EconomicsUSA: Prez picks war profiteer: Jeffrey Immelt GE brisk biz in Iran while Yanks killed

huffington post   [jan21,2k11]

Obama Picks Jeffrey Immelt, GE CEO, 

To Run New Jobs-Focused Panel 

As GE Sends Jobs Overseas, 

Pays Little In Taxes

First Posted: 01/21/11 11:59 PM Updated: 01/21/11 11:59 PM

Jeffrey R. Immelt, the chairman and chief executive of General Electric Co. tapped by President Barack Obama as his next top outside economic adviser, will be asked to guide the White House as it attempts to jump-start lackluster job creation and spur a muddled recovery. 

Immelt's firm stands as Exhibit A of a successful and profitable corporate America standing at the forefront of the recovery. It also represents the archetypal company that's hoarding cash, sending jobs overseas, relying on taxpayer bailouts and paying less taxes than envisioned.

The move is the latest salvo in the White House's continued aggressive and very public outreach to corporate America. Earlier this month, Obama appointed a top executive at JPMorgan Chase as his chief of staff, and this week he granted a longtime wish of business interests by promising to review federal regulations perceived as onerous.

Immelt's appointment raises fresh questions about Obama's courtship and future policy proposals. Firms like GE say good jobs will come from lower taxes and less regulation. Immelt told analysts Friday that he'll focus on tax policy and regulation, among other topics.

"A clear problem in the recovery is that it's been a much stronger recovery for business in terms of their profit and earnings than for those folks who work and earn a living in the U.S.," said Gary Burtless, a former Labor Department economist and now a fellow at the Brookings Institution, a research and policy organization in Washington.

Burtless said Immelt was likely hired to reassure corporate America. Political opponents have cast the Obama administration as unfriendly to business interests, and the administration has had difficulty rebutting that theme. Immelt's hiring was yet another step in that direction.

"It's a significant piece of outreach to the business community," said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office and top economic adviser to Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. The appointment could mean business has a "genuine liaison" at the White House, Holtz-Eakin said.

"Business folks will trust an Immelt much more than an academic or a politician with academic experience," said Burtless.

Whether GE's chief executive should represent the White House in those discussions, though, is another matter. He will continue to serve atop GE while advising the Obama administration.

The corporate chieftain's experience running GE, one of the world's biggest companies, may shed light on the kinds of recommendations he'd make behind closed doors.

The company is sitting on $79 billion in cash, tops worldwide among non-financial publicly-traded companies, according to a Jan. 10 note by analysts at Standard and Poor's. In fact, GE's cash holdings are about 62 percent more than the next company, Toyota Motor Corp.

"We feel good about that," Immelt said in noting the "flexibility" the surplus cash gives the firm. GE generated a $11.6 billion profit last year, a six percent increase from the previous year.

Non-financial corporations sit atop a record $1.9 trillion in liquid assets, according to the Federal Reserve. Relative to their short-term liabilities, U.S. corporations haven't been this flush with cash since 1956. The administration has been critical of corporate cash-hoarding.

GE's improving fortunes reflect the general trend in corporate America. In the quarter ending Sept. 30, corporate profits reached an all-time high of $1.66 trillion on an annual basis, according to the Commerce Department.

Yet nearly one in ten American workers is jobless. The unemployment rate has been stuck above nine percent for 20 consecutive months, the longest such streak since records began in 1948, according to the Labor Department. When Barack Obama took office, joblessness stood at 7.8 percent.

 
-- EconoMix

Why is Obama advancing a known dealer with enemy? 

boots in baghdad [may8,2k08]

THURSDAY, MAY 08, 2008

General Electric and Iran: CEO Jeffrey Immelt is killing American troops in Iraq

General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt admits General Electric is doing business with Iran.

Iran has been sending platter charge improvisational explosive devices, also known as Explosively Formed Penetrators, into Iraq that have been maiming and killing American soldiers and marines since I was there in 2005. They have also made continuing and substantial fiscal contributions in support of anti-American and anti-Iraqi forces.

"It is the policy of the Iranian government, approved to the highest levels of that government, to facilitate the killing of American's in Iraq." - CIA Director General Michael Hayden

Despite such realities, one of America's largest and most respected corporations continues to do business with Iran. Some business even relates to defense technologies.

At GE's annual meeting in Pennsylvania on April 23, 2008, GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt was questioned by a shareholder on GE's involvement with Iran:

Investor: GE products are keeping Mr. Ahmadinejad comfy when he's plotting to kill U.S. troops and trying to annihilate Israel. It's just an outrage. And GE is keeping their infrastructure intact... You know, this is kind of blood money and I don't want to be a part of it...

Jeffrey Immelt: Ok let me respond, and I'll respond on behalf of the board. We have stopped taking any orders from Iran in 2005. Our customers with Iran were European oil and gas companies. We decided at that time to fulfill the orders they had committed to us at the time and now that is completed...

Investor: I hope the other shareholders will vote. Do they think we should be selling equipment to Iran? Let's see a show of hands...

Jeffrey Immelt: Dr. Borelli, you've gone on and on, I think you made your point. Thank you.

Mr. Immelt's statement is misleading, considering General Electric is still in business with Iran.

Article III Section 3 of the United States Constitution states, "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or, in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort."