President Obama Interview

The interview President Obama recently granted BusinessWeek.com focuses on how his Administration has been called anti-business by much of the business community. The President provides many valid arguements as to why this is an unfair assumption. Obama contends that much of the policies put in place over the last year have been done in order to provide American businesses with a stronger footing. He believes the steps that were taken were meant to break the back of the recession, put a floor under the economy and reduce a sense of panic that has grown in the United States. If one is looking for numerical facts, they can't help but agree with the President when he states that the economy was declining at a rate of 6 percent when he took office and now it is growing by 6 percent. The perception of the Administration being anti-business has also been spurred by some big issues, such as health reform, energy and financial regulatory reform. When asked if there was a specific CEO President Obama admired, he responded by mentioning Fed Ex CEO Fred Smith. The President described Smith as someone who is thinking long term and as someone who has special interests in finding a new energy policy for his company that is smart. BusinessWeek also discussed President Obama's proposed payroll tax for small business to boost hiring. According to Obama small businesses are the area where a targeted jobs credit would make the most difference. Big businesses already have more money and are in a better position to hire employees, so their decisions are based around whether or not there are enough customers out there to expand payroll. Now that the economy is starting to take a turn for the better, Obama believes a job credit can potentially speed up the decision for people who are thinking about hiring at some point. The next topic in the interview dealt with the issue of performance and pay, along with bonuses. Obama believes that the shareholders should have a chance to scrutinize the amount CEO's are getting paid, which would help align performance with pay. The President is also in favor of pay coming in the form of stock, which would require proven performance over a certain time period and is a much fairer way of measuring CEO performance. When asked about exports over the next five years, President Obama had much to say. He mentioned how his plan is to double exports over the next five years, especially with countries such as South Korea, Colombia and Panama. However, there has been different complications in getting deals completed with each of these countries. He also eluded to the well-known fact that the U.S. has gotten "it's clock cleaned" in the area of world trade over the last few years, which is why he believes what needs to be done is to align the interest of businesses, workers and the U.S. government. Another country which the President is concerned with is China, whose currency manipulation has interfered with the rebalancing of the global economy. Obama closed the interview by speaking out on marginal rates and the issue of deferrals and the multinational practice in terms of dealing with the tax code. His pro-business arguement centers around average businesses who are located in the U.S., invested in the U.S. and hire workers in the U.S.. These are the companies that are paying a 35 percent rate. Obama's goal is to level the playing field between companies investing in the United States and those who are operating overseas or across the border. Through this interview, one would have a hard time believing that the Administration has ever been viewed as anything but pro-business, however many still get this feeling. Obama and his staff believe and have said openly that they have every interest in American businesses succeeding.