Considering the "awesomeness" of many a US CEO, why would he even bother?

Wasn't Warren Buffett one of Obama's economic advisors? You don't get much more business than that.

You mean that Obama isn't returning Carly Fiorina's calls? For shame!

We had a CEO in the White House from January, 2001 through January, 2009. How did that work for you?

(((Billy))) The Atheist

When the truth about Dick Chaney started to get out, his pals from the old days wondered-- whatever happened to the 'honorable' Chaney of the '70s? I'm persuaded that Chaney's experience as CEO of Halliburton was what made him into the evil creep we all now know. So, no CEOs in the Obama cabinet is entirely okey-dokey with me.

And CEOs typically are known for both their public spirit and their willingness to subsume their own interests to those of a group.

It seems like Politico is a common source of complaints on this and other sites. Sorry, but do you expect anything but semi-wingnut commentary and articles from Politico? I stopped reading it during the election. One might as well be reading NRO. I never understood the interest.

I'm sure I'll be pointing out the obvious, but this is yet another installment in the emerging narrative of Obama the Liberal Reactionary, hostile to conservatives, nay, bigoted even! He doesn't like Southerners! He doesn't like CEO's!

Um, dog-whistle watch: he doesn't like white people! I distinctly recall a bunch of my liberal friends freaking out about this smooth-talkin', seemingly polite and considerate guy turning into a Black Panther the moment he's elected. The current run of bullshit articles, looking for every little "snub" in Obama's every move, is either a conscious or a subconscious attempt at convincing us that the calamity is, indeed, upon us.

"Both George W. Bush and Dick Cheney ran businesses before 2000. How'd that work out for us?"

A point I've made many times before: the list of presidents with substantial business backgrounds -- Harding, Hoover, Carter, the Bushes -- isn't exactly the honor roll. (Truman ran a business too, but very briefly, and with absolutely no success.) Yet a presidential cycle rarely goes by without some hopeful touting his "real world" experience as a strong qualification for the job.

Who cares?

Well, nobody. The Politico is trolling for links and page views. And you oblige.

There are no arsonists either. Politico should suggest that we appoint at least one for completeness.

Of course great CEOs get to be CEOs with a lot of single minded dedication. The good ones are usually employed and happy. The unemployed are probably not good. That leaves only retired CEOs. One possibility would be Jack Walsh, but he seems pretty happy to be teaching at MIT.

If the American people wanted more CEOs leading our country, Mitt Romney would be president now.

I'm sure I'll be pointing out the obvious, but this is yet another installment in the emerging narrative of Obama the Liberal Reactionary, hostile to conservatives, nay, bigoted even! He doesn't like Southerners! He doesn't like CEO's!

Posted by: FreeProton on February 20, 2009 at 12:40 PM | PERMALINK

I think you're close, but it's not exactly what I think it is (you know, for whatever THAT'S worth). Obama's popular, and the right-wing (and their shills in the media) are looking for ANYTHING to knock him down a peg. They're looking for hidden meanings in everything, because on the surface, Obama's not giving them NEARLY enough to work with. So, to cultivate drama, figure out if there's a group he's not paying slavish attention to and wonder "is this a slight? Why? What does he have against THOSE people?" I fully expect Michael Steele to eventually wonder why Obama has no "one-armed midgets" in his cabinet. Because, you know, HE DOESN'T.

It's the flag-pin/hand-over-heart not-a-scandal all over again. ANYTHING they can dream up to make it seem like Obama really doesn't have the citizens of the USA's best interest will do. And the sad thing is, eventually, some of this shit will stick.

I suppose there's a kernel of an argument in there -- we're in the midst of an economic crisis, so the president should be talking to people who've run businesses.

... into the ground?

This is absolutely ridiculous. Yes, we're supposed to believe that it Obama administration is somehow missing out on the magic solution to this economic clusterfuck without the insights of John Thain & Stanley O'Neal. Give me a fucking break. This might be the stupidest thing I've read all week.

