President Obama will meet with top executives from major businesses Wednesday, imploring them to create jobs for increasingly desperate American workers.

The LA Times reports "top executives from companies including Google Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. will meet with Obama at the White House."

The Obama administration suspects businesses might be sitting on piles of cash, which they hope CEOs will use on hiring.

"They're probably right at the point where they're getting ready to make additional expenditures on equipment and hiring additional staff, and this might be the final thing it takes to release some of those animal spirits on the part of corporations and get them spending again," Rupkey said.

The Federal Reserve estimates that U.S. companies are sitting on nearly $2 trillion in cash. Spending some of that on hiring could make a dent in the unemployment rate, now at 9.8%." [LA Times]

In the Chicago Sun-Times, Jesse Jackson says that's all well and good, but Obama should be more focused on poverty and workers' rights.

The 24/7 Wall Street blog said Obama's mission will probably not be successful. CEOs do more than create jobs with excess funds - they buy other companies or increase dividends, too. Neither of those activities would likely increase jobs.

"The president will not get large companies to do what shareholders and critics of cash-heavy corporate balance sheets have not been able to do. Firms such as  Google have used some of their cash for acquisitions. There is an argument that M&A activity actually destroys jobs because the integration of small firms into large ones often means job cuts to create operational efficiency.

Some large companies have also used their cash balances to increase dividends and fund stock buybacks. These activities do nothing beyond returning capital to shareholders."