Steve Wynn Discusses the National Deficit and the Drawbacks of Printing More Money
Wynn Resorts chief executive officer Steve Wynn gave his opinions on the national deficit and the downside to printing money. The comments came when Steve Wynn was interviewed on the Fox News opinion program, Hannity, after the third presidential debate.
During the program, Steve Wynn said that the U.S. Treasury’s need to print money in order to sustain the national debt has not been properly addressed during the debates. The US Treasury maintains the supply of the US dollar under the guidance of the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Discussion of the National Debt
Wynn said to Hannity guest host Eric Boling, “We take in $3.1 trillion and we spend $3.7 trillion. And that $600 billion deficit is at the rate of $50 billion a month.”
Then the casino mogul noted the negatives to the escalation of printed money. In the Las Vegas casino developer’s opinion, the national deficit is the number one issue facing the American people, though it got little attention in the three recent presidential debates.
Wynn said, “Our government is printing money and it’s degrading the living standard of every person in America. It’s the cause of frustration, anger, and confusion. I was disappointed we didn’t get in a real substantive conversation about that last night.”
Critical of Obamacare
The Las Vegas casino executive also criticized the Affordable Care Act in his remarks. He said, after talking to his 12 thousand to 13 thousand employees, that casino workers under Obamacare “paid more money but did not get more coverage. All of my employees [have] increased health care costs in spite of the fact the company picked up most of the increases but yet they have the same policy that they had before.”
The founder and CEO of Wynn Resorts has been in the casino business since he gained control of the Golden Nugget Casino from Howard Hughes in 1971. Thus, he has managed labor relations and health care benefits for the better part of a half-century. Wynn stated, “We’ve been health care providers for over 45 years. And when your prices go up and your product doesn’t get any better you sort of wonder whether you got a new deal or not.”
Steve Wynn Praised Joe Heck
Steve Wynn did praise Dr. Joe Heck, the Republican nominee to replace retiring Dem. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. He said that Joe Heck and he see eye-to-eye on most issues.
The race is between Joe Heck, a 3-time US representative from a district in the suburbs of Las Vegas, and former Nevada State Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto.
Heck Versus Cortez Masto
Despite Steve Wynn preference for Rep. Heck, Catherine Cortez Masto has a +2.3% advantage in the Real Clear Politics aggregate poll numbers. Real Clear Politics has the race listed as a toss-up, though, as Cortez Masto’s advantage is within the margin of error. The RCP average features four scientific polls: Monmouth University, CNN/ORC, CBS News/YouGov, and 8 News Now: Las Vegas. The CNN and 8 News Now polls has Cortez Masto leading by significant margins, while the CBS News poll has the race a tie. Monmouth University has the race +3 in favor of Joe Heck.
Interestingly, Catherine Cortez Masto never led in the race until October 16. Throughout the ebb and flow of the polling numbers, Joe Heck held an advantage or, at worst, the race was a tie. Rep. Heck’s numbers took a decided downturn from October 13th onward. That was three days after an Access Hollywood video from 2015 was released that showed Republican Party’s nominee, Donald Trump, boasting about his ability to grope and kiss women because he was a celebrity. Polling numbers lag behind news events a few days, so the Donald Trump revelations appear to have hurt Joe Heck’s chances to win Harry Reid’s seat.
Election Key to Online Gambling and Daily Fantasy Sports
The Nevada election could be the pivotal seat in deciding which party gains control of the US Senate. Democrats need to pick up 4 seats in the November 8th election in order to win control of the Senate, if one assumes former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wins the presidency. In that case, the Senate would be split 50-50, so Sen. Tim Kaine’s tiebreaking vote as president of the Senate would give Democrats control. If the Democrats picked up 5 seats, then they would control the Senate regardless — though any scenario in which the Democrat Party wins the Senate almost certainly includes a Clinton victory.
The next Congress is likely to discuss online gambling and daily fantasy sports bills, so the American gambling community is likely to be affected by the results of the November 8 election. Libertarian-leaning Republicans have opposed the online gambling bill which has been championed by social conservative Republicans. Democrats also have fallen on both sides of the issue, so it is hard to know which side is better for the online gambling community, though the UIGEA was pushed forward by a Republican majority.
In the Nevada election, Steve Wynn favors the Republican. Unlike Jim Murren and Sheldon Adelson, he has not favored either candidate in the presidential election.
