Business leaders have advice for Obama

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- Business leaders offered some advice for President Barack Obama before his U.S. Chamber of Commerce appearance in Washington Monday.

Dan DiMicco, chief executive officer of Nucor Corp., a steelmaker in North Carolina, suggested a lower tax rate for corporate profits made overseas. "It's time we incentivized our multinational companies to invest here at home," he said in a report in The Wall Street Journal.

Several other business leaders said they would appreciate hearing more about Obama's review of business regulations to create jobs.

"The thing that bothers us the most is regulatory reform," said Joseph Czyzyk, CEO at Mercury Air Group, an aviation services company.

"It can't be lip service and blue-ribbon commissions on that; it's got to be sacred cows," Czyzk said.

Business leaders have clashed with the Obama administration for two years on a variety of issues, but some see 2011 as a year of turnaround.

"I think he got a performance review two years into his job and he's trying to act on it," said John Stroup, CEO of Belden Inc., an electric cable producer based in St. Louis, referring to the mid-term elections that resulted in big gains for Republicans.

Brendan Buck, press secretary for Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the president should focus on regulatory reform if he wants a positive reception from small businesses, the Journal reported.

"If the president discusses solutions to reduce economic burdens on small business, he'll be met positively," Buck said.