% to 38-41% just for federal taxes and paying other people's healthcare bill. Throw in ever increasing state taxes and damn near 50% of all middle class income will disappear before any take home pay.
This is right around the corner, in fact the shit republican from Maine just helped advance the bill through the senate to switch to a communist america.
At this time next year, our middle class effective tax rate out the door will be 50%. Let's hope that Obama and the fucktards don't decide to raise taxes further to pay for their bailout of goldman sacks.
Throw in Tax and Cap and the middle class is now the poor class.
Health Care Reform is a Trojan Horse. Always was. If they were interested in reform, they wouldn't do any of the things they are doing. It's easier to steal water from a lake than from a pond...
the President might chose policy direction but he is not the economist who sets interest rates and the finer points of policy execution.
If anyone should be taking the largest share of the blame it's the Federal reserve.
It's total bullshit to blame what amounts to several decades of failed economic theory and policies on the guy who's effectively just sat in the chair.
"I feel much more secure as a businessman in China than I do at the moment in the United States of America."
It's so true! Countries with slave labor are great for businessmen.
Yes, China is easier to do business in because:
BEIJING -- Lead poisoning continues to emerge among children in China despite growing public protests, with officials revealing Tuesday that tests showed nearly 1,000 children had excessive lead in their blood, and a factory owner acknowledging some responsibility.
Health officials in the city of Jiyuan in central China's Henan province tested 2,743 children living in a region with some three dozen smelters.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125543443529982227.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDD...
Exactly, it is easier to BRIBE the chinese guys and DO a death-dance on the millions and millions of oppresed chinese folks.
Excuse me, did you read the same statistic I did? 2,743 children in an area with THREE DOZEN (that's 36 for your imperially challenged nitwits) smelters? In a land of 1.3 billion, that isn't even statistically insignificant. It hardly merits mention.
There are whole towns in America that are drinking poisoned water because the local officials won't do anything about the pollution from US industry. Why do you tards always seek demons abroad? Clean up your own backyard first!
I am Chumbawamba.
+100000
From the article, they TESTED 2743 children of whom roughly 1000 have elevated levels of lead.
Why don't you do a little research on the FDA here in the US. This isn't about how wonderful China is, they suck too, it is about how far the US has fallen to prop China up. If any country has a gazillion poor people that is willing to manufacture stuff on the cheap, they are going to do well in this world wide economy.
What causes more brain damage, lead exposure or American public school exposure?
Most definitely the latter.
Compulsory Education in America, if that doesn't smack of communism, I don't know what does.
This scares the soul out of my skin coming from a guy like this...
I've had the pleasure in meeting Steve Wynn during his GRAND OPENING of Encore in Las Vegas Nevada... He is one of the most smartest people I've ever met in this world...
His comments should echo thru every household in this country...
I solute Steve Wynn for his honest opinion with what's happening to our great nation...
I'm concerned far more than ever we are heading in the wrong direction...
Obama and clan are just winging the whole deal...
Sincerely,
Completely Screwed Angry Tax Payer...
Yes, China is easier to do business in because:
BEIJING -- Lead poisoning continues to emerge among children in China despite growing public protests, with officials revealing Tuesday that tests showed nearly 1,000 children had excessive lead in their blood, and a factory owner acknowledging some responsibility.
Health officials in the city of Jiyuan in central China's Henan province tested 2,743 children living in a region with some three dozen smelters.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125543443529982227.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDD...
What's he complaining about--his buddy Milken is still out of jail....in other countries you'd never see him again!
milken wrote the government a cheque for almost $600m. he is not a violent criminal why the hell would he still be in jail.
the travesty is that NO individual in the current clusterfuck has had to write the government a cheque. NOBODY.
the only people that owe the government are the taxpayers. and they r going to be k-y'd in perpetuity.
Lizzy, I agree with you.
The prior comment to yours illustrates precisely why Tyler, Marla and the entire ZH blog is, and must remain, anonymous. When people are told something they don't wish to hear, they attack the person speaking the truth in an effort to denigrate him or her, thus effectively (though not really) trashing what was said.
The truth is always the truth regardless of the speaker or the listener. If you can't hurt the speaker because the speaker is unknown, the truth sits untouched for the entire world to see and hear.
