MSCI President Weidner: Washington Must Balance Need To Address Climate Change, Income Inequality With The Rising Cost Of Doing Business

Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) President and CEO M. Robert Weidner, III, issued a statement after President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address calling on the president and Congress to work together to “pass a pro-growth agenda that will balance our need to address problems like climate change and income inequality with the rising cost of doing business, creating jobs and providing benefits.” 

Weidner said:

“President Obama made it clear that he plans to continue ignoring Congress and issue additional regulations that expand federal power at the expense of American job creators and their employees. As I’ve done before, I call on the president and his advisers to rethink this ‘go it alone’ strategy and engage the legislative branch to create and pass a pro-growth agenda that will balance our need to address problems like climate change and income inequality with the rising cost of doing business, creating jobs and providing benefits. 

“The first order of business should be for Congress and the White House to come together to fix the Affordable Care Act. Delaying the employee benefits tax in December was a start, but there is bipartisan support for other legislative fixes to this law. Washington must let go of it’s ‘all Obamacare or nothing’ approach to health care if it wants to create a stable cost-effective market for employers and consumers. 

“Tonight’s address was also notable for what it left out. Absent from President Obama’s list of accomplishments were two major items: comprehensive tax reform and immigration reform. The White House failed to offer a plan for immigration reform and refused to chart a course for comprehensive tax reform that reduced tax burdens for family-owned businesses and S-corps as well as corporations. As a result, businesses continue to deal with broken systems that drive uncertainty. 

“Adding to that uncertainty are concerns about trade. MSCI stands for free trade, but for trade to be fair, we need an administration that will address currency manipulation and hold our trading partners accountable when they violate existing agreements.”

American Metals Market (subscription required) featured Weidner’s statement. In the coming months, MSCI will issue an updated policy agenda outlining a platform that would strengthen the American free enterprise system and create jobs and raise wages in the metals manufacturing industry. The agenda will be available on MSCI’s website.