business backgrounder | economy
“Where can you go to get one-stop shopping on emerging
policy issues in Washington!” raved Phil Pesek, vice president
and general counsel at Teck American, Inc. “The speakers
were outstanding and the debates were interesting. I would
recommend the Summit to all members of AWB.”
a sort of homecoming
Grace-Marie Turner, president of the Galen Institute, addressed
implementation of the Affordable Care Act at Policy Summit this year.
Turner, Boeing executive Brett Gerry, two-time Pulitzer
Prize finalist Ron Brownstein, and UPS chairman and CEO
Scott Davis.
Davis used his keynote luncheon address to call upon leaders in Washington, D.C. to find a solution to the nation’s debt
crisis before the end of the year.
“At this moment, our country’s board of directors — the
president and Congress — is facing not one, but two selfinflicted crises,” Davis said. “The impending fiscal cliff and
the crushing trade imbalance.”
Something must be done by early next year to resolve the
debt problem, Davis said.
Turner, president of the Galen Institute and an outspoken
critic of President Obama’s health care law, flatly predicted
that something will be done — though perhaps not by the end
of the year — about Obamacare.
“This law is going to be changed,” she said. “It can’t work.”
It wasn’t all serious, though. The AWB Institute, AWB’s
nonprofit affiliate, put on a golf tournament at Suncadia’s
beautiful Tumble Creek course that raised money for Washington Business Week. Policy Summit guests tasted some of
the Northwest’s finest wines. And some of the fleetest of foot
joined in the annual Policy Summit fun run.
UPS, one of the sponsors of this year’s Policy Summit, was
founded in 1907 in Seattle’s Pioneer Square as a messenger
service. One of the company’s early delivery vehicles — sort
of a hybrid motorcycle-bicycle — was parked in the foyer at
Suncadia as a visual reminder of the company’s roots, and CEO
Davis — an Oregon native — spoke about the company’s origins.
Founder Jim Casey borrowed $100 to start the company
and soon transitioned from delivering messages to delivering
packages for Seattle department stores, he said. Eventually,
the company — now based in Atlanta — began shipping packages around the country and around the world.
“I am very proud of what we have built,” Davis said. “But
this is not just our story. It’s the story of every successful business — businesses that create jobs, generate new industries,
expand existing markets and drive our economy.”
“Your employees trust you, but generically
there is no trust for the business community.”
— Frank Luntz, pollster and communications expert
gloves come off
Candidate debates are a Policy Summit tradition dating to
1992, and this year’s gathering was no exception. It was, however, a little different from previous versions.
The attorney general and gubernatorial debates — typically
the main event — were held in June at AWB’s Spring Meeting.
That left the lieutenant governor, secretary of state and auditor debates for the Policy Summit.
The debates got off to a fiery start with auditor candidates
Rep. Troy Kelley, D-University Place, and Republican James
Watkins, trading accusations for the better part of an hour.
Watkins had recently launched a website chronicling Kelley’s
history of civil litigation, and he used the debate to follow up
on his attacks.
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