17 Feb 2011 Obama Huddles with “The Usual Suspects” – Liberal Business Leaders on West Coast – to Advance his Big Government Agenda

Obama’s Closed-Door Dinner with Clean Energy Allies Could Escalate his War on Fossil Fuels, says the National Center for Public Policy Research

Washington, D.C. – President Obama traveled to the West Coast today to tout his 2012 budget and possibly rally support from Silicon Valley business leaders who support his clean energy agenda.

News reports indicate the President will be meeting behind closed doors with tech giant executives from Google, Apple, Oracle and Facebook, among others, at the home of venture capitalist John Doerr the evening of February 17.

“It seems Obama, who once promised transparency in governing, is meeting behind closed doors with ‘The Usual Suspects’ CEOs to rally support for his political agenda. Since some of these executives, including former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and John Doerr, have actively supported legislative efforts to restrict the use of fossil fuels, it’s likely the real purpose of this trip is a recruitment effort to rally support for Obama’s war on fossil fuels,” said Deneen Borelli, full-time fellow with the African-American leadership group Project 21.

Deneen Borelli notes that Silicon Valley business leaders and environmental activist groups contributed about $30 million to defeat California Proposition 23 – a voter initiative that would have delayed implementation of the state’s onerous global warming law. Eric Schmidt’s wife contributed $500,000 to defeat the measure while Google board member John Doerr and his wife added over $1.2 million.

Renewable energy is an example of a policy issue that merges the confluence of political and business interests. West Coast business leaders have invested huge sums of money betting on a renewable energy future and the failure of laws such as cap-and-trade to pass Congress has put the viability of renewable energy in jeopardy. The price of traditional forms of energy must be increased through government action to make renewable energy cost-competitive.

“Obama’s clean energy goal essentially transfers wealth from working class citizens to the pockets of billionaires such as John Doerr. It’s outrageous that Obama is choosing to enrich the political and business elite at great cost to working Americans,” added Deneen Borelli.

“President Obama’s clean energy goals are in direct alignment with the business interests of the social and political elite. It’s a marriage of political and financial convenience. For example, John Doerr, Al Gore’s venture capital business partner, has bet heavily on renewable energy and he needs Obama to come through with laws to bailout those investments,” said Tom Borelli, Ph.D., director of the National Center for Public Policy Research’s Free Enterprise Project.

“I hope Obama’s networking with the left-wing elite wakes up the executives from the coal, oil and natural gas industries. Obama’s ‘California Dream Team’ is waging war on their industry and, not surprisingly, they are not invited to dinner. The executives from the fossil fuel industry were outspent by about 3 to 1 over the CA proposition 23. Unless they initiate an massive effort to defend their business these companies will be on the endangered list,” added Tom Borelli.

The National Center For Public Policy Research is a conservative, free-market non-profit think-tank established in 1982. It is supported by the voluntary gifts of over 100,000 individual recent supporters, and receives less than one percent of its revenue from corporate sources.

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