According to cognitive difficulties an anonymous phone call to the fire department on a burning building isn't burning because the speaker is unknown....so don't make the call its not burning...get a different argument...tell people why their wrong....
I think most people are cautious from whom they take their advice from....Wynn is a commercial property owner/note holder....what do you think he wants?(I know he raised liquidity...but why now?)
He wants something............
If an idea or statement of fact or opinion can't stand on it's own, then I agree that you must examine the speaker for hidden agendas.
On the other hand, if an idea or statement of fact or opinion can stand on it's own and is just as valid if asked by anyone, then the motives of the speaker are almost immaterial. Notice I didn't say completely immaterial.
I submit that Wynn observations and statements can stand on their own and thus it maters very little if at all Wynn's agenda.
Lizzy - That only works if we let them. I guess I dosed my hopium this morning.
Awesome, Miles. Just awesome.
why? because he perpetrated a fraud on the system you complete jackass...if you need verification read DEVIL TAKE THE HINDMOST pages 74,208,253,254,256-260,262,263,264,271 etc
His wealth should have been confiscated ala RICO..YOU FKIN TWIT!
The profits from KKR takeover of Beatrice yielded family accounts of $650 million alone.
Your the problem..because like so many Americans your brain dead!
wow, so you can read.
sadly, not a yank.
alas, my point was that as a non violent offender, jail is not the place for him.
further, i benchmarked miken's behavior and punishment against the behavior and punishment of his peer group over the last 5 years.
over the last 5 many, many have perpetrated a fraud on the system. but given that a man like joe cassano (for example, as i literally have hundreds to chose from) is walking around free, with his wallet intact, i concluded that the only people paying for the sins of milkens current peer group, is the US taxpayer.
as a slightly brain dead, non american, i can only wish you many, many happy years as a bent over US taxpayer.
The concepts of judicial exclusion, favored justice and never ending incarceration for non violent offenders must end.
I would start with drug users before thieves.
according to you Bernie Madoff should be strolling Central Park...non violent offender...no jail time according to you.
Guys like Cassanno are out because the regulators are captured. I think your side of the pond is not immune to $ payoffs, either.
After you change the L to D in your moniker watch this..
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/10092009/watch.html
Anon - Barking up the wrong tree. I suggest you read my post below and find a new place to lurk.
Happy trails.
Anon - You went to the way wrong place in the way wrong way with the wrong person. Being totally clueless in not a valid excuse here for someone as tasteless as yourself. Do us all a favor and take your self actualized pinky finger saluting self somewhere else. I am sure you will find a home at the Yahoo chat rooms.
Lizzy, all apologies for cooling down first.
define "violent".
Milken was a victim of Giuliani's political ambitions (and I would not be surprised if his Wall Street masters put him to it). He was an easy target because he was a high profile figure yet at the same time an outsider - he wasn't part of "the club" at Wall Street. Whatever he did, it was nothing compared to the criminal activity that the Wall Street "club" (wink, wink...Goldman) engages in everyday.
I'm no fan of Guiliani but this was a different den of wolves...read the pages given to Lizzy then make your determination.
"We are seeing socialism-lite here- it would be ok if it worked, it never works."
And if worms had machinge guns, birds wouldn't #$% with them.
And "even if it worked", it wouldn't be OK! Socialism is the absence of choice and hence, freedom!
I suppose being forced to buy insurance from for profit companies without the choice of a public option is your idea of freedom? Good luck with corporate rule.
I think everyone would support not forcing you to buy insurance if you wouldn't get medical care when you got sick.
Why do you need insurance to get medical care when you're sick? I didn't have insurance for the first 23 years of my life and I/my parents got along just fine paying cash for services rendered.
My six year-old had brain surgery last year. $600,000 bill. Still a chance he may need surgery on the other side of his brain. Glad we had insurance/hope we don't get cancelled.
- Jendrzejczyk,
...I'm afraid you got hooked.
-1
If you define socialism as the absence of choice and freedom, then tautologically your statement is correct. I, on the other hand, can concieve of plenty of definitions of socialism which are perfectly consistent with democracy, free markets and freedom. Please review this morning's excellent article on marijuana legalization for some tips on how to help expand your horizons.
