It's a note from one president to another: CEA President/CEO Gary Shapiro Friday published an open letter to President Barack Obama on the occasion of his Jobs Summit last week. In the letter, published on HuffingtonPost.com, Shapiro gave Obama advice on how to best solve the unemployment problem and create new jobs.
“As you head out to meet directly with small business owners in the coming days, you'll no doubt hear many new ideas for how the government can create jobs. Hopefully the message you'll hear loudest is that government doesn't create jobs – businesses do,” Shapiro wrote to the president.
Shapiro's advice included: Passage of trade agreements currently before Congress; rejection of the Employee Free Choice Act; passage of tort reform; support for the nation's “crown-jewel companies” (including Apple, Google, Microsoft and more); a friendly immigration policy; rejection of tax increases and a stop to “runaway government spending.”
“Mr. President, your Jobs Summit is a great sign that you recognize the vital importance of job growth to a sustainable economic recovery,” Shapiro continued. “Government can't make companies hire – but there are many things government can do to make hiring possible.”
