BW: Is Obama good for business? Despite liberal positions, Illinois senator seen willing to listen

[Pirate Smile]

Is Obama good for business?
Despite liberal positions, Illinois senator seen willing to listen



By Eamon Javers
Business Week

updated 1:15 p.m. CT, Wed., Feb. 13, 2008

On Sunday, Feb. 10, after he found out he'd won that day's Democratic Presidential primary in Maine, but before his appearance on CBS's 60 Minutes, Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) sat down at the keyboard of his computer to write an e-mail. Not to a media consultant or a delegate counter, but to banker Robert Wolf, CEO of UBS Americas. The two men exchanged notes about the Senate-passed economic stimulus package and that weekend's G-7 economic summit, Wolf says.
A banker as Obama's pen pal? Hard to believe, given the senator's liberal image. But in between rallies and airplane flights on the campaign trail, Obama has also taken time to consult on the economy with billionaire Warren Buffett, whose support of rolling back the Bush tax cuts Obama often cites in his stump speeches. Obama has also been in touch with former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, who endorsed the freshman senator in January. "When I sat down with him, I found him to be unbelievably refreshing and smart and thoughtful," says Wolf, who first met Obama at the offices of financier George Soros. The UBS chief has gone on to raise more than $1 million for the Obama campaign.

-snip-
So what would an Obama Presidency look like for business? "It would be a pragmatic, center-left administration," says Democratic political strategist Steve McMahon, who is unaligned with a Presidential candidate this year. "He's been pretty clear that business would have a seat at the table, but business wouldn't be able to buy all the chairs."
Obama's record in the Senate is thin, but it does hold some indicators of where he might go as President. Obama has sponsored bills backing a host of traditional Democratic causes, from union labor to alternative fuel to the earned income tax credit. In one move that was unpopular among business executives, Obama sponsored a bill to give shareholders a nonbinding proxy vote on executive pay. Obama voted for a free-trade pact with Peru that contained provisos to protect the Peruvian environment and Peruvian labor. That's popular stuff with the American left, but hard to take if you're a U.S. business owner who wants costs to stay low in your new Peru operation. And in a reflection of the Democratic Party's drift away from pure free-trade positions, Obama says he would look to amend the NAFTA trade agreement to add similar protections to the Clinton-era pact.

-snip-
During his earlier eight years in the Illinois state senate, Obama also posted a record leavened with both traditional Democratic solutions and more pro-business efforts. He backed long-touted programs like expanding the earned income tax credit for poor families and expanding enterprise zones to boost development in depressed areas. But he pushed for a technology development fund to recruit sophisticated companies to the state and for tax incentives to businesses. "He was as liberal as could be at times, but he still worked with us," says Jerry Roper, president and CEO of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. "We'd talk on the phone, or I'd go see him. He's a good guy."

-snip-
On the campaign trail, Obama and Goolsbee have crafted proposals to streamline government programs like the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit, which Goolsbee feels is too complicated. Same with student loan applications and tax forms. Goolsbee says the distinction with Clinton is most evident in the candidates' plans to increase the personal savings rate. Obama would create an automatic 3% savings withholding from every paycheck that employees could opt out of if they want to. Clinton, on the other hand, proposes a targeted tax break to incentivize savings. The Clinton plan, says Goolsbee, "is what the playbook says to do. But the research says tax credits won't induce very many people to actually open savings accounts."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23147324/

[papau]

1. for last year Obama has used his "small change" line to get business into"we can work w/ Obama" mode

nothing new here -

that is why a few of us wanted Edwards - with second choice Hillary.

[babylonsister]

2. "business would have a seat at the table, but business wouldn't be able to buy all the chairs."

Love that line! Good article-thanks, and rec'd!

[gravity]

3. Obama would be great for the economy

The needs of the american workers and businesses need to be in sync for the economy to prosper. This isn't a zero sum game

[greenman3610]

4. BS right wing spin. Dem presidents are historically better for business.