Zuma Dogg HATES to promote other people, who say the same thing, he says, except they are billionaires on Wall Street, saying it on a CNBC interview, instead of a on a blogger's Ustream.
But in an attempt to get my message out there, in a way that may be more credible, respected and accepted by an expanded audience, here's a guy that inspired Mr. Dogg, quite a bit, this morning, on CNBC: BARRY STERNLICHT of Starwood Captial. (Hope he's not as shady as Dan Weinstein of Bad Wetherly Capital.)
About once, every decade or so, I see someone speak who inspires me. Today, I saw THIS GUY! Here's Barry in action, and Obama gets what Barry's last name SAYS you get...STERN-LICKED!
Barry is gonna LOVE, THIS GUY!
Mr. Sternlicht reminds me of a young David Saltsburg.
STRERNLICHT/CNBC TRANSCRIPT
CNBC HOST: how are you feeling about washington? the president just made a speech yesterday. did you watch the president's speech yesterday? i really want to know. what do you think? bring it on.
BARRY STENLICHT: you really don't want to know the answer. i think he's got the wrong message. you know, i think -- i don't think this is the way this country is supposed to be functioning.
i don't think it's the...you know, a very famous bank executive said if obama asked us to help him we would help him. instead he acts like we cheated. and i think the wealthy are very capable -- they give away $330 billion. i'm on the board of robinhood. we're just raising almost a hundred million dollars. we just got a gift the other night from a money manager of $12 million. people are giving money to help with the situation.
i think the frustration of myself and other executives is the money is being thrown out the door. [ZUMA DOGG calls it, "asking people to pour more money, into a 'swiss cheese holed' bucket."]
you know, to ask for the payroll tax cut does nothing. it's a one-shot stimulus in the economy. it's been done twice before. it's not going to work.
if you told me you were going to give a hundred billion dollars to job training we'd all sign up and contribute to the bucket. if you showed us a way that people would get jobs. you have to have a job to get a payroll tax cut right?
it doesn't help the other people. and extension of unemployment benefits which is $80 billion and we all feel we need to do something there and it's humane but the real issue is how do we continue to invest in their well being, career, and long-term sustainable future?
obama is not doing this. this is really pure politics in my opinion. look, i am very sensitive to the fact that we have to do better for the middle class and under class of the country which is not in good shape but it's through education and it has to start at the beginning.
the government has to think long term. you've got to have -- attack education in the country. it is the only answer. you know these statistics. in 1967, 97% of nonhigh school grads could get a job. today it's only 65%. that situation is going to get worse and worse and worse. we have to get these people -- we have to fix our public schools. it's job one.
right now it could obviously help -- i can't hire many talented foreigners that are in our schools because i can't keep them. i can't get them visas. we saw this with the jobs number that came out on friday. if you are somebody who didn't finish high school the unemployment rate is over 10%. i think it's 14. it's closer to 14%. if you are somebody who has a college degree it's 4%. but you're seeing a failed public education system. you're seeing its report card in our unemployment rates.
now the world is competing with us. it's no longer what we saw before. these jobs are being exported. all of those minimum wage jobs are going to go to these places -- the cheapest spot. it's not here. the only thing -- we're going to get a big boost on lowering unemployment because you're going to see recovery in the housing market. and it's starting right now in the multi family market.
so you're seeing construction because you're seeing very low vacancy rates. and that's going to help sop up some of the less skilled labor, the million or more unemployed construction workers. the next president is going to get that in unemployment numbers. they'll get a very nice kick because you'll start sopping up a million construction jpbs.
CNBC HOST: do you fault the president for his policies or do you fault the president for his rhetoric?
BARRY STERNLICHT: both. i'm uncomfortable with obama's social policies. i'm fiscally -- socially quite left. but i was really worried that this redistribution of wealth without growing the pie was the wrong answer for the united states. and that -- a fellow who never had a job and with the least number of executives in history, we were talking to him but he wasn't hearing us. i don't think he is listening to business. i think he's had an opportunity to change some of these things and he hasn't brought in the kinds of leaders.
he really doesn't understand how to create jobs. you need to get business confidence. whether a big company or small company we will help you create jobs. he is not even in washington. he's running around politicking on the federal government's payroll. i mean, every time he comes to new york i have a heart attack. every one of these trips costs like 15 million bucks, 20 million bucks i'm sure with security and airplanes and cars and drivers.
there are a lot of people i know in the business community, i'll leave them out of this, who are offering advice but they're not really getting any traction. a jobs training program, that's a jobs bill. you can't call what he just offered as a jobs bill. i'm insulted. i really think this is insulting to say a quarter of your bill is a payroll tax cut or the extension of a payroll tax cut and another 80 billion -- half the bill is nothing -- unemployment benefits and a payroll tax cut. that does nothing to create jobs, nothing. i'd tell obama, if you will take half of your payroll tax cut which is $1500 a person to 750. that's like $70 billion. i'll match it with a million bucks personally if you will put it into job training and help these people off the street find self-esteem, have a career, be able to move their family forward.
there are places in the country you get these articles all the time where people don't want to actually look for a job because they're getting more money from unemployment benefits than from working the minimum wage jobs or moving up the ladder. that's got to change.
there are a lot of people who are very generous who understand the blessings they've received in this society. i started with nothing. we are very anxious to help but we need the government to help us help. right? this -- the guy doesn't want to have a job because he is collecting two unemployment checks, that's just not our society. it's not going to make america great again.
i think obama is very set. he knows where he wants to take the nation. he knows the pie should grow but he's not wholly bought into the concept that the pie can grow. the only way out of this mess, you look at our deficit and you have to grow revenues. you cannot, it's like a company in recession. you cannot cut all your sales team and hope your company is going to get better. you have to invest for growth. you have to hire sales people. you have to have new products. he has to invest through growth.
CNBC HOST: that means ultimately he has to spend.
BARRY STERNLICHT: yeah. but to spend right. spend smart. what are the right places to be spending? well, infrastructure is real. i mean, our airports are falling apart. i think alternative energy has a very long pay back at the federal government. very different than private business. they should support alternative energy. we must get off foreign oil. i'd spend heavily through education and try to fix our education policy. i'd remove visa requirements for chinese travelers who want to come to the u.s. nobody loses. brazilians who want to come to the u.s., they're growing a -- they can't get a visa. it takes them six months. that's ridiculous. we want to build tourism. all of these jobs are in tourism right? right. so i think that -- so energy, entitlements have to be reformed. there is no question. bill gross will tell you we go broke -- four e's. i call them energy, education, entitlements, and the last one is ethics. i think washington needs a big dose of reality on ethics here.
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