Can we just lighten up on Jim Owens? Direct your justifiable rage at the fools in Congress who cook up things like Cap 'n Trade. They're the enemy. Jim Owens is trying to maneuver his company around the rocks and shoals placed there by Congress. He's doing what he has to do to keep his company afloat. When he appears in a photo with Obama, he's getting slimed and he knows it. Like I said before, he's fully aware of Obama's admiration for Marx & Engels. He serves on the advisory board as a counterweight.

My wife works for Caterpillar and she had a chance to talk with Jim Owens in October '08. She said he knew all about Obama and he said that Obama "scared him".
The company culture at Caterpillar is conservative, free-market capitalism. Those of you bad-mouthing Jim Owens and, by extension, Caterpillar don't know what you're talking about, including the author who sounds like Jim Owens' curt answer at the shareholder meeting might've hurt his feelings a little. You don't get to be CEO of a world-class manufacturing company filled with smart people by being a shill for a hack like Obama.