I'm surprised that one can write an article on CEOs in the cabinet without discussing Robert McNamara.

Government and business do work very differently, so it is not important a CEO be part of the cabinet or the staff. But as with any important constituency, the key thing is the willingness to listen and understand. That, Obama seems to be doing, and as long as he keeps doing that no one should have a beef -- except the talking heads whose job it is to start a beef.

Both George W. Bush and Dick Cheney ran businesses before 2000. How'd that work out for us?"

And let's not forget Paulson and Rummy.

And not one plumber, despite their obvious expertise! A snub, I say!

God help us if there were in CEOs in there.

This is classic Politico forced inanity, in a league with yesterday's piece about Hillary Clinton's favorite music. The people who write this drivel are inane by design. Why shouldn't we simply say so?

Puma says "The Politico is trolling for links and page views. And you oblige."

Exactly. The more you feed them the more outrageous and desparate for story lines they become.

I hear there's a former NASDAQ chairman with a little free time on his hands who really understands the ins and outs of the SEC.

Steve Benen wrote: "It's true, there are no CEOs in the cabinet, at least not yet. Who cares?"

I care.

I am glad there are no corporate CEOs in Obama's cabinet, and I hope there never will be any.

The executive branch has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of America's Ultra-Rich Ruling Class, Inc. for too long already.

I've had quite enough of government of the rich, by the rich, for the rich, thank you.

And when did it become a given that CEOs are by definition smart, capable and effective? Of course there are CEOs who are -- but then there's the banking industry!

I concur with two points already made above:
Warren Buffet is a supporter and adviser for Obama. Nuff said.

The Politico - as I have seen admitted by Vanderhai and Harris - is simply about site traffic. It pains me to see favorite blogs like this one cite them. I think it makes them seem much more important than they are. Perhaps there is value in pointing out the inanity of their "stories." I am more inclined to think that any traffic is good traffic; any link is a good link for them. Ignoring them would be my preferred means of dealing with them. They are the most blatent Internet whores since Drudge.

COnsidering that Cheney as CEO offshored most of Halliburton to the Caymans and cheated U.S. taxpayers out of millions or even billions of dollars in taxes, I'd say Obama dodged a bullet.
It is further a testament to how he is running things that the scolds have to dig so deep for criticisms.

Given the mess CEO Bush and CEO Cheney have left behind for everybody else to clean up, I'm more worried about the lack of professional janitors in Obama's cabinet.

The correct answer:

This is a feature, not a bug.

What's far worse, there's no one in Obama's cabinet who comments on the Washington Monthly blogs using the name "seriously." This is a horrid oversight, perhaps even malfeasance. Anyone who reads "seriously's" contributions to the Washington Monthly comments thread recognizes the deep, fundamental understanding of the issues facing America today of commenters using the name "seriously." This sterling group deserves to be represented in the cabinet at least as much as the CEO's who have done such a good job guiding their businesses and the economy to their current heights.

Why should President Obama talk to businessmen (although plenty of them supported his candidacy, especially in the high tech and financial services areas -Silicon Valley and Wall Street both backed Obama big time)? He's surrounded by lawyers with a couple of economists thrown in for good measure; what does he need businessmen for?

The current crop of CEOs in the country have proven themselves to be mind numbingly incompetent. PLEASE don't let them anywhere near the government or any other job that matters.

Nobody has mentioned that calling the absence of CEOs a "black hole" is perhaps the worst analogy of this century.

If Government were a corporate business then a CEO might be called for. But Government is not in the profit making trade. Government is there to promote the general welfare. Who would want a rapacious Wallstreet CEO bringing more ruin to America and earth anyway?

At some point soon we have to change from a growth based economy to a sustain our life on earth economy. That is not what CEOs do.

"Second, it's a mistake to assume boardroom experience matters in government. Both George W. Bush and Dick Cheney ran businesses before 2000. How'd that work out for us?"

