The Zell man speaketh — 2

More from Sam Zell on Obama and the national problem — of what he said 9/17 at U of Penn:

Obama’s America: “We have a political situation in the U.S. today that for the first time in my life represents a challenge to the entrepreneur… to the freedom that our society has created. This never has been a society of people who aren’t striving, who aren’t trying to make a difference. What has made America different is our individualism…

“I’m very concerned that the current political environment and current situation is geared toward making the entrepreneur an endangered species.”

What Obama should do: “Obama could start by announcing he’s going to do nothing for the next 24 months… If I were President Obama I would repeal health care, I would repeal the Dodd (bank reform) bill, I would go back to where we were in January ’09.”

What he wrote to Obama aide Rahm Emanuel when Obama took power:  “Dear Rahm, I met you in 1992. At the time you were working for the Clinton campaign. You sat me down and said, ‘Sam, understand, the theme of the campaign is, ‘It’s the economy, stupid.’ Well, guess what? It’s the economy, stupid, and you ought to do nothing more than focus on jobs and the economy.

“He wrote back, ‘You want to delay healthcare, you want to delay cap-and-trade?’ I said, ‘You bet…'”

The slow economy: “The economic ‘malaise’ is the result of the fact that people who have the ability (to invest), both resources-wise and emotionally, are uwilling to take the risks because there is no certainty, there is no conviction, on the part of the government, to leave us alone. Every time you turn around, the government has a new 2000-page bill” that limits business. “That’s going to destroy America.”

Where to invest: Even smart investors lose if they don’t pay attention to “what risks they’re taking. I’m buying (U.S.) distressed debt (because) I don’t have any confidence in tomorrow for what the U.S. is going to do. “

“On the other hand, I’m buying equity outside the U.S. where it’s much clearer where we’re going. Confidence is the No. 1 ingredient. This administration… by bashing the business community… by destroying Las Vegas, by destroying the meeting business in this country (by limiting bankers’ travel junkets during the bank bailouts)… those are all stupid gratuitious acts that have materially impacted the confidence level in this country…”

How to get more people working: “Unemployment will only be solved by the private sector. As soon as you see this administration get its foot off the neck of the private sector, you will see growth returning in the United States.”  [Posted by Joseph N. DiStefano at the Inquirer and Daily News’ Philly Deal$ blog]