February 7, 2011
By ELIZABETH WILLIAMSON

President Barack Obama will ask some of his toughest business critics at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Monday to back his economic agenda, including White House plans to increase federal spending for green energy, roads and bridges and other infrastructure.

As he did in his weekly address Saturday, Mr. Obama is expected to call for business leaders to hire and invest more in the U.S.

He also is expected to give Chamber members more detail about his plans to move ahead on pending free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama, people familiar with the speech preparations say.

The president's scheduled speech in the cavernous Hall of Flags at the Chamber's Washington headquarters is his first formal address to the capital's biggest business lobby since taking office. Mr. Obama will use the event to seek support for his 2012 budget plan, scheduled for release Feb. 14. Monday's audience is expected to include chief executives from Chamber member companies and executives of the organization.

Chamber and White House officials clashed during Mr. Obama's first two years in office over the president's health-care and financial-markets regulatory overhauls, as well as environmental rules and tax policies.

Relations hit bottom during the fall elections, when Mr. Obama suggested the chamber was illegally contributing foreign money to Republican candidates, a charge Democrats never proved. But behind the scenes, the White House and the Chamber have continued to cooperate on education, border security and efforts to expand U.S. exports.

Since the election, Mr. Obama has overhauled his economic team, and White House and Chamber officials have talked of finding common ground on economic issues. Increased spending to rebuild roads, railways and airports is one of those areas, White House spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said.

Mr. Obama has proposed spending $50 billion on transportation infrastructure in the coming year. He is expected Monday to highlight his support for private investment in infrastructure projects through public-private partnerships. Republicans in Congress have expressed opposition to new federal spending programs.

"If the President discusses solutions to reduce economic burdens on small business, he'll be met positively. If it's more of the same stimulus spending—or 'investments' as he calls them—we'll be no closer to the job creation he promised more than two years ago," said Brendan Buck, press secretary for Speaker of the House John Boehner (R., Ohio).

Chamber members said they hoped to hear Mr. Obama talk about tax policy and his promised review of federal regulations.

Dan DiMicco, chief executive of North Carolina-based steelmaker Nucor Corp., said he wanted the administration to jump-start private infrastructure investment by allowing corporations to repatriate overseas profits at a discounted tax rate. "It is time we incentivized our multinational companies to invest here at home," he said.

Joseph Czyzyk, chief executive of aviation services company Mercury Air Group and chairman of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, said that in California, "the thing that bothers us the most is regulatory reform."

Mr. Obama said last month his administration would give a second look to government rules that slowed business investment and expansion without enhancing public safety. "It can't be lip service and blue ribbon commissions on that, it's got to be sacred cows," Mr. Czyzyk said.

While chamber members condemned Mr. Obama's attacks on the group last year, they also urged Chamber President Thomas Donohue to mend fences, Mr. Czyzyk said: "We believe we can get things done more with cooperation than opposition."

John Stroup, CEO of St. Louis-based electronic cable manufacturer Belden Inc., said he wanted Mr. Obama to discuss plans to lower the federal deficit, particularly entitlement spending, as well as plans to cut the corporate tax rate, increase U.S. energy independence and improve education.

"I think he got a performance review two years into his job and he's trying to act on it," Mr. Stroup said.

Gene Sperling, President Obama's new top economic adviser, who had met with Mr. Donohue, told a White House news briefing Friday that he saw a warming in White House-business relations. "I think it's part of an overall feeling of increased confidence that people see the president willing and able to work together and help get some things done that matter on the economy and jobs," he said.