Obama Meets With Business Leaders on Economy
President Obama said Wednesday he was confident that his economic stimulus package would be passed by Congress. "We're going to get it passed," he told reporters at the start of a meeting with corporate executives before a vote by the House on his $825 billion economic package expected later Wednesday.
Obama used his talks with business leaders to keep up a lobbying campaign for passage of his economic plan, which could be the signature domestic initiative of his first term as he struggles to deal with the worst financial crisis in decades.
"These are some of the leading CEOs in the country .... They are on the front lines in seeing enormous problems in our economy right right now," he said, with the corporate chiefs sitting around a table.
"Their ideas and their concerns have helped to shape our recovery package, and I'm grateful that they're here today to talk about why it's so important that we act and act swiftly in order to get this economy back on track,"
Obama said it was important to act swiftly to boost the troubled U.S. economy, adding that it was facing "enormous problems."
Here's the list of chief executives of major companies are meeting with Obama Wednesday to discuss the U.S. economy:
— Steve Appleton, chairman, president and CEO, Micron Technology Inc
— David Barger, CEO, JetBlue Airways Corp
—Greg Brown, president and co-CEO, Motorola Inc
—John Bryson, president and CEO, Edison International
—David Cote, chairman and CEO, Honeywell International Inc
—Debra Lee, president and CEO, BET Holdings Inc, a division of Viacom Inc
—Anne Mulcahy, chairman and CEO, Xerox Corp
—Sam Palmisano, chairman, CEO and President, IBM
—Antonio Perez, chairman and CEO, Eastman Kodak Co
—Eric Schmidt, chairman and CEO, Google Inc
—Michael Splinter, president and CEO, Applied Materials Inc
—Wendell Weeks, chairman and CEO, Corning Inc
—Ron Williams, CEO, Aetna Inc
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Obama's expansive and expensive plan to jump-start the economy is all but certain to clear its first hurdle when the Democratic-controlled House votes on a $825 billion version that melds new spending and tax cuts.
Obama said Wednesday he was confident that his economic stimulus package would be passed by Congress.
"We're going to get it passed," he told reporters at the start of a meeting with corporate executives before a vote by the House on his $825 billion economic package expected later Wednesday.
Obama said it was important to act swiftly to boost the troubled U.S. economy, adding that it was facing "enormous problems."
Republican support, however, is in doubt when voting takes place Wednesday.
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