You're wrong that the marijuana issue is a socialistic or democratic.
Legalizing it is more of a libertarian issue because unless you are causing harm to someone else or their property, the government should leave you alone.
Socialism is all about the "majority", and the majority is stupid.
Everything should always be about if you are harming someone else or their property, if you aren't, then the government should not be able to use force against you.
It frustrates me when I keep hearing terms like socialism and socialism lite. It is an inaccurate depiction of what we have here in the US and makes it sound quaintly Norwegian. We have a fascist oligarchy in the US which is much worse. Socialism is social security, road infrastructure, and medicare, NOT bailing out a few of the elite at the expense of many.
Bingo. It's all out fascism in US right now, not even socialism.
Listen to this guy... he's 40!
I wouldn't say it's worse. Different, maybe, but not worse. Unless you happen to like socialism.
A bazillion times worse in my opinion. At least under socialism everyone is supposed to get something out of it. See my examples above. With a gas tax they are supposed to build roads for everyone's benefit. Under fascism they are taking from the masses and giving to a few oligarchs. Giving banks cheap money and screwing savers and people that should be making money on their cash. Not to mention driving not TBTF institutions into the ground. Who can compete with free money?? The government using taxpayers money to bail out Wall Street is fascism. Socialism cripples a country, fascism destroys one. Hide and watch.
And BTW, I am first a libertarian, second an anarchist (w/o any government), followed up by what we used to have in the US without the warmongering, then maybe a socialist. So way down on my list.
Steve Wynn is speaking truth to power and calling it as it is, not as he would be expected to see it based upon his bias or pocket book. He is speaking in spite of his best interest, which would be to go with the flow.
What is remarkable is that we are surprised when an avowed capitalist and entrepreneur doesn't pick up the baton and march with the band.
I'm old enough to remember when the leaders of industry and capital were expected to shoulder their share of the moral obligation to make things better for the current AND next generation.
How quaint this concept must seem in today's crass and vulgar "I love me some me" world.
Rigghhhttttt. He's just a poor wittle businessman that no interest whatsoever in making money by having rich (or those with easy credit through home ATM's) spend at his meager establishments.
I guess he's really rallying the charge to put Citi/BoA/Hankco/Goldman out of business, re-regulate the bankster industry and have everyone tighten their belts, to stop living on credit. Why don't I see him out front on that?
Anonymous,
It is clearly in Steve Wynn's interest to achieve the opposite - a proper recovery with sustainable growth - even if it means short-term pain. Even in your assessment of his perspective - the way the administration is functioning, it's basically putting a chokehold on the very things you mention - expendable income, now and forever.
Anonymous,
It is clearly in Steve Wynn's interest to achieve the opposite - a proper recovery with sustainable growth - even if it means short-term pain. Even in your assessment of his perspective - the way the administration is functioning, it's basically putting a chokehold on the very things you mention - expendable income, now and forever.
What kind of comment is this? How is what he's saying diminished by who he is? So you think Wynn is incorrect or are you just attacking the speaker so as not to hear his message?
There is a reason that this comment was made by an anonymous contributor. He knows that if he would have attached it to a profile, he would have been laughed out of this website.
Did you not read what Steve Winn said? He focused not on the little blue haired ladies plunking quarters into the slot machines... that's not where his bread and butter is. He wants the Merrill Lynch conventions -with 5,000+ brokers with money to spend and call-girls to impress- flooding his casino Monday through Friday. THAT is where his revenue is off.
He fully expects room rates to be off from 12 to 18 months ago. What he DOESN'T expect is weekday VOLUME to have absolutely fallen off a cliff.
Get a fucking clue, dude.
Remarks by “taopraxis and “Yahoo! Finance User” yesterday to Aaron Task’s post of a Ralph Nader interview -- Nader on Obama: "A Frightened Man" -- "Very Disappointing" -- expressed the trend of blog commentary and echo Wynn's sentiments that if the public gets the drift and understands what's afoot…then there's going to be a very painful midterm election for the democrats.
taopraxis -- “If War is Peace and Peace is War, then Peace Prize, War Prize, whatever... Is there a Banker's Puppet Prize?”
