by Charles Gasparino Back when he agreed to advise the Obama administration on economics, General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt told friends that he thought it would be good for GE and good for the country. A life-long Republican, Immelt said he believed he could at the very least moderate the presidentâs distinctly anti-business instincts. That was three years ago; these days Immelt is telling friends something quite different. Sure, GE has managed to feast on federal subsidies, particularly the âgreen-energyâ giveaways that are Obamanomicsâ hallmark. But Immelt doesnât think heâs had anywhere near as much luck moderating the presidentâs fat-cat-bashing, left-leaning economic agenda of taxing businesses and entrepreneurs to pay for government bloat. Friends describe Immelt as privately dismayed that, even after three years on the job, President Obama hasnât moved to the center, but instead further left. The GE CEO, Iâm told, is appalled by everything from the presidentâs class-warfare rhetoric to his continued belief that big government is the key to economic salvation. Or, as one friend recently put it to me, âJeff thought he could make a difference, and now realizes he couldnât.â Immeltâs conversion from public Obama supporter to a private detractor is important: It shows how even businessmen who feast off his subsidies worry about his overall economic agenda and its long-term impact on the economy. Donât expect Immelt to say anything publicly about the downside of presidentâs economic agenda anytime soon: Heâs still serving as what is considered the top outside economic adviser to the White House. (A GE spokesman insists that the reports Iâm sharing here about Immeltâs private criticism of Obama are âludicrous.â) GE has too much to lose for Immelt to publicly âfess up to his disdain. The president now routinely talks up his desire to tax businesses that create jobs overseas, and GE overseas expansion is well-documented. Nor does the company want to put all its green subsidies at risk. And of course the last thing Immelt or his shareholders need is for the president to turn his class-warfare fire on them, as he did to his erstwhile pals in the banking business. Yet friends report that Immeltâs displeasure with the presidentâs economic policies is real and palpable in private settings. http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/bam_angry_adviser_YOANZQkGODYVqFDAsI9LjP
GE getting all cozy with the govt handouts is just as offensive (if not more-so than ) other wealth redistribution programs.
No doubt Immelt has used his influence at the White House to pad GE's pockets as has Warren Buffet and others. And, this is disgusting and reprehensible. But, the story is that even this leach, Immelt, has come to realize how Bad Obama is for our country.
Yup. Immelt would impress me much more had he taken a stand against the government handouts, even though they would benefit GE. Just where are those subsidies supposed to come from if the government doesn't "tax the rich" some more? GE also makes much of its money in the credit markets (or at least it did before the crash) and so had to be bailed out with TARP funds. So Immelt and the company he works for are part of the problem, not the solution.
It's hard for me to express the contempt I feel for people like Immelt. Highly paid for running a business he did nothing to create, he is, we are now told, really a republican but sucked up to obama to try to moderate him. Put another way, he saw which way the wind was blowing and, principles be damned, he sold out for fame and fortune. Now, he sees that the wind may be shifting and is trying to get back onto good terms with the republicans. Fuck him and all those like him. He made his bed, now let him lie in it. If the republicans take over, I hope they realize he was obama's number one business supporter and make him and GE pay dearly for it.
+1 Astonishing that the head of a retail products company would reveal his politics. I wont buy any GE product even when it is the most superior product available. Immelt is no Jack Welch.