Obama Says He’s ‘Fierce’ Free-Market Advocate, Rejects Critics

[웃 910]

By Mike Dorning and Julianna Goldman

Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama said he and his administration have pursued a “fundamentally business- friendly” agenda and are “fierce advocates” for the free market, rejecting corporate criticism of his policies.

“The irony is, is that on the left we are perceived as being in the pockets of big business; and then on the business side, we are perceived as being anti-business,” Obama said in a Feb. 9 interview in the Oval Office with Bloomberg BusinessWeek, which will appear on newsstands tomorrow.

“You would be hard-pressed to identify a piece of legislation that we have proposed out there that, net, is not good for businesses,” he added. He predicted that legislation he will sign this year would cut corporate taxes by about $70 billion.

Obama took office at a time of turmoil in the economy, responding with an interventionist agenda that included a bailout of the auto industry and a $787 billion stimulus plan. Those moves drew fire from Republicans in Congress, while many executives objected to his efforts to overhaul health care and impose new regulations on the financial industry.

Still, since his term began, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index of stocks has risen more than 25 percent and the economy rebounded from a 6.4 percent decline during the first three months of last year to 5.7 percent growth in the fourth quarter.

Boosting Exports

In an effort to make U.S. exports more attractive, Obama set a year-end objective for persuading China to allow the value of its currency to rise.

“My goal over the course of the next year is for China to recognize that it is also in their interest to allow their currency to appreciate because, frankly, they have got a potentially overheating economy,” Obama said.

He said his administration is “going to have some very serious negotiations” with China that are “going to be bumpy.” China has held its exchange rate with the dollar steady since July 2008.

Obama discussed a range of economic issues in the 35-minute interview with editors and reporters.

He said he would press for passage this year of free-trade agreements with South Korea, Panama and Colombia, though he cautioned that “different glitches” must first be negotiated with each country. He dismissed the idea of expanding the payroll tax break he proposed for small businesses to larger companies. And he offered a less-than-optimistic forecast for the legislative prospects of the “Volcker Rule” he embraced last month to bar commercial banks from proprietary trading.

‘Dysfunctional’ Washington

“Whether we can get it through Congress is always a question because, as we have seen throughout this year, we have a political process in Washington right now that is a little dysfunctional,” Obama said.

He declined to give an opinion on Toyota Motor Corp.’s handling of its automobile recall, using the opportunity to argue that the bailout of General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC has worked. He cited the improved financial position of General Motors, whose chairman and chief executive officer, Ed Whitacre, predicted on Jan. 6 would turn a profit this year.

“GM and Chrysler aren’t out of the woods yet, but there is an enormous opportunity for us to rebuild a U.S. auto industry that, absent our intervention, might not have been there, at least with those two companies,” Obama said.

The auto bailout, he said, is “a very politically unpopular decision that was made that, from my vantage point, is pro-business.”

Meeting Immelt, Cote

As Obama defended himself against charges he is isolated from business, a number of CEOs sat outside in the West Wing lobby: General Electric Co.’s Jeffrey Immelt and Honeywell International Inc.’s David Cote were among those waiting for a meeting with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and energy coordinator Carol Browner to discuss climate-change policy.

Obama, succeeding a Republican president who stressed reducing regulation and cutting taxes on investment income, has come in for repeated criticism from business groups.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been a frequent sparring partner, joining battle over Obama’s health-care overhaul plan, climate-change legislation, support for a new consumer financial protection agency, and backing for legal changes making it easier to unionize workers.

Early in the Obama administration, bondholders objected to pressure from the White House to accept discounts on Chrysler debt. Hedge-fund manager Clifford Asness of AQR Capital Management publicly accused Obama of “bullying” creditors.

Fighting Bank Tax

Wall Street has chafed at Obama’s targeting of bonuses given to bank executives and fought a White House plan announced last month to recover the cost of the financial industry bailout with taxes on large banks.

Perceptions that Obama is unfriendly to business are widespread in the investment community. In a Bloomberg poll in January, 77 percent of U.S. investors surveyed said they see the president as anti-business.

In the interview, Obama offered an explanation for one charge often leveled by those who portray him as removed from the realities of managing a business: that he is the first president in decades not to include a major corporate CEO as a member of the Cabinet or inner circle.

