Robert Scheer: Obama’s Fatal Addiction

[marmar]

from truthdig:



Obama’s Fatal Addiction

Posted on Mar 29, 2011
By Robert Scheer


If it had been revealed that Jeffrey Immelt once hired an undocumented nanny, or defaulted on his mortgage, he would be forced to resign as head of President Barack Obama’s “Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.” But the fact that General Electric, where Immelt is CEO, didn’t pay taxes on its $14.5 billion profit last year—and indeed is asking for a $3.2 billion tax rebate—has not produced a word of criticism from the president, who in January praised Immelt as a business leader who “understands what it takes for America to compete in the global economy.”

What it takes, evidently, is shifting profit and jobs abroad: Only one out of three GE workers is now based in the U.S., and almost two-thirds of the company’s profit is sheltered in its foreign operations. Thanks to changes in the tax law engineered when another avowedly pro-business Democrat, Bill Clinton, was president, U.S. multinational financial companies can avoid taxes on their international scams. And financial scams are what GE excelled in for decades, when GE Capital, its financial unit, which specialized in credit card, consumer loan and housing mortgage debt, accounted for most of GE’s profits.

That’s right, GE, along with General Motors with its toxic GMAC financial unit, came to look more like an investment bank than a traditional industrial manufacturing giant that once propelled this economy and ultimately it ran into the same sort of difficulties as the Wall Street hustlers. As The New York Times’ David Kocieniewski, who broke the GE profit story, put it: “Because its lending division, GE Capital, has provided more than half of the company’s profit in some recent years, many Wall Street analysts view G.E. not as a manufacturer but as an unregulated lender that also makes dishwashers and M.R.I. machines.”

Maximizing corporate profits at the taxpayer’s expense is what top CEOs are good at, and after all it was Immelt who presided over GE when it got so heavily into the subprime mortgage business that it needed a government bailout to avoid bankruptcy. This was before Obama made him a trusted adviser. ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/obamas_fatal_addiction_20110329/

[golddigger]

1. Hmm...

:popcorn:

[somone]

2. He knows which side his bread is buttered on

[leveymg]

3. 5th rec. Immelt is another bail-out king. Should disqualify anyone from positions of public trust.

[golddigger]

4. Still waiting for the defender brigade.

:popcorn:

[vi5]

5. Something something know your enemy.....

something something brilliant move.

Hell by now I don't think he could know the enemy any more than he already does if he were physically sewn to them.

[Divernan]

7. When their morning shift starts, 1st thing they'll "alert" to your post.

Their feelings are easily offended. I've had the most innocuous posts deleted.

[BobbyBoring]

10. There's no defence for this

Obama has appointed whoever he's told to appoint, PERIOD.

[Marnie]

20. He's just another RepoCon puppet

[Lorien]

11. They're poised by their fax machines, awaiting their talking points memo. nt

[golddigger]

12. Hmm...still nothing. Fax machines must be down today.

[NorthCarolina]

25. Sometimes,

for a compromising OP that can't be factually rebutted, it's better to ignore it and hope that is sinks to the next page.

[inna]

6. disgusting altogether

[madrchsod]

8. you are known by the company you keep....

and obama is a perfect example.

[Fearless]

9. +1

[Grinchie]

13. Don't forget GEnworth Health Insurance

You know, the ones that promise generous benefits to the consumers that allow them the remain independant and taken care of in their own homes instead of a rest home, and then find that the generous benefits are for Pharmaceutical products up the wazoo, that turns then into drooling incapactated blobs that are committed to Hospice once the toxic side effects from the drug cockatails raveage the old feeble bodies.

I saw this happen to a relative of my partner, and on face value, the insurance sounded like a dream come true, but the reality is that the relative was never able to collect comparable value before she succumbed to the overmedication. I personally think it was a scam to save money on payouts, and on the other side, receive massive refills of Oxycontin and Hydrocodone for the grey market. Sorry folk, but if an 80 year old needs 60 Vicodin and Oxycontin a month, something is terribly wrong.

[davidthegnome]

14. Wait. What?

"a business leader who "“understands what it takes for America to compete in the global economy.”"

That's all well and good Mr. President, that he knows what it takes to compete. Does he know what it takes to prosper? Does he have, well, principles? Do you really expect a person like this to help create jobs - to help you repair a severely damaged economy? Are you expecting... perhaps, responsibility? Fiscal or otherwise?

I wonder what the President means when he says that Immelt knows what it takes. Is he saying that you have to be a thief and a crook to compete in this global economy? Is he suggesting perhaps that it requires millions or even billions of dollars to do so? What about what it takes to survive (or even thrive) in the American economy? Does Immelt understand what that takes? Considering his success, I suppose he must. Bribe the politicians, stash your money off-shore, hire very clever accountants and financial managers. Take advantage of tax loopholes... I'm sure I'm missing several steps here. Maybe Immelt could write a book for us, I mean, when he's not too busy working really hard to help us get jobs, because I'm sure that's his priority. Uh huh.

Seriously.. what the hell?

[russspeakeasy]

17. Yes, he " knows what it takes"...It takes a check.

[Better Believe It]

15. K & R

[bertman]

16. RECOMMEND. nt

[Jakes Progress]

18. Really puts the quid in quid pro quo.

[libmom74]

19. Does anyone know

what GE or Immelt have contributed o far to Obama's 2012 Presidential campaign? Just curious...

[Jakes Progress]

22. What's on the surface and gets reported

has nothing to do with reality.

[KG]

21. compete = send jobs overseas.

[xchrom]

23. more about immelt and GE.

http://www.americanmanufacturing.org/blog/should-ges-jeffrey-immelt-really-be-leading-our-job-creation-strategy


mmelt's prescription for boosting manufacturing harkens back to the days of bloodletting as a medical procedure -- bad policy with consistently poor results:

* In a speech to the Detroit Economic Club in 2009, Immelt berated "Buy American" policies while acknowledging that GE lived under domestic preference regimes in China, France, and other nations. In Immelt's mind, it is fine for China and France to require to GE to make what it sells in their nations, but it's not OK for America to do the same.

* Immelt essentially rules out any enforcement of our trade laws in his Washington Post op-ed today through a spurious claim that distorts the issue. So China can cheat all it wants, and Immelt wants us to do nothing. Trade enforcement is not "erecting barriers," as Immelt alleges. Rather, trade enforcement is about removing distortions from the free market. Immelt reveals his true stripes with this ridiculous assertion. It's a dangerous statement, and it demands an immediate and forceful rebuke from the White House.

* Immelt supported two of the most disastrous economic policies of the post-World War II era: financial deregulation and China's entry into the World Trade Organization with few, if any, consequences for breaking the rules.

[Enthusiast]

24. This act was designed to

create more disillusionment in the ranks of Democratic Party loyalists. The 'powers' do not want a Democratic majority because then Obama would have no 'cover' for signing off on corporate objectives.

They hope this appointment will discourage us from voting -again. Expect them to pull several similar stunts leading up to the 2012 election.