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State of the Union: Washington Must Focus on Growth

Jan 29, 2014

Business Roundtable President John Engler offers his thoughts on the State of the Union address given by President Obama:

From The Wall Street Journal (subscription), "Obama Seeks to Jump-Start Stalled Plans":

John Engler, president of the Business Roundtable trade group, said there were plenty of proposals in the speech that corporations could rally behind, such as changes to immigration law, trade authority, and tax-code changes. But he said it remains to be seen whether policy makers can bridge differences.

Nearly six in 10 people said they were uncertain, worried or pessimistic about his doing a good job in the remainder of his presidency. Some four in 10 surveyed said they were optimistic or hopeful.

"There's much in the message that we could work with. The question is almost 100% on the execution," he said.

Politico, Morning Money, "Obama delivers modest State of the Union"

BUSINESS REACT - M.M. spoke with former Michigan GOP governor and current Business Roundtable President John Engler who said he appreciated the president's comments about America's position in the world: "One top line that I solidly agreed with is that America is better positioned for the 21st century than any other nation on earth. That ought to be our starting point."

But Engler was less impressed with other elements of the speech: "Permit streamlining has been out there for five years. It's time to make that happen. And trade promotion authority could have used more of a nudge. ... We should be driving the global economic agenda and recovery and we are not." ... Engler said he was surprised the speech didn't hit harder on issues of economic inequality. "I think they kind of pulled it back and wanted to look a little more reasonable."

Bloomberg, "Obama Seeks Trade Deals in Backing U.S. Companies’ Goals":

Congress should “start by getting serious about tax reform, quickly enacting immigration reform and passing trade promotion authority,” John Engler, president of the Business Roundtable, said in a statement.

“Progress on these fronts will give an immediate boost to the economy and demonstrate that the president and Congress are serious about spurring investment and creating American jobs.”

BRT vice presidents also commented on their fields of expertise. From The Financial Times (subscription) "Obama delivers careful message on trade": 

Mr Obama only cited the need to “work” on TPA – a less forceful endorsement, reflecting the expectation that there may have to be substantial changes to the legislation in coming months. Nevertheless, business groups supporting Mr Obama’s trade negotiations appeared satisfied with the message in the speech.

“We applaud the president’s pledge to work with Congress to pass TPA legislation and his remarks on the importance of advancing US trade agreements to support American growth and jobs,” said David Thomas, vice-president at Business Roundtable, the chief lobbying group for large US companies.

Politico's Morning Tax, "Obama reprises corporate tax proposal in SOTU — The verdict is in and proposals won’t move tax reform needle":

Matt Miller, vice president of tax at the Business Roundtable: 'The President's continued recognition of the need for tax reform is positive, but his strong engagement is what is needed to clean-up the code and move tax reform forward. We look forward to working with the Administration to identify the tax policies that America needs to create jobs and increase business investment...All revenues from corporate base-broadening measures should be applied to corporate rate reduction and to modernizing our international tax system, not for unrelated spending or other priorities."

Business Roundtable live-tweeted the President's speech last night, directing readers toward BRT's "Invested in America: A Growth Agenda for the U.S. Economy." The plan for economic revival focuses on four key policy areas: A return to fiscal stability, business tax reform, fixing the broken U.S. immigration system, and expanding trade.

Greg Brown, Chairman and CEO of Motorola Solutions, who chairs BRT's Immigration Committee, offered his own tweet: "+: It's time for . Can add 8.3M jobs, boost GDP by 4.8% & cut deficit by $1.2 tr. "

UPDATE (Wednesday): From Washington Post, Wonkblog, "Obama wants businesses to raise pay. Here’s why they probably won’t listen":

The talk of wages "distracts from economic growth," Engler said. "Growth in wages follows growth of businesses and economic growth." He noted that wages are highly sensitive to local economics. "In North Dakota, because there is so much competition for jobs, a McDonald’s worker makes $14 an hour," he said.

“It’s better to get people with wages and opportunities on the middle-income ladder," said Engler. "And that takes growth and more jobs. The president mentioned the 1.6 million people who lost their unemployment benefits, but he didn’t mention the people – five times more – that have been unemployed for much longer. Companies are willing to hire them, but they need a growing economy for investments to be made."