Yahoo! Finance User --“I am one of the lefties who voted him in office (and donated hundreds to his campaign). I am furious at Obama's support of the financial oligarchy and recently dropped my democratic party registration. I will never vote for the lesser of two evils again.”"Inflation and devaluation of the dollar is making everybody's buying power who voted for Barack Obama go through the floor."
Uh, Steve, it ain't just the marks that voted for Obama whose buying power is toast.
Disclaimer: I am a machine smart enough to answer the CAPTCHA question.
I am a machine smart enough to reload the page until I get an easy one and then use a calculator to solve the CAPTCGA
Yes, China is so good to do business in because of government pro business polices like this:
BEIJING, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Nearly 1,000 children living in a major Chinese lead smelting base have excessive levels of the heavy metal in their blood, state media said on Tuesday, as environmentalists called on firms to detail their pollution.
The country's biggest smelter has acknowledged some responsibility in the poisoning in central Henan province, and all children whose homes were within a kilometre of metal plants have been moved, the official Xinhua agency said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/basicMaterialsSector/idUSPEK33127120091013
How many times are you going to post this, dipshit? China is a developing nation. The US, to this day, has communities where they have to deal with industry pollution on a massive scale. You can post this a trillion times, it doesn't change the fact that your comment is a non sequitur and that you are a horse's asshole.
I am Chumbawamba.
ROTFLMFAO!
Ok, I'm game, measure a country by how many of its kids they pump full of lead. You're clearly unaware of this:
"The January 27, 2009 Washington Post article reports on the ongoing issue of lead contamination in Washington DC. 42,000 children have potentially been exposed to unsafe levels of lead in their drinking water since 2001, according to a Virginia Tech/ Children's National Medical Center study by Marc Edwards, Simoni Triantafyllidou, and Dana Best published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_contamination_in_Washington,_D.C._drinking_water
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/26/AR2009012602402_pf.html
And the most pathetic part about this whole story, is that the elevated lead levels were dicscovered by an elementary school class that was testing water as a part of an assignment for their teacher.
Excellent post!!!!!!!
400 Chicago area students have suffered "lead poisoning" in 2009 alone, and the year is not over.
The answer is simple...every knows that the administration is leading us to an apocalyptic future, and everyone knows that if there is any money to be made, it is NOW...so if u got the balls, plow in now because even if you lose everything, it wont make a difference because the future will be bleak....and if you like to gamble, then make sure u get out of the markets before it implodes. If you are the lucky one to make out like bandit, then you should sell out and buy into physical assets such as gold, non perishable food, fire-arms and fortify your home. Once everyone does and realizes that paper assets are worthless, the stock market will implode to nil. Unfortunately, only the people in the now will be able to exit timely while the majority will see their accounts all gone.
I just hope everyone votes in the midterm 2010 election to get rid of every idiot that is destroying our country. I dont see why we, as a country, can't hold monthly elections to have the public vote on every issue and just get rid of everyone in Congress and Senate. Done and Done.
Vote with Guns.
Cast Your Bullet.
I am Chumbawamba.
Why aren't you out in the street sniping at authority figures? Just keep typing your Rage Against the Machine anthems from the safety of your basement, internet tough guy.
I am chimichanga.
One simple request: Remove paper bag from head and replace with plastic bag (and hold tight!).
As mind-blowingly incompetent as our 'representatives' can be at times, they are capable of great things at times. I suspect it is significantly easier to convince a majority of the 500-odd congresscritters to do the right thing versus a majority of the whole public.
Additionally, considering the amount of people who actually vote in our present elections, do you really think that anyone will bother coming out monthly to vote on the latest trade agreement with Bumfuckistan?
i'm long soup and tuna and other non perishables
bring it on
A 3-5 year shelf life isn't nonperishable in my book. You'd be better off with farmland and ammo.
What's funny is that two days after Maccau decides to impose more restrictions on gaming and raise the legal age to gamble....Moody's today upgraded WYNN.
Yeah...those new restrictions should help the bottom line enormously.
I am honestly a bit surprised at the bluntness and harshness of his remarks. That tells me that however bad I think things are, they are probably significantly worse. Maybe he should run for office like Schiff is doing. We would do well to have more members of Congress with business experience, an understanding of economics, and at least a claim of not being a rabid partisan for either party. After all, both parties are now virtually the same.
