The latest Bloomberg Businessweek detects a noticeable uptick in the amount of time corporate CEOs (like the pictured Brian Moynihan of Bank of America) are spending in the nation’s capital.
At the height of his NBA career, Michael Jordan rebuffed a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate who was seeking his endorsement. “Republicans buy sneakers, too,” Jordan famously explained. Chief executives have typically come to the same conclusion: Getting involved in Washington politics is ultimately bad for business. Better to keep your distance and hire a team of lobbyists.
At least that used to be the prevailing opinion. Over the past few weeks, more than 20 CEOs, including Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK/A), Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs (GS), Brian Moynihan of Bank of America (BAC), Michael Duke of Wal-Mart Stores (WMT), and Ursula Burns of Xerox (XRX), have visited the White House to press President Obama or his top aides on the urgency of raising the debt ceiling and warn of the economic calamity that will ensue if the U.S. defaults.
CEOs are also showing up more regularly on Capitol Hill. The combination of dysfunction in Congress and increased federal involvement in the economy since the financial crisis has led executives of companies large and small to personally press their case with members and regulators. Gia Schneider, the CEO of Natel Energy, a hydropower company in Alameda, Calif., has visited Washington about three times a year since 2009. “My focus has been almost entirely on educating regulators and congressional members and staff on the opportunity we see in a new kind of hydropower,” she says. “I thought I’d be more effective because I have specific knowledge of the industry, the potential, and the challenges.” In August, Congress passed two hydropower laws speeding up and simplifying the permit process for companies such as Natel.
Noticeably absent from the story: the recognition that an administration and Congress devoted to cronyism are likely to generate more activity from big-business cronies.
