CEO Experience and Politics

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
It seems to be a Republican mantra that a presidential candidate needs to have business experience before they can be seriously considered for the job. One of the GOP's biggest criticisms of Obama is that he didn't come from the private sector, which seems ridiculous to me because being a CEO and Leader of the Free World aren't synonymous. For example, what do Israeli/Iranian relations have to do with business? Nothing, and there are too many other examples to list where CEO-type skills would be absolutely useless and could actually be disastrous.

Now, consider your candidates. Perry has no business experience at all, and neither does Gingrich as far as I know. Cain was a CEO, but he seems seriously lacking in the foreign policy arena. Romney has plenty of business experience, which was mostly creating jobs in China by outsourcing them from the USA. Is that a good thing? Santorum, Bachmann, Huntsman, and Paul aren't even competitive at this point, but they don't seem very deep in this arena either.

Rush, Hannity, and the usual GOP flaks are always harping about Obama's background, which, if anything, is better than anyone else's from the other side. Plus, he has a couple of years in on the job already, which should count as experience.

Right now, there isn't really a challenger on the Right who stands much of a chance.
 

moreluck

golden ticket member
Newt was mostly in politics but the past few years was a businessman......he remarked that he was the opposite of Cain.....where Cain was business first and now trying politics.
 

brett636

Well-Known Member
As James Carville said "its the economy stupid!" Our economy is built upon the private sector, and growing the private sector is paramount to our country's current and future success. Someone with business experience knows what the private sector is suffering through and in the right position can make the changes necessary to help it thrive once again. Foreign policy experience is nice, but when the voters can't pay their bills because jobs are scarce they could care less if Vladimir Putin is handled properly or if our leaders can name the king of Uzbekistan. We have now tried a white house and presidential administration devoid of private sector experience and training and look what it has gotten us. An economy barely sputtering along with unemployment remaining at historically high numbers, and people seeing their retirement, houses, and other investments either remain stagnant or dropping off a cliff in value. A weak economy puts our nation in a weak position to properly deal with foreign nations. When our adversaries smell blood in the water with a consistently weak economy they are less likely to listen to us. If they believe that our national economy is strong and will remain so our position of power in the world is strengthened and we all benefit. Bottom line is private sector experience is the key to leaders who know how to grow this nation. Without it all we do is flounder along hoping that things will change for the better someday, but that someday will never come if our leaders don't know how to get us there.
 

island1fox

Well-Known Member
fedx,

Lets keep it simple.

Governor's have to balance budgets.
CEO'S have to balance budgets.

Community Organizers do not.

Governors that fail get voted out -experience or not.
CEO'S that fail get replaced--experienced or not.

Presidents that fail get voted out -experienced or not--Carter and Bush senior come to mind. See I was very fair and balanced.:happy-very:
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
fedx,

Lets keep it simple.

Governor's have to balance budgets.
CEO'S have to balance budgets.

Community Organizers do not.

Governors that fail get voted out -experience or not.
CEO'S that fail get replaced--experienced or not.

Presidents that fail get voted out -experienced or not--Carter and Bush senior come to mind. See I was very fair and balanced.:happy-very:

BHO was a Senator, which is a few notches up the totem pole from a governor. I guess you happen to forget the Senator part when you concentrate on the Rush Limbaugh "community organizer" theme. Also, Texas has a system in which the governor is rather weak, which is perfect for someone as IQ-challenged as Rick Perry. Oh, and he (Perry) didn't have a balanced budget, so maybe his lack of private sector experience is a liability? Did Perry take stimulus money? Yes, he did.

If you want a job flipping burgers, head to Texas. Rick has plenty of jobs that nobody can make a living performing. That's GOP-smart.
 

moreluck

golden ticket member
BHO was a Senator, which is a few notches up the totem pole from a governor. I guess you happen to forget the Senator part when you concentrate on the Rush Limbaugh "community organizer" theme. Also, Texas has a system in which the governor is rather weak, which is perfect for someone as IQ-challenged as Rick Perry. Oh, and he (Perry) didn't have a balanced budget, so maybe his lack of private sector experience is a liability? Did Perry take stimulus money? Yes, he did.

If you want a job flipping burgers, head to Texas. Rick has plenty of jobs that nobody can make a living performing. That's GOP-smart.
People do tend to forget a senator who voted "PRESENT" most of the time. He couldn't make a committment then....not so different now!!
 

Catatonic

Nine Lives
BHO was a Senator, which is a few notches up the totem pole from a governor.

Actually its the other way around. A senator does not actually have to make decisions (they just vote along with 99 or so other senators).
The common term for the US Senate is "the world's most exclusive country club".

Perhaps some explanation why you think a senator is better prepared experience wise to be president than a state governor will help me understand your point of view better.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
Actually its the other way around. A senator does not actually have to make decisions (they just vote along with 99 or so other senators).
The common term for the US Senate is "the world's most exclusive country club".

Perhaps some explanation why you think a senator is better prepared experience wise to be president than a state governor will help me understand your point of view better.

Senators don't make decisions? A governor is mainly concerned with state issues, where senators also consider national and international issues. A Senate vote isn't a decision? Several of the GOP field have also been senators, so I guess their decision-making powers are also nil.

I agree with you that the Senate is a country club. You can thank Corporate America for that. They are the ones runing the show.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
Do you think it's beneath unemployed people to take a job flipping burgers?

No, but can you live on that level of income? My point is that Perry hasn't done a very good job of creating living-wage jobs. Big companies love low labor costs, and Rick is right in their pocket.
 
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