President Obama spent a generous 90-plus minutes at Business Roundtable on Wednesday, delivering remarks and taking questions from BRT CEOs. A White House transcript is available here, and the White House also posted a blog entry. CSPAN has posted the video.
News coverage was heavy, of course, aided by the presence of CNBC, which had broadcast its Squawk Box program earlier in the day, highlighted by interviews with the CEOs. (A round-up of the video clips here.)
The President covered so many topics that reporters enjoyed a wealth of angles to pursue. Here's a round-up of the coverage, highlighting various themes:
WASHINGTON—Speaking to a gathering of top business leaders from the country’s largest corporations, President Barack Obama sketched out what he said are potential areas of bipartisan cooperation going into his final two years in office.
Appearing at the quarterly meeting of the Business Roundtable, Mr. Obama identified tax policy, trade, infrastructure and immigration as potential areas for legislative progress with Republican lawmakers.
“There remains enormous areas of potential bipartisan action,” Mr. Obama told the business leaders.
Obama told the Business Roundtable, a group of chief executives of top U.S. businesses, that he would like to pursue corporate tax reform, free-trade deals and reach agreement on an immigration overhaul to replace his controversial unilateral action last month that loosened immigration policies.
Infrastructure, patent reform and cyber security were other areas Obama held out as possible areas for compromise.
All these items are welcome in the business community, but deep differences exist between Obama and Republicans on tax reform and immigration and the president faces opposition from his own Democrats on free trade.
"The good news, despite the fact that obviously the midterm elections did not turn out exactly as I had hoped, is that there remains enormous areas of potential bipartisan action and progress," Obama said.
- NPR, "Obama Talks Gas Tax And Visas With Business Leaders"
- Bloomberg, "Obama Says Still Chance for Tax Code Deal With Republicans"
- USA TODAY, "Obama pledges to work with majority Republicans"
- Reuters, "Obama encouraged by Republicans who oppose government shutdown"
- Associated Press, "Obama offers candor, insights in Q&A with top CEOs"
TRADE, FOREIGN POLICY
- Washington Post, "Obama says he willing to defy Democrats on his support of Trans-Pacific Partnership":
President Obama signaled Wednesday that, at least on international trade, he is willing to defy his fellow Democrats and his own liberal base to pursue a partnership with Republicans. Trade represents one of Obama’s best chances for a legacy-building achievement in the final two years of his presidency, but he acknowledged that it is an idea he still has to sell to many of his traditional allies. ...
“Those who oppose these trade deals ironically are accepting a status quo that is more damaging to American workers,” Obama said at the Business Roundtable. “There are folks in my own party and in my own constituency that have legitimate complaints about some of the trend lines of inequality, but are barking up the wrong tree when it comes to opposing TPP, and I’m going to have to make that argument.”
U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday committed to urge lawmakers to back a bill giving trade deals a fast track through Congress, an effort some think could break a logjam on the issue and help secure major agreements under negotiation. ...
A bill to give the Obama administration so-called fast-track power, which would allow only yes-or-no votes on trade deals in Congress without amendments, has been stuck all year.
Obama said he planned to speak to congressional leaders on both sides to make "a strong case on the merits of why this has to get done."
- Voice of America, "Obama Offers Blunt Assessment of US Ties with China, Russia"
- International Business Times, "Obama: Russia Bigger Concern Than China, Putin Has 'Backward-Looking Approach in Ukraine"
- Voice of America, "President Obama 'Impressed' By 'Clout' of China's Leader"
INFRASTRUCTURE
The state of U.S. roads, bridges and airports is embarrassing, according to President Barack Obama.
Speaking before an audience of chief executives at the Business Roundtable’s Washington headquarters, Obama recalled the gleaming new infrastructure he saw when he traveled to China last month for a meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders.
“One thing I will say is if they need to build some stuff, they can build it,” Obama told the CEOs today. “And over time, that wears away our advantage competitively. It’s embarrassing.”
- Transport Topics, "Obama Doesn't See Congress Passing Long-Term Highway Funding Fix":
When asked by FedEx CEO Fred Smith why his administration and Congress would not agree to raise the federal gas tax of 18.4 cents per-gallon as a way to boost infrastructure dollars, Obama said, “Votes on gas tax are really tough.”
“The question is going to be, is there a formula long term for us to get a dedicated revenue source for funding the infrastructure that we need, that is not so politically frightening to members of Congress that is reliable,” Obama told the CEOs at a forum hosted by the Business Roundtable in Washington. “The gas tax hasn’t been increased for 20 years. There’s a reason for that.”
- CCJ News, "Reps join ‘Reagan’ in call for fuel tax increase; Obama concedes issue ‘tough’ for Congress"
- The Hill, "Obama: US infrastructure ‘embarrassing’"
MISC ...
- WSJ, Washington Wire blog (preview), "At Business Roundtable, Obama Faces Skeptics, Detractors"
- CNBC, John Harwood, "Why Obama, execs relished each other's company"
- Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (major German daily), "Obama kritisiert China: „In Peking können Ihre Kinder nicht atmen“" (Obama criticizes China: "In Peking, their children can't breathe.")
- El Pais (Madrid), "Obama reclama a los grandes empresarios que suban los salarios"" (Obama calls on big business to life wages)
- Economic Times (India), "US President Barack Obama praises PM Modi for shaking India's 'bureaucratic inertia'"