Trying to muster help to break any possible Republican deadlock on his $825 billion stimulus package, President Barack Obama is turning to CEOs for help.
Today, he met with a star-studded cast of 13 CEOs in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. Obama bucked up the CEOs trying to navigate the worst recession in years by praising them as they people at the helm running the economy.
Attendees included such CEOs as Eric Schmidt of Google, Anne Mulcahy of Xerox, Sam Palmisano of IBM, David M. Cote of Honeywell Technologies, David Barger of JetBlue Airways and Steve Appleton of Micron Technologies among others.
Barely a week into his presidency, Obama is showing his savviness by trying to enlist executives of marquee-name firms. No word yet on how they’ll react. One issue is whether more funds should go towards rebuilding infrastructure or for social programs. CEOs would prefer the former.
Tax cuts are another rough patch. Democrats want tax cuts to amount to 20 perent of the total package while GOP leaders want them to be a more generous 40 percent. Business leaders, of course, love tax cuts. It was one of the few things many praised George W. Bush for.
It will be interesting see how far Obama’s romancing of the C-Suiters will go, especially if it ends once the stimulus is approved.
