Business Roundtable

CEOs meet with President Obama in the White House today. One expected message for the newly re-elected president: "It's time to act."

News reports have identified 10 CEOs who will be attending the afternoon meeting, and all are members of Business Roundtable. This week BRT launched the "It's Time to Act" campaign, pressing Congress and the President to move swiftly in the lame-duck session of Congress to prevent the fiscal cliff.

In videos, print and radio ads, the CEOs used their own words to call for specific steps to prevent the economic damage from the fiscal cliff:

• Extend all expired and expiring tax provisions through next year (to allow the next Congress to work out comprehensive tax, entitlement and budget reforms);
• Forestall the across-the-board cuts that result from sequestration, including $500 billion in defense cuts that would undermine national security;
• Raise the debt ceiling.

CBO projects the total cost of the fiscal cliff at $671 billion, with the consequences of up to 3.4 million lost jobs and an unemployment rate of 9.1 percent.

Previews, all noting Business Roundtable's role:

• Washington Post, "Which CEOs will visit President Obama Wednesday?"
• CNNMoney, "Obama brings CEOs in for fiscal cliff talks"
• Reuters, "Congress, Obama playing with dynamite, CEOs say of 'fiscal cliff'"
• Minneapolis Star-Tribune, "CEOs press Congress for retreat from fiscal cliff"

According to multiple news accounts, these are the CEOs meeting with the president today. All are BRT members. We've bolded the members of BRT's executive committee.

• Mark Bertolini, President, Chairman, and CEO of Aetna;
• Ursula Burns, Chairman and CEO, Xerox;
• Kenneth I. Chenault, Chairman and CEO, American Express Company;
• David Cote, Chairman, CEO, Honeywell;
• Mike Duke, President, CEO, Walmart;
• Andrew Liveris, President, Chairman, and CEO, Dow;
• Robert McDonald, President and CEO, Proctor & Gamble;
• Alan Mulally, President and CEO, Ford;
• Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo;
• Ginni Rometty, President, Chairman, and CEO, IBM;
• John Watson, Chairman and CEO, Chevron.