|
|
During the past 20 years, the author has watch China move from being a developing country into an industrial superpower
Money Moves, 5/24: Chocomize Co-Founder Fabian Kaempfer talks with Bloomberg’s Deirdre Bolton about the business of customizing chocolate
The president's campaign has a new rule—no cell phones allowed
In honor of remote control inventor Eugene Polley, we recognize other influential but neglected inventors who have felt the sting of stolen glory
Forget Adderall. Traders now pop chia seeds to stay focused and energized
The Italian automaker and others are adding hybrid technology to elite cars
The storied bridge that links San Francisco and Marin County changed the face of California
Schools cultivate ties with startups before they're big successes
Dave McClure's traveling venture capital show scours the world for promising startups
Get Four
|  | NOVEMBER 5, 2004
By Paul Magnusson Corporations Come Collecting from Bush [Page 2 of 2] MORE GROWTH NEEDED. Most popular among execs [and Republicans] is the idea of expanding the economy out of the deficit. Growth would boost tax revenues without raising tax rates, they maintain, although some CEOs wonder if that will be enough. William D. Zollars, head of Yellow Roadway (YELL ), the nation's largest trucking company, thinks the President "has hung his hat on economic growth as a way to start to fill the deficit" but ponders if more will have to be done. "It would work if the economy really picks up speed and stays on a high growth rate, and we have discipline on spending. We'd have to get a little more wind at our back to do that," however. Matthew K. Rose, CEO of Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI ) believes just having a plan to solve the deficit problem will help. "As long as people see a roadmap to fiscal responsibility and spending within our means...the economy will give [Bush] a lot of latitude," he says. If Bush has no plan, "then the deficit will be very harmful for the economy." VOTING FOR VAT. However, counsels Corning (GLW ) Chairman and CEO James R. Houghton, extending the tax cuts that are due to expire early in the next decade "should be done very judiciously, since we have a huge deficit.... I'm not wild about any more tax cuts until we see where the deficit goes." Lest you think all of business is more interested in holding onto four rounds of tax cuts or cutting taxes further, R. Jarrett Lilien, president and chief operating officer of E*Trade Financial (ET ) begs to differ. If Bush "or any other leader would come to me personally and say, 'I need to raise your taxes to help solve the country's problems, I'd be happy to pitch in,'" Lilien says. Business tax reform especially gets a nod from some top execs. Wilbur L. Ross, CEO of the investment bank that bears his name and chairman of International Steel Group (ISG ), would like to see a European-style value-added tax, or VAT, replace the current corporate tax structure. VAT can be rebated to businesses that export, making the exporters more competitive, he believes. Says Ross: "We have a tax structure that's not suited to the global free-trade environment that the Administration wants." OUT-OF-REACH ASPIRATIONS. Allowing workers to divert some of their Social Security payroll taxes into private accounts is also a priority on Wall Street. Chet Helck, president and COO at Raymond James Financial (RJF ), a St. Petersburg (Fla.) brokerage and financial-services firm, says the change would "accelerate the ability of workers to save for their retirement [and] solve the core problem" of Social Security's long-term financial shortfall. It shouldn't surprise anyone that health-care reform is supported not just by many ordinary Americans but by major drugmakers as well. Schering-Plough (SGP ) Chairman and CEO Fred Hassan favors Bush's proposal for health savings accounts -- savings plans similar to IRAs that can be used to pay for everything from catastrophic health insurance to ordinary doctor visits. Savings can be built up in the HSAs as well, he believes. However, Hassan warns: "There's not enough money in [the government] to pay for people's health-care aspirations. People want the best, they want it fast. They want it for everybody. The money isn't there." He opposes any attempt to allow U.S.-made pharmaceuticals to be reimported from Canada as "a way to import price controls." "CYBERSECURITY IS CRITICAL." Miles D. White, chairman and CEO of Abbott Laboratories (ABT ), offers a bitter pill of his own: Drug prices in other industrialized nations are lower than in the U.S. -- sometimes dramatically so -- because the U.S. is the only such nation without price controls for the general population. That has "left Americans paying a disproportionate share of the development of science and drugs." He's hopeful that the inequity "will get some good attention and focus" in a Bush second term. Domestic concerns aren't the only worries on the minds of corporate execs. Terrence A. Duffy wants to fight terrorism -- but without the U.S. becoming the world's policeman. "There has been evil in the world forever. I don't think we can clean it up 100%," says the chairman of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. "I think maybe the President has to take a more realistic approach toward some of the terrorists throughout the world. Terrorism is almost like drugs -- every time you clean up one corner, they're back on another." Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com (CRM ), a San Francisco-based Internet software outfit that went public this year, insists that "cybersecurity is critical to our future." After that, he wants the Bush Administration to make good on campaign promises to support accessible health-care records for all Americans through better information technology. If all this sounds like a wish list, it is. Most business leaders acknowledge they won't get all they want -- or even close. But in the glow of victory, few see any point in holding back now.
 With bureau reports Magnusson is a correspondent in BusinessWeek's Washington bureau Get BusinessWeek directly on your desktop with our RSS feeds.  Add BusinessWeek news to your Web site with our headline feed. Click to buy an e-print or reprint of a BusinessWeek or BusinessWeek Online story or video. To subscribe online to BusinessWeek magazine, please click here. Learn more, go to the BusinessWeekOnline home page  | | |
 Copyright 2004, Bloomberg L.P.Terms of Use | Privacy Notice |
Printer-Friendly Version
