{"id":9207,"date":"2012-06-07T12:48:45","date_gmt":"2012-06-07T20:48:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=9207"},"modified":"2019-03-07T09:28:39","modified_gmt":"2019-03-07T17:28:39","slug":"atlas-stumbled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/atlas-stumbled\/","title":{"rendered":"Atlas stumbled"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Warren Buffett<\/strong> likes to say that we’ve already had class warfare in this country and his class won. Whilst laid up, recuperating from an ill-advised meal at Mizumi<\/a><\/strong>, I had reason to ponder this in connection with the recent stateside exploits of Steve Wynn<\/strong>. His recent smackdown at the hands of Foxborough<\/strong> voters arguably makes him a casualty of Main Street<\/strong>‘s rage toward Wall Street<\/strong>, cut down by a stray bullet. In expressing anti-Wynn sentiment at the ballot box, were Foxborough burghers being irrational? Yes. Counterproductive? Yes. Petulant? Maybe. Was their sentiment understandable<\/em>? Absolutely. How often does the Average Jo get step into the voting both and, essentially, give a billionaire a kick in the pants?<\/p>\n

Steve Wynn was an innocent bystander<\/strong> to the Crash of ’08 but, with a still-irate electorate swinging in search of a pi\u00f1ata<\/em>, he’s been the wrong plutocrat at the wrong place at the wrong time. The considerably less-than-worshipful reception he got in Philadelphia<\/strong> must have given him a foretaste of what he could expect in Massachusetts<\/strong>. Most of America simply doesn’t hold casino CEOs in the godlike awe with which many of us in Nevada<\/strong> do and the moguls have got to put down their favorite, oft-thumbed book. In other words, stop reading Atlas Shrugged<\/strong>!<\/em> Like, yesterday. Nobody in Philly threw a fit when Wynn abruptly left and Bay State residents aren’t begging him or Sheldon Adelson<\/strong> to return there, either. Most Americans like casinos and would want to have them in their states. But they’re not going to supplicate.<\/p>\n

Going commando<\/strong>. Anti-Wynn sentiment might have run higher still had this report broken a month earlier. Few would dispute that he deserves to one of the highest CEO paychecks in the industry ($3.9 billion) but two discrete bonuses totaling $11 million might be pushing shareholder tolerance, though the stock did spike dramatically last summer. Wynn Resorts<\/strong> also subsidized El Steve’s lifestyle to the tune of $1.5 million plus an extra $71.5K of “merchandise discounts,” to help him make ends meet in these parlous times. Adelson’s $2.6 million private commando squad is nothing new and nepotism is a time-honored tradition in the casino biz. And the company-paid suite for Adelson family members works out to $268.55\/day, which is one way to maintain your ADR, I reckon. Next time you stay at Venelazzo<\/strong>, ask for the “Adelson Family Special” rate.<\/p>\n

\"\"Sheldon Adelson, cheesehead<\/strong>. The tycoon’s wallet made a cameo appearance<\/a> in the recent Wisconsin<\/strong> recall effort, as did front group Center for Union Facts<\/strong>, which was rattling its saber earlier this year in Las Vegas, ahead of the next round of collective bargaining between the Culinary Union<\/strong> and major casinos. I realize it’s a matter of principle for Adelson but you have to wonder at its advisability for Las Vegas Sands<\/strong> at a time when it’s angling for a casino in New York City<\/strong>, the heart of Union Country. If Big Labor wasn’t gunning for Adelson before, he’ll be in their crosshairs now.<\/p>\n

Big day for BYI<\/strong>. Yesterday, approval was granted for Bally Technologies<\/strong> to become Nevada’s first Internet<\/strong>-gambling provider, a proud moment for Bally and the state alike. However, even as we pop the cyber-cork, let’s not forget the risks involved<\/a> and the fact that no age-verification software ever seems secure enough.<\/p>\n

Facebook suggests<\/strong> I ought to “friend” Sue Lowden<\/strong>. Whaddya think? Should I bring a peace offering of poultry?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Warren Buffett likes to say that we’ve already had class warfare in this country and his class won. Whilst laid up, recuperating from an ill-advised meal at Mizumi, I had reason to ponder this in connection with the recent stateside … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[46,77,151,28,18,14,26,37,112,101,95,90,12,32,9,38],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9207"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9207"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23660,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9207\/revisions\/23660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}