During the “off the record” conversation between two editorial board members of the Des Moines Register, President Obama insisted that the policies he pursued during his first term were not harming business owners. (After the editor’s publicly complained that the interview should be made public, the White House granted their request)

“The notion that somehow we’ve been bad for business is obviously contradicted by the evidence,” Obama said suggesting that “corporate profits had been at record levels” and “companies are awash with cash.”

“Corporate profits have been at record levels up until maybe last quarter,” Obama explained, indicating that that if he could just “trigger” consumer confidence, companies would release their choke-hold on investment.

“What they’ve been missing are enough customers out there to prompt demand and justify them investing in more plant equipment and workers,” Obama continued. “So if we can just trigger that, there’s enough capital out there in order for us to get on that virtuous cycle.”