Former Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Paul H. O’Neill called for more careful spending and borrowing and “more of an adult conversation in our political life,” speaking at a downtown forum organized by Milwaukee Jewish Federation.
O’Neill and local corporate leaders came together to talk business Tuesday, Oct. 20, at the Economic Forum 2015. Much of the talk touched on a need for better decision making and a greater sense of responsibility among political decision makers.
“The Federation is leading a community conversation on the economy, which is on everybody’s mind,” said Hannah Rosenthal, President/CEO of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, in an interview before the event. “We cannot have a vibrant Jewish community in the future if Milwaukee does not succeed. We are part of this community.”
The annual event raises about $250,000 each year for Federation and its charitable work, said Rosenthal. “It’s a sell-out crowd,” she added, with 64 sponsors and 650 seats purchased for the lunchtime event at the Pfister Hotel, 424 E. Wisconsin Ave.
“I believe that an intelligent society pays for the things it wants and needs,” O’Neill told the attendees. He lamented that the United States has been borrowing for decades and tied it to a “shortfall in our real economic potential.”
O’Neill had a panel discussion on stage with Cynthia LaConte, CEO of Dohmen Co. of Milwaukee, a life sciences services company; Austin Ramirez, president and CEO of HUSCO International of Waukesha, a global engineering and manufacturing company; and Todd J. Teske, chairman, president and CEO of Briggs & Stratton of Wauwatosa, producer of gasoline engines.
Ramirez is disappointed in presidential candidates who he sees as outside the mainstream. “(Donald Trump) has kept us all laughing over the last few months …. Laughing and crying,” Ramirez said.
“I think presidential politics needs to be about telling the truth,” O’Neill said, adding “how distressed I am that we don’t seem to be able to have an adult conversation in our political life.”
LaConte indicated a silver lining of the Affordable Care Act is that it has increased emphasis on value, rather than volume.
Speakers also called for a fairer tax system, a better approach to education and better political leadership.
O’Neill was treasury secretary under President George W. Bush from 2001-2002 and served during the period of economic uncertainty after Sept. 11, 2001.
The former chairman and CEO of Alcoa was pushed out of the Bush administration and has said President Bush was disengaged and didn’t encourage debate at Cabinet meetings, according to the Los Angeles Times and other media reports. O’Neill gave his perspective in the 2004 book, "The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O’Neill,” written by Ron Suskind. O’Neill is the founder of Value Capture, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which provides counsel and support to healthcare executives.
O’Neill’s straight talk captured the attention of the room, when he turned to the idea that Congress could refuse to raise the debt ceiling over political disputes.
“This is ridiculous,” he said. “The truth is they have no choice …. It’s about paying the bills we already own, folks.”
What would his message be to the president and Congress? He said adjusting numbers and “cover-ups” to make the debt ceiling last longer is “not adult behavior.” He added, “I’d say, for G-d sake, grow up.”
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