Mad Max,
We, meaning the citizens of this world and country, having been living in la la land for so long and have been so completely indoctrinated into the idea that there is only one way to run a planet (since we were an infant) that we simply do not poses the ability to see things as they truly are.
This isn't a criticism of you and any other reader because I'm also burdened by this blind spot. But it's almost impossible to view the world from a disinterested point of view when we are creatures not only of the world we are trying to clearly see but also creatures of our artificially constructed and mass media enhanced worldview that doesn't reflect reality.
Since we have no proper reference to measure our own insanity, something totally insane by any measure but ours is considered sane by you and I.
I offer an example. Our economic system is based upon infinite growth on a planet that is of finite size and has a finite amount of resources. We endless consume and grow inside a bottle that naturally limits growth and we hardly give it any thought other than to apply magical thinking, saying "technology" will solve the problem sometime in the future.
This is INSANE. Since we accept this as the way things are, what does that make us and how does that color our thinking? So why would we expect our insane leaders to tell us what's really going on?
Any sane and reasonable person must ask themselves these questions. Unless, of course, we are insane.
Great post.
Extremely well put.
How is our economic system (I mean free market capitalism, not oligarchism) based on infinite growth? I think it's based on scarcity and doing more with less. Progress is always about technology, imagination, and creativity.
If you were to say that our culture is based on infinite growth, I might go along with that. People who refuse to pay attention to reality are part of the problem, such as it is. But that is not the blame of free market capitalism, but of whatever system we've got now that insulates people from the consequences of their choices.
Maybe I'm agreeing with you...it's not clear what economic system you're talking about. But you do imply that confidence in the power of technological progress is to blame, when I think that is misplaced. It's the culturally- and politically-supplied blinders that people wear, limiting their view of reality.
I agree that it may have made more sense if I had used the term "culture" but I see our culture and our capitalistic system as one and the same.
Most indigionious cultures lived within their local means and the capabilities of their local land base. Most assuredly those cultures (meaning economic system, albeit in a much simpler form but functioning non the less) didn't perpetuate ever increasing consumption.
Capitalism and fractional reserve banking (at least the form practiced the world over for many years) requires ever increasing expansion and consumption. The holy grail in the "civilized" world is growth and based upon what I see, it's either grow or die. Clearly this isn't a system that is self sustaining when one drains and exhausts it's land base and resources.
Our culture and it's economic system take far more from our world than it returns. It's not an even trade and thus not self sustaining. Our culture would collapse without it's all consuming and non self sustaining economic system. The system would collapse if the culture did not promote ever expanding growth and consumption.
Thus they are one and the same from my point of view. Insanity any way you cut it if the culture and/or economic system is killing your local and global land base. People point to their back yard and say things are better. Maybe it IS a little bit better here than it was 20 years ago but that's because we exported the exploitation of the resources and land base to South America or Africa etc.
Where do you get the resouces when all the under developed countries have been stripped bare? On a whole, the world is getting worse, which means it will be getting worse in your back yard.
I didn't blame technology at all. I simply said people don't face reality and they stay in denial by saying technology will fix these problems down the road, thus there is no need to do everything in our power to stop the destruction now. I would argue that regardless of how many conferences and meetings and laws have been, or will be, passed the world over, our ecosystem is much worse now than it was 20 years ago and all indications are it will be much worse 20 years from now. And in 50 years. And in 100 years.
To think things will be better tomorrow based upon what I just outlined is magical thinking and not based upon reality. Insanity in my book.
we need an ever expanding money supply to cover the interest.
I saw STEVE WYNN on Sunday morning & was amazed !! HE IS GREAT! ... he was the only one on that panel who was speaking the truth. Please, Mr. Wynn, continue speaking out for the people !!! Mr. Wynn, continue to fight the good fight for us... we are not being listened to by our policy makers. Did anyone else notice the defensive posture that the GRANHOLM, the Michigan governor, took ?
where was he the past 10-20 years...did we just wake up to this situation?
Inflation and devaluation of the dollar...
This is kind of like "corn and corn"
Colorado minimum wage to drop as living costs fall
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gDANldmlUTUQ0kEwjQAhnnNypxHQD9BABGC00
Nice catch Gilgamesh, if that is not a sign of deflation, I don't know what is.
