• Comment (3)

Former Gov. John Engler Pleads With Obama to Stop Ragging on CEOs

March 22, 2012 RSS Feed Print

Business Roundtable President and Former Michigan Gov. John Engler told reporters Thursday that Obama's populist message is pushing once-pro Obama business leaders into Romney's camp.

[Check out pictures of Obama's re-election campaign.]

"The president is not as strong as he was four years ago. I think he had a lot of support," Engler said. "I think he is trying to win that back. But if it is going to be the 1 percent against the 99 percent, it is going to be very hard to do that."

Engler says the class warfare aspects of Obama's campaign are disconcerting to the business community.

"I think generally this is a time when the country needs to pull together," Engler said at a breakfast meeting sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. "We've got a lot of serious problems that need to be solved, and it will take leadership, and it's going to take bipartisanship to get it done."

[Read Republicans Blast Obama on Energy.]

Engler says the "99 percent vs. 1 percent rhetoric" is a detraction from the real issue of high unemployment, high corporate tax rates and loads of debt.

"If tomorrow we slashed all CEO's salaries 50 percent or all CEOs said they'd work for free for a year, would that change unemployment rates?" Engler wondered. "No. And that is the fundamental problem."

Engler argues that before voters attack CEOs, they should direct their attention to their legislators who have accomplished little this year.

"CEO pay relative to performance might be a lot better than any public sector pay compared to performance," he said.

Tags:
executives,
Barack Obama,
Obama administration

Reader Comments Read all comments (3)

Add Your Thoughts
Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ.

There's no question that cutting the CEO's salaries in half would not only help the unemployed but would mean more profits for the working American. The Amped Audit report (Financial Terrorism in America) reveals that the 1% Rich flourished in this downed economy and actually grew in numbers. Ceo's profited 99% of the profits while the working person only profited 1%. Without the labor and consumer power of the masses who number in the billions those CEO's could not have made their profits. World wide according to Forbes,we gained 200 new Billionaires and who knows how many more millionaires. The working class need a bigger share of those profits since without them their would not be a the 1% rich.

Louis of CO 8:27AM March 23, 2012

LET THEM GO. HOW MANY CEOs do we have in the country? the people matter more!

ROMNEY, THEY HOPE, WILL BE THEIR

WATERCARRIER IN THE WHITE HOUSE.

MITT ROMNEY IS NOT A NICE MAN. HE IS A MAN WITHOUT CORE, WITHOUT PRINCIPLE, WITHOUT COMPASSION, AND VERY RUTHLESSLY SELF-SEEKING AND UNTRUTHFUL.

There was a recent study that shows that most rich people do and would do dishonest things to get what they want. That trait shows through in different things they did in life even before getting rich. Romney is a classic example. During the Vietnam war, he took off to France to preach Mormonism instead of serving his country. He lived in an expensive apartment while his compatriots at war lived in trenches in a far away land. Ever since, as a businessman, Romney would rather dismantle a business in the name of saving it using a classic takeover technique. You take over a ‘failing” company, fire all the workers, ask them to re-apply, you hire much fewer people without benefits, take a lot of money out of the company, sell the company, pocket a lot of money for yourself and your shareholders, and leave taxpayers holding the bag with respect to workers’ health needs, old age pension and more. In a number of cases, jobs were shipped overseas leaving the town destitute and dead. This “vulture capitalism” is what Romney is proud to sell to the country as “job creation.” In reality, he is not, and has never been interested in job creation (just look at Massachusetts, 27th in the country when he was Governor there). Romney is simply interested in money-making so that he can become rich quick and have plenty of American dollars sticking out of his pockets and every hole in his body parts. That is what he says he wants every American to learn to do. Romney would lie to get what he wants. In politics, as we now know more clearly, he would lie or change his position repeatedly in the hope of getting elected. When Romney lies, and he does so frequently, he doesn’t apologize, admit it or correct it when pointed out to him. In the primaries, as he hopes to do in the election campaign, he simply deploys heavy mass media advertizing to carpet bond his opponent with untruth and half-truth. Nothing positive or up-lifting! That is a huge character problem! And character is everything to a man. Above all, it is huge leadership problem.

Dr. Sam of CA 10:33PM March 22, 2012

CEOs should be left to run their businesses good, but not to buy the elections.

NEWSFLASH ~ Romney vs. Obama Is class warfare!

Also remember that Both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney Are in the one percent of the wealthiest. Dr. Paul is not in the one percent, he is successful in life .. but not very rich.

Go to the middle, go to America. The land of the Free. Let the rich do what they do good and then let them look around for what They decide to do with the fruits of their labor. But especially Let the poor have opportunity and no interference from government... the way America was meant to be.

Elect Ron Paul 2012. United We Stand. Free. Proud. With the best warriors in the world standing down for defense only, and with the most creative people in history rising to all occasions.

In Liberty.

John of NY 6:28PM March 22, 2012

About this blog

About this blog

Washington Whispers has been featured in U.S. News & World Report since 1933, offering a fun, insider's view of Washington.

advertisement

Latest Videos

advertisement