Obama trades ideas with labor leaders

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2008/06/printer-obama_trades_ideas_with_busine.html

The Swamp
Obama trades ideas with labor leaders

by Michael Finnegan

PITTSBURGH--Barack Obama traded ideas on energy, healthcare and schools with business, labor and academic leaders on Thursday at a campaign forum in Pittsburgh.

The group included the chief executive officers of General Motors and United States Steel Corp., along with the presidents of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Service Employees International Union.

Also on the panel was retired Gen. James Jones, a former NATO Supreme Allied Commander who is close to Obama's Republican rival John McCain but has been mentioned as a possible running mate for the likely Democratic presidential nominee.

Obama opened the forum at Carnegie Mellon University by laying out his energy, healthcare and education agenda, then asked each of 13 panelists to share their thoughts on those topics.

"If you were setting federal policy, what do you think would be the most effective approach to ensure these exciting innovations are moving rapidly?" Obama asked Vinod Khosla after the venture capitalist talked about a "radical revolution" in renewable energy technology.

Investment in university research, Khosla responded, along with stable policy and making people believe it can happen.

Steve Case, the former chairman and chief executive officer of America Online, reminded Obama that government-funded research spurred development of the Internet and then the private marketplace took over.

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