"What we are seeing now just doesn't make sense. The priorities have all been inverted."
Team Obama et. al. have seen the writing on the wall - they know the house of cards is going to collapse - and what's going on now is the final looting before the various Ponzi schemes collapse around them. Perhaps now you can make sense out of all the insane amount of money printing, Treasury debt issuance, undeserved largesse to the most undeserving people/parties, etc.
+10 form me, too. What we are seeing now is end game looting, fighting over the corpse.
The rare +! to GG.
And why Steve is pissed off? He is getting far better results from the trough in China than he is here. He got suckered into feeding the bubble in Vegas, just like many others. Steve just wants that FHA no down financing and endless fed liquidity at 0% to be extended to his projects. Can't say as I blame him. Getting the government involved in picking winners & losers and sheltering a privileged few from the prospect of failure infuriates everyone else that has to carry those POS's and their unmitigated fraudulent failures.
Steve knows that China loves to gamble and who else wouldn't be confused over the government bailing out gambling loses on the scale they have while refusing to support the very business where that activity is supposed to occur?
yup...even those that don't know it, KNOW it.
nice example they're setting for the children of America, ain't it?
Exactly. Please excuse my crude comment but what is going on these days only makes sense if you've shit the bed and have no intention of ever sleeping in the bed again or ever living in the house the bed is in.
These actions are equivalent to raping and pillaging your own people, economy and village because the barbarians are at the gate and all is lost. Barbarians BTW that you invited to the party by your own actions.
Get while the getting's good.
+1 this is all about delivering as many body blows to your opponent before the final bell tolls; in this case, to the pissed-off, potentially lethal middle/lower class strata.
Thank you, G_G, for restoring logic to this thread.
Agreed.
Our metaphorical house is on fire and all we are seeing right now is the local thugs fighting amongst themselves over who gets to pull out all the copper pipe and wiring before it all comes crashing down.
I like to think of it as creative contingency planning.
Honestly people were all scared last year that if the banks go down, there will be runs on banks and everything will be chaotic...but doesnt the way things are transpiring right now scare you even more than that??? I mean a move to physical assets is the worse thing that the global central banks want because physical assets, while they hold value over the long run, takes money out of the system if people keep holding on to it. I feel that this is a more worrisome scenario than what happened last year.
Wynn is "half Republican/half Democrat"? What does that mean? Libertarian? Independent? Half Breed? I saw him Sunday, love and respect him (in a purely platonic way, of course); but it is wealthy people that hedge their bets with the lizards on the hill that are a factor in us getting things like we just got- a New "raw" Deal". The captains of industry need to start going all in with/for free markets, and stop the wishing washing shit.
I know, I know; I understand the game, but this cycle has to be broken sometime...
Half Republican/half Democrat means you vote either way - lesser of two evils. None of their candidates impress but the alternatives simply aren't electable. (Though Wynn is from Nevada, where Ron Paul trounced McCain/Giuliani/Huckabee -- but the heavy Mormon population gave Romney a landslide.)
Half-republican/half-democrat means he wants to perpetuate the idea that it has to be one or the other. If he wanted to express a position he would say 'libertarian' or 'fascist' or something. If he didn't want to support the political duopoly yet still hedge his public position, he could have just used the noncommittal 'independent'.
It means he will shag either party!
Exactly. Thank you Sqworl.
As it relates to China and the accommodating environment for business this is nothing new to me, it might shock the average "Joe bag of donuts" watching Neil Covoto but let's get real. How do you think China has performed the development of an economy that is becoming a world force? with government bureaucrats? In America it's like this:
Old days: You have a football game going on and the ref's, only 4, are making sure that the game is played fairly.
Today: We have three hundred officials getting in the way.. throwing tackles interfering with plays..We can no longer play the game of producing goods and services. Until we introduce government with the constitution, we are fucked..
The story of America's demise has been written and solidified.. Not turning back
Geo,
I hate to admit it, but I fear you are right. The glass isn't just half empty, the glass is bone dry now...
Actually the glass still is half full.
Unfortunately though, the water has been replaced with piss.
ROTFL!
