It’s not unusual to hear Republican criticism of President Barack Obama, but the president got harsh criticism recently from a high-profile Democrat as well.
Las Vegas casino developer Steve Wynn, who has donated to politicians in both parties but calls himself a “Democratic businessman” and is a big backer of Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, was on a conference call with investors when he faulted the president’s economic approach.
“[T]hose of us who have business opportunities and the capital to do it are going to sit in fear of the president,” he said, according to a transcript of the call. “And a lot of people don’t want to say that. They’ll say, … ‘[D]on’t be attacking Obama.’ Well, this is Obama’s deal, and it’s Obama that’s responsible for this fear in America.”
Wynn called the administration “the greatest wet blanket to business and progress and job creation in my lifetime,” and he cited excessive health care costs and regulations and other government policies that harm job growth.
He added that the president “keeps making speeches about redistribution, and maybe we ought to do something to businesses that don’t invest or [are] holding too much money. We haven’t heard that kind of talk except from pure socialists. Everybody’s afraid of the government and there’s no need soft peddling it. It’s the truth.”