Windstream CEO Reveals Roundtable Discussion With President

Windstream CEO Jeff Gardner is optimistic that Congress can become functional, pass meaningful tax reform, and help boost a struggling economy despite new data that suggests his peers see conditions declining.

On Wednesday (Sept. 18), Gardner attended the Business Roundtable, an elite group of about 200 U.S. CEOs, for a conversation with President Barack Obama in Washington, D.C.

“We had a really good day in Washington around I think some of the critical issues that could help accelerate growth in our country. And the President was gracious enough to spend well over an hour with us and we talked real time about two or three of the most important issues to the CEOs,” Gardner said in a Talk Business interview on Wednesday.

Those issues include raising the debt limit, tackling the deficit, and “meaningful” corporate tax reform.

“We really need on both sides of the aisle for people to move away from their long-held beliefs and sacred cows and really try to find a way to solve some of these problems so we don’t create more uncertainty in the country going forward,” Gardner said.

CEO CONFIDENCE SLIPPING
On Wednesday, the Business Roundtable released its third quarter survey, which showed that CEO confidence for the next six months was slipping.

When asked if company sales would increase in the next six months, 71% of CEOs said they felt they would. However, that number was down from 78% in the second quarter.

When asked if U.S. capital spending would change during the next six months, only 27% said they expected an increase, down from 37% in the second quarter. About 62% said there would be no change in capital spending.

On employment, 32% said they expected to increase hiring in the next six months – the exact same number as in the second quarter. Roughly 44% said they expected no change in hiring and 24% said they expected to lay off workers, a slight improvement from 26% three months ago.

“It’s just a tepid recovery and I think the message today was we believe there are some things we can do to change that,” Gardner said.

TAX REFORM
According to Gardner, a major initiative for the Business Roundtable is to find a bipartisan way to enact a flatter, fairer corporate tax structure. Noting that U.S. corporations pay a 39% tax rate – the highest in the world – Gardner said there are ideas to lower rates, create a broader base, and meet the President’s objective of revenue neutrality.

“We all think that’s possible but we need to get it done,” Gardner said.

Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Representative Dave Camp (R-Michigan), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, have been touting an effort to rewrite the tax code.

The Business Roundtable has offered extensive thoughts on the subject and is supportive of the Congressional effort. Gardner pointed to a roundtable report titled “The Time Is Now,” which advocates for closing tax loopholes, lowering the corporate tax rate, and reforming international tax provisions.

“The Business Roundtable supports corporate tax reform that is revenue neutral within the corporate sector, thereby ensuring that any reforms to the corporate tax system are financed strictly through broadening of the corporate income tax base,” the report says.

“When I look at what can really unleash some better growth numbers in this country and create jobs – if we have a clear view of what the future looks like in terms of corporate taxation, if we have a simplified approach there, I think that will remove a lot of uncertainty and put us in a position to grow the economy much faster over time,” said Gardner.