LOL - Right the "godfather" is pissed that the playing field isn't even. Now we're taking financial advice from the mob? Jesus this site has deteriorated
No,,This site is getting real,, In case you missed it, we have now solid evidence that the only real FREE ENTERPRISE in this country IS THE MOB.
Just think,,go into business and not tell anybody, make $500,000,000.00 and don't tell anybody.. sounds like freedom to me
This adminstration continues to try and govern on behalf of the 15% at the expense of the 85%. It's that simple.
It would appear some folks on this board are badly in need of a hero. I would suggest that what you really need is an eye doctor. I hate to break it to you guys while you're on your knees in adoration of Mr. Wynn, but everybody already phucking sees this. Turbo sees it. Helicopter sees it. Obama sees it. You see it. I see it.
Apparently I am the only card player here, besides Mr. Wynn, I mean. You play the hand you're dealt and if you're dealt shit, you either fold or bluff. Some of you apparently think that Geithnanbama believes what they are saying. Trust me. They don't.
I can only imagine what you guys would say if these guys folded. I'd like to see the Obama press conference where he says "Ladies and Gentlemen: We're phucked. I hope you make it through this okay. I'm heading to Oslo. Cheerio."
I thought ZH readers were smarter than this. The Yahoo (literally and figuratively) invasion continues unabated.
Some of us have seen this for a while but are still surprised to see a businessman who isn't a long-time "doomer" make such blunt statements. That says something about how much intimidation capability the current regime has left - apparently not much.
If anybody can catch the interview on Bloomberg Radio from this past weekend with Steve Wynn and a bunch of politicians; I highly recommend it. It made my soul hurt...to hear the empty words from the "leadership" as they tried to rebuff his statements. One phrase he used is still echoing in my head, "Simple Truths".
Why are people not asking more questions about the record FICC revenues across the banks. it It is an opaque line and thus lends itself to obfuscation. Dimon was elusive on what was driving the strength (spreads, clients, trading) etc. but was clear that it wasn't sustainable and would "normalize"
Granholm tried to claim Wynn said all Government is bad which is not what he said. She then pointed to the minimum wage as an example of good Government. I wish Wynn would have pointed out that unemployment for 16 to 24 years old is at a record high.
Spoken like a true connoissseur of junk bonds. Amazing!
for someone who believes in Nassim Taleb's black Swan theory you sure like to platonify people... This is just confirmation bias after confirmation bias going on here. There are plenty of people saying good things about the economy but of course only the ones saying bad things are right...
It's called REALITY dear friend, not "confirmation bias". Please try to learn the meaning of words before you use them. BTW, if things are so good, I suggest you put your money where your mouth is and invest all of your money in the US stock market.
no, it's a cognitive bias that leads one to only look at sources which confirm his or her position.
That's what this is. Being objective and realistic (or having as little bias as possible) would be evaluating many different opinions both contradictory and confirmatory. Understanding the data. And interpreting. Such as reading Menzie Chinn - http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2009/09/the_dollar_in_d.html
Instead of claiming "the dollar is dying" or "the dollar is the greatest currency in the world", the post actually goes through scenarios in which the dollar would cease to be the world reserve currency.
Instead it's "dismiss anyone who believes the economy could get better and post everyone who thinks it's bullshit...because my readers and I believe it's bullshit too."
Obviously, it's this guys blog, so he's free to do as he pleases, I just find it kind of ironic that people here are praising Wynn for being successful and great when many subscribe to Nassim Taleb's black swan philosophy which goes against narratives, platonification and the belief that people are successful by anything more than mere chance or coincidence. It's also funny that people here are trying to predict outcomes as if they are certainties if one subscribes to a fractal, chaotic, deterministic view of the world. We can't even predict the weather more than a week out, let alone predicting the course of our economy or currency many years out.
I never suggested things were "so good." I simply don't relegate myself to a group of doomsayers and conspiracy theorists because we have a credit crunch. The same type of people, just like yourselves, were around during the great depression, and will be around afterwards.
