Caterpillar CEO Contradicts President, Hangs him out to dry

D'oh! Caterpillar CEO Contradicts President on Whether Stimulus Will Allow Him to Re-Hire Laid Off Workers
February 12, 2009 6:16 PM


EAST PEORIA, ILL. -- President Obama today repeated the claim we asked about yesterday at the press briefing that Jim Owens, the CEO of Caterpillar, Inc., "said that if Congress passes our plan, this company will be able to rehire some of the folks who were just laid off."

Caterpillar announced 22,000 layoffs last month.

But after the president left the event, Owens said the exact opposite

Asked if the stimulus package would be able to stop the 22,000 layoffs or not, Owens said, "I think realistically no. The truth is we're going to have more layoffs before we start hiring again"

"It is going to take some time before that stimulus bill" means re-hiring, he said.

Owens supports the stimulus plan, but said it would take some time to have an impact on his industry and "is a little light on the heavy construction."

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/02/doh-caterpillar.html

Or should I be surprised Tapper wrote the article

recover.

...they would be able to hire ALL of the employees back IMMEDIATELY, but he never did.

Is this CEO really insinuating that the President of the United States randomly fabricated the idea of Caterpillar rehiring people because of the stimulus?



I don't think anybody expects an instantaneous effect from this money, but this guy coming out and saying they're really going to just lay off more people is outrageous.

wasn't what he wanted. Fuck him

CAT makes a lot of the equipment used in the infrastructure projects.

Chalk up one more chit under Obama's belt for the future to play ...

the sooner we realize it the less surprised we will be when we see yet another slanted piece from Jake Tapper.

for projects in the "stimulus" bill written by three Republican Senators?

He was setting up the President. As soon as he left the building the CEO was contradicting Obama.

thinking Obama learns another valuble lesson from this.