Business Leaders Slam Obama, Ask Americans to Think About Country's Future Before Voting

A group of over 30 business leaders, including Jack Welch, slammed President Barack Obama in a paid advertisement that appeared recently in USA Today.

"In a campaign season marked by new lows in polarizing rhetoric, some of the most divisive has originated from the President and his allies — and has been aimed at successful people in the business sector," the business leaders write. "These attacks are not getting us anywhere. They are really just political tricks to distract from the President’s own policy failures."

The successful business leaders then explain how, in their opinion, Obama has been anti-business:

Consider for instance what the President hasn’t said. He has no solution for the staggering $16 trillion debt the nation carries — a burden his policies increase minute by minute. He won’t explain why the stimulus spending hasn’t produced the jobs recovery he predicted. His party has failed to produce a budget in nearly four years. He has no answer for investors who need fiscal stability before they can put money at risk.

Instead, his Administration has increased regulations on virtually every sector of the economy while the President maligns business achievement in his campaign stump speeches.

American free enterprise is not the problem. Free enterprise is the essence of opportunity. It employs tens of millions, generates tax revenue, and pays healthcare benefits for millions of families. It is the engine that drives new industries, products, services, and innovation.

So when the President and his aides pit Americans against one another, it is not only misguided, it is irresponsible. Americans deserve solutions, not political ploys.

Fair-minded people can differ on those solutions. But the President seems oblivious to the fact that dynamic, productive job growth comes not from government spending, but from the private sector.

And the business leaders ask the American people to consider Obama's anti-business record before voting: "Before you vote on Election Day, think carefully about what kind of country we are creating for ourselves and coming generations. Will it be a country that demeans job-creating business owners by saying, 'You didn’t build that?'

"Or will it be a country that protects free enterprise and allows everyone to pursue their highest aspirations?"

Here's a list of signatories:

MICHAEL ASHNER
Winthrop Realty

CLIFF ASNESS
AQR Capital

LARRY BOSSIDY
Retired Executive

JIM & BECKY BYRNE
Atlantis, FL

RUSS CARSON
Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe

LEE COOPERMAN
Omega Advisors, Inc.

STANLEY DRUCKENMILLER
Duquesne Family Office

STEVEN EINHORN
Omega Advisors, Inc.

GARY ERLBAUM
Greentree Properties

WILLIAM B. FINNERAN
Palm Beach, FL

HOWARD FLINKER
Flinker & Company

E. E. GEDULD
Cougar Trading, LLC

J. IRA HARRIS
J. Ira Harris & Associates

ROGER HERTOG
Hertog Foundation

ED HYMAN
International Strategy & Investment

JONATHAN JACOBSON
Highfields Capital Management

MEL KARMAZIN
SiriusXM Radio

JAMES KILTS
Center View Capital

KEN LANGONE
Invemed Associates, LLC

STEPHEN A. LEVIN
Gold Coast Beverage Distributors, Inc.

STEPHEN LUCZO
Seagate Tech

DAN W. LUFKIN
Private Investor

WILLIAM MACK
AREA Property Partners

MORRIS MARK
Mark Asset Management

ROBERTO MIGNONE
Bridger Capital

LAUREE MOFFETT
Austin, TX

NELSON PELTZ
Trian Fund Management

JOSEPH PERELLA
Perella Weinberg Partner

MICHAEL PRICE
MFP Investors

SAMUEL T. REEVES
North Palm Beach, FL

JOHN RUNNETTE
Retired Entrepreneur

RICKY SANDLER
Eminence Capital, LLC

OSCAR SCHAFER
O.S.S. Capital Management

HERBERT SIEGEL
ALS Capital

MICHAEL STEINHARDT
Steinhardt Management Co. LLC

THOMAS TEAGUE
Salem Holding Company

JACK WELCH
North Palm Beach, FL

JOHN WHITEHEAD
Retired Executive