My question is this. If you guys are so concerned (I mean you all sound like it) Why haven't you done anything of substance to thwart these plots save for posting on some blog? It seems quite odd that everyone likes to be the bringer of truth and doom and instead of doing anything (since you all claim to live in reality) sit back and watch the world crumble before them. Tyler Durden is not quite living up to his name. I suppose it is the paradox of the conspiracy theorist. Too bold to sit back quietly, too weak to want to actually make a difference.
such is life in Extremistan
And your momentous contributions to society and the process of considered opinion Anon?
I am Miles Kendig and will never go back for any amount of money.
wynn is the same guy who praised/kissed the ass of the chinese governemnt for wanting to limit vsits by mainland chinese to macau. wynn has no credibility, he only speaks to try and butter his own bread.
I understand where you are coming from, but sincerely hope that everyone with a brain figures out very quickly that everyone else is talking their book and that their primary world viewpoint is from the self interest party. It should start, my situation is XX, XX, XX and therefore I would be in the best position if such and such law was passed. If people understood that politicians and businesses really don't care about you beyond what they can get from you, that they are most interested in themselves, and that we must each fight for ourselves out of self interest there would be more independent and strong people.
Right at the edge of the blade there is reason.
Easy to complain but how would he "actually" handle it if he were in the White House?
300 million people demanding you take the pain away, provide jobs, health care, balance the budget (but don't raise taxes on those who can afford to pay), cut spending but not on my turf, fight two wars so people at home can chill by the bbq, cut taxes or raise taxes, deal with Congress and the Senate, the Russian, the Iranians, the North Koreans............
Give it a try and let us know how it works out for you.
So, only the folks that run and win elective office can discuss the operations and decisions of the office holder? BTW, which elective offices have you held Anon?
At least I wouldn't BEND OVER for the Wall Street oligarchs.
GG + 1000 lmao
Right now they are behind closed doors divying up the health/pharma loot that they plan to ram down our dry throats...fucking vampires!
This is the attitude that got us in this mess. I would explain to the American people that it is not the governments job to provide jobs, it is the governments job to get out of the way. I would make this country a tax haven similar to Dubai. I would have bankruptcy proceedings for all the banks and companies that got us in this mess. I would demobilize the military industrial complex and have them focus on defense. I would cut the federal budget by 75%. I would decentralize DC and turn it into a park and a museum. I would let the States take responsibility for pretty much everything. I would let humanitarian organizations and churches help the hungry and sick and allow each individual state decide how they see fit to take care of the people who can't take care of themselves.
The hustle is being discussed almost everywhere now. Time is running out on the continued utility of running a duct taped system. The flow of funds reports all indicate that the money continues to move off shore at an exponential rate as the Kirby night crew gathers up what's left.
+10
Yes the $'s are being escorted out of here like a fart in a windstorm. And guess who is going to reverse this trend and save us all....Guess....
The legislative branch,,a bunch of commoditized temple monkeys scouring the ruins of America looking for bribes before it all comes down. The whorehouse on the hill where you can slide in a quarter and out comes the desired legislation. People, wake up.
I've liked Steve Wynn ever since I heard him say "You want to make money in a casino? Own one."
You wanna rob a bank, own one! Ken Lewis.
The die was cast before Obama took office. Either inflation or sovereign default was inevitable. He (or rather Larry Summers) chose inflation. Big surprise.
I wish Steve would have done more to attack not just the administration, but the unholy (some say fascist) relationship between Wash DC and Wall St. Wall St. is where the problems began and will continue. The grotesque greed of Wall St. coupled with the power in DC weakens astute businessmen like Wynn to do what they do best. Sad.
Wall Street ala Milken "made" him....why would he do that?
"We are seeing socialism-lite here- it would be ok if it worked, it never works."
I imagine Sweden might be somewhat surprised at this.
that's it - i can't short his stock anymore. just on principle. i suddenly like the slime ball.
I am getting the fk out of this country after my graduation.
"The government will punish you if you don't do as they say!"
"Tinkering with a bill they haven't read."
"What the president wants, the president gets!"
A brilliantly sober interview from a business who is literally flabbergasted at the administration.
Blame Obama for being the fall guy. Yeah right.
no; it's blaming obama & co. for kicking a country when it's down. it's a tag-team match of the two-headed one-party system; and obama just happens to be the head to deliver the death blow. fucking grow up.
He must be losing is pants in Vegas. Wynn the sore loser.