Mulally to Join CEO Talks with Obama

Ford Motor Co.'s Alan Mulally will be one of a dozen CEOs of big American companies who will discuss the federal deficit with President Barack Obama at a meeting at the White House on Wednesday.

Also invited are the chiefs of Aetna, American Express, Chevron, Dow Chemical, General Electric, Honeywell, IBM, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Wal-Mart and Xerox.

The president is seeking input on how to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff," the sharp automatic cuts to defense and domestic spending that will be triggered on Jan. 1 if no balanced-budget agreement has been reached with Congress by then.

The administration and lawmakers are aiming for a compromise on ways to reduce spending and raise revenue while extending tax cuts to balance the budget without tipping the U.S. economy back into recession. Analysts say Obama may be seeking the public support of highly paid corporate executives for his proposal to hike taxes on the wealthy.