From Sumner Redstone, CEO of Viacom (parent company of CBS)
Sumner Redstone, who calls himself a "liberal Democrat," said he's supporting President Bush.
The chairman of the entertainment giant Viacom said the reason was simple: Republican values are what U.S. companies need. Speaking to some of America's and Asia's top executives gathered for Forbes magazine's annual Global CEO Conference, Mr. Redstone declared: "I look at the election from what's good for Viacom. I vote for what's good for Viacom. I vote, today, Viacom.
"I don't want to denigrate Kerry," he went on, "but from a Viacom standpoint, the election of a Republican administration is a better deal. Because the Republican administration has stood for many things we believe in, deregulation and so on. The Democrats are not bad people. . . . But from a Viacom standpoint, we believe the election of a Republican administration is better for our company."
Sharing the stage with Mr. Redstone was Steve Forbes, CEO, president and editor in chief of Forbes and a former Republican presidential aspirant, who quipped: "Obviously you're a very enlightened CEO."
My two cents: You are responsible for the success of your own company. I would say (apart from federal tax rates) that your local government has more of an effect on your business then the federal government.
I own my own company. I am not affected by the Bush Adminstration other then the fact that my tax burden went down, significantly. Most of my problems that are gov't related have to do with local level BS (primarily in the code environment).
In theory, a Republican gov't usually tries to limit gov't and the opposite is true with a Democrat Admin. However, this is not really the case with the current admin. While I feel that the Bush admin greatly overspent, I think Kerry would spend more and increase my tax burden.
Most companies can be successful regardless of the current administration in the White House. The main difference is in how the business is operated.