Obama to Businesses: Get in the Game

President Obama offered a carrot and a stick to a potentially hostile audience Monday morning. Speaking to the Chamber of Commerce—a group that’s fought his agenda tooth-and-nail on health care and financial regulation—Obama said he wanted to mend his relationship with businesses, and promised to simplify the corporate tax code and eliminate unncessary regulation. But he also criticized executives for sitting on large cash reserves even as the nation’s unemployment rate remains at a dizzyingly high 9 percent. “If there is a reason you don’t believe that this is the time to get off the sidelines—to hire and invest—I want to know about it. I want to fix it,” Obama said. Both sides have expressed interest in rapprochement and recently found common ground over the need for increased national investment in infrastructure.