Business Leaders Air Growing Unhappiness With Obama

As the economic recovery stalls and the debt debate in Washington fuels market uncertainty, business leaders — many of whom were once close to the White House — are increasingly airing their fears that President Obama’s policies are stifling job creation.

At a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday, Kimberly-Clark Corp. Chairman and CEO Thomas J. Falk said the administration’s proposal to raise the tax on foreign earnings of American-based firms “would put U.S. companies at a significant disadvantage.”

The move “would slow economic growth in the U.S. and impede the creation of U.S.-based jobs,” Mr. Falk said.

Leaders in the oil and gas industry say the administration could clear the way for the creation of thousands of domestic jobs if it weren’t beholden to environmentalists. As one example, they point to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, a massive construction project that has been awaiting approval since Mr. Obama took office. The pipeline would run from Alberta, Canada, to Houston, Texas.

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