“It just has to do with who the particular individuals were who were needed at a time of crisis,” Obama said. “I thought it was very important to have Larry Summers and Tim Geithner as two of my key economic advisers early on because they had gone through significant global economic crises before.”

‘Spillover Effect’

Obama attributed feelings that he’s unsympathetic to business in part to “a spillover effect” from public criticism he has leveled at large banks.

He also cited instances when he has clashed with specific industries such as insurance companies over his health-care plan, energy companies over climate change, and banks over a financial-regulatory overhaul. Still, he argued, in each case the proposal benefited American businesses as a whole.

“You have got some pretty significant, well-funded industry interest groups who are adamantly opposed, and they have got a lot of sway,” Obama said.

With the Oval Office fireplace lit in the background, Obama continued a vigorous defense of his record on business issues, circling back to the topic even as aides repeatedly told him time was up and that his economic team, including Geithner, Summers and Christina Romer, was waiting to brief the president.

Modifying Tax Proposal

He volunteered that he had made “modifications” to his proposals on taxing multinational corporations in response to criticism. He said his plan to repeal President George W. Bush’s tax cuts for families making more than $250,000 a year isn’t “punitive” and is a means to “deal with debt and deficits in a realistic way.”

He said his economic policies had helped pull the country back from financial turmoil as he entered office and “created an environment in which businesses can be profitable.”

“We are pro-growth,” Obama said. “We are fierce advocates for a thriving, dynamic free market.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Mike Dorning in Washington at mdorning@bloomberg.net; Julianna Goldman in Washington at jgoldman6@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: February 11, 2010 00:01 EST

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...YaSa0&pos=1

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Could have fooled me!

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Delusional disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis denoting a psychotic mental disorder that is characterized by holding one or more non-bizarre delusions in the absence of any other significant psychopathology.

[luckytxn 2,265]

This seems like a man that is isolated and fed a steady stream of the Koolaid that he pours out to his sheep.

[sly_wolf 199]

Ya, like free market has been such a success!

Free to send jobs offshore and free to screw the average american.

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Is this before or after he took over GM?

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Ya, like free market has been such a success!

Free to send jobs offshore and free to screw the average american.

The opposite worked great in the USSR. It works so good in Cuba they all drive classic cars. Have you considered leaving our hell-hole of a country?

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

The opposite worked great in the USSR. It works so good in Cuba they all drive classic cars. Have you considered leaving our hell-hole of a country?

And that roman architecture is awesome.

[sly_wolf 199]

The opposite worked great in the USSR. It works so good in Cuba they all drive classic cars. Have you considered leaving our hell-hole of a country?

Its too bad that you consider it a Hell Hole .... I was only referring to the current reality of our free market ... it sux due to out of control greed and no ethics .... actually not any different from the poorer countries you refer too.

[sly_wolf 199]

Its too bad that you consider it a Hell Hole .... I was only referring to the current reality of our free market ... it sux due to out of control greed and no ethics .... actually not any different from the poorer countries you refer too.

Oh and I almost forgot ... a congress that accomplishes nothing except for bickering. Sounds all too familier.

[웃 910]

Its too bad that you consider it a Hell Hole .... I was only referring to the current reality of our free market ... it sux due to out of control greed and no ethics .... actually not any different from the poorer countries you refer too.

PM me, I'll purchase you and your family a one-way ticket to Cuba

[sly_wolf 199]

PM me, I'll purchase you and your family a one-way ticket to Cuba

Thanks! The beaches are great there

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Its too bad that you consider it a Hell Hole .... I was only referring to the current reality of our free market ... it sux due to out of control greed and no ethics .... actually not any different from the poorer countries you refer too.

By the Obama admin?

Oh and I almost forgot ... a congress that accomplishes nothing except for bickering. Sounds all too familier.

You mean TRILLIONS spent doesnt buy any accomplishment?

[sly_wolf 199]

By the Obama admin?

Huh?

You mean TRILLIONS spent doesnt buy any accomplishment?

Oh ya that free market that created the problem!

[alienlovechild 75]

Thanks! The beaches are great there

They're good enough to help you forget about the political prisoners and crappy economy.