Sorry, Steve, but this isn't second. It's first and it's all the rebuttal you need.

Erm, it's CEOs and those who pander to and listen to them that GOT US HERE.

Why would you listen to someone who you already know is going to say "lower their taxes, remove regulations.. that will fix it"? We listened to them saying that for 8 years... and it screwed us.

Given America's recent history the fact that Obama has not appointed a single CEO is nothing but a good thing. CEO's and their idiot president are what put America in the hole it's in.

...the absence of CEOs a "black hole" is perhaps the worst analogy of this century. -science

I thought it was delightfully apt, given how much the average CEO sucks.

As to any "great CEOs being currently employed", I submit Robert Nardelli for consideration.

Please let Jack Welch-- and most of the other CEOs -- stay where they are.... The Welch approach isn't something we need in government. What might have worked for GE's profits, would be a disaster in public service. We need people in government who respect civic life and democratic institutions.

Our last 3 Treasury Secretaries were CEOs: Paul O'Neill, John Snow, and Henry Paulson.

Snow, in particular, is a genius, running the private group that borrowed a bunch of money and bought Chrysler a couple of years ago...

People, this article is full of shit. Robert Gates (board of directors for 5 corporations), Mary Schapiro (board Duke Energy). "Just a dollop of top level private sector" No, not quite a dollop. People, take a look at the list of his appointments on whitehouse.gov then google some names. No CEOs may be true, but to specify like that isn't quite getting to the point.

Anyway, just question the world around you. Do bailouts (stimulus) have an economic or historical background for doing positive things for the economy? People, this article is full of shit. Robert Gates (board of directors for 5 corporations), Mary Schapiro (board Duke Energy). "Just a dollop of top level private sector" No, not quite a dollop. People, take a look at the list of his appointments on whitehouse.gov then google some names. No CEOs may be true, but to specify like that isn't quite getting to the point.

Anyway, just question the world around you. Do bailouts (stimulus) have an economic or historical background for doing positive things for the economy?

Politico will write about almost anything as long as they can do so in a way that will keep people talking about Politico. If Obama had one more CEO in his cabinet, Politico would write it he has at least two too many.

-AF

Throughout the Bush Administration, and even still in much of the South (where I live) there is a "cult" of the private sector business leader. It's a Republican thing - there is nothing in government that a "business person" or the private sector can't do better. Even with the economic meltdown, principally caused by these private sector mandarins, the perception remains.

In the US we have a private, for profit sector; a private, non-profit sector; and a public, government sector. Each is good at certain things and each is a tool to help keep our society running smoothly. The trick is to know which is best at doing what - and then getting that sector to play its appropriate part.

Somebody should tell the folks over at Politico.

Bob

"There is virtually no one on Obama's team with outsized achievements or a high-profile reputation earned in the world of business."

There wasn't anyone in Bush's cabinet with "outsized achievements or a high-profile reputation earned in the world of business" either. As a matter of fact, both Cheney and Bush had managed to escape scrutiny by the authorities for stock manipulation and creative accounting by using their political connections. The first Sec. Treas. O'Neill was the only one who had any real experience and he was the first to go. Rummy might claim to have been an business executive, but he was basically marking time until he got back into politics. He didn't do anything wonderful. Neither did Snow.

There must be a sign somewhere at the White House that says "No Asshats Allowed". After all they have nearly ruined this country.

F%@K the CEO's they are the ones who got us here!!!

GM

This is a notable absence, particularly for an administration whose domestic reputation will hinge on whether it can reverse one of the steepest economic downturns in decades.

If Obama claws our way out of Bush's depression without the help of any CEO's, I expect Politico will still make note of it. (No, not really.)

Just for giggles, anyone want to list Democrat CEO's (using noun in adjective form, touchy folks) who are interested in a major pay cut while accepting a federal position? How deep is that bench?