It appears that General Electric’s strategy for overcoming the economic catastrophe which is swirling around us is to kiss President Obama’s butt and put the significant resources of General Electric at the Administration’s disposal.

GE: Doing business with our enemies?

"The revenue that is generated from the work that these companies are doing, we believe, helps to underwrite and support terrorism,” says William Thompson, the New York City comptroller who oversees the $80 billion in pension funds for all city workers. He says he wants everyone with a retirement or investment portfolio to know what these companies are up to: “We're going to increase the public visibility on this issue until these companies change their practices.” He’s actually identified specific companies that have invested in these rogue countries, including Halliburton, Conoco-Phillips and General Electric. And he points out that New York's pension funds own nearly $1 billion worth of stock in these three Fortune 500 companies, which have operations in Iran and Syria. In fact, U.S. law does ban virtually all commerce with the rogue nations, but there's a loophole that G.E., Conoco-Phillips and Halliburton have exploited: The law does not apply to any foreign or offshore subsidiary so long as it is run by non-Americans. <Source: 60 Minutes>

Supporting Obama and stifling dissent?

THE top suits and some of the on-air talent at CNBC were recently ordered to a top-secret meeting with General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt and NBC Universal President Jeff Zucker to discuss whether they've turned into the President Obama-bashing network, Page Six has learned. "It was an intensive, three-hour dinner at 30 Rock which Zucker himself was behind," a source familiar with the powwow told us. "There was a long discussion about whether CNBC has become too conservative and is beating up on Obama too much. There's great concern that CNBC is now the anti-Obama network. The whole meeting was really kind of creepy." <Source>

Rewards for supporting the Administration?

Tarp bailout …

General Electric, the world's largest industrial company, has quietly become the biggest beneficiary of one of the government's key rescue programs for banks. At the same time, GE has avoided many of the restrictions facing other financial giants getting help from the government. The company did not initially qualify for the program, under which the government sought to unfreeze credit markets by guaranteeing debt sold by banking firms. But regulators soon loosened the eligibility requirements, in part because of behind-the-scenes appeals from GE. <Source>

Global warming …

General Electric's new environmental push, dubbed "Ecomagination," features a TV commercial showing an elephant so animated by the industrial giant's clean technology he dances to "Singin' in the Rain." GE can claim some fancy footwork, indeed, since its high-profile plan to cut its own greenhouse-gas emissions and boost environmental technology spending, along with similar recent moves by key businesses, has begun to shift the political landscape in favor of action on climate change. Prior to GE's green PR blitz, chief executives of three of the nation's largest utilities also said carbon regulation was inevitable, with proposals ranging from a carbon tax to emissions caps. However, Immelt was careful not to endorse any specific proposal when he said GE would double its investment in technologies that help its customers--including the big utilities--produce fewer emissions. But he frankly admitted the goal was not altruistic, as the company aimed to double its revenue from clean technology to at least $20 billion in 2010. "We think green means green," Immelt said. "This is a time period where environmental improvement is going to lead toward profitability. This is not a hobby to make people feel good." Federal carbon standards, for example, would create more demand for GE technologies in wind power, natural gas turbines, cutting-edge coal gasification, and, most controversial, nuclear power plants.  <Source>

Regulatory approval of  sale of assets to Comcast …

FCC, Justice approve Comcast and NBC joint venture Federal regulators on Tuesday approved Comcast's acquisition of NBC Universal, allowing for a joint venture that puts a vast library of television shows and movies under the control of the nation's biggest cable and broadband Internet service provider. The Justice Department also announced its approval of the deal with conditions aimed at keeping Comcast-NBCU from quashing competition from other networks and Internet providers. In a 4-to-1 vote, the Federal Communications Commission determined the deal was in the nation's public interest and assigned a number of conditions to the venture to ensure that Comcast shares content with cable competitors and gives other networks fair access to its customers. <Source>

Personal Payback?

The Los Angeles Times is reporting …

“Obama names GE's Jeffrey Immelt to new economic advisory board”

“President Obama used a visit to a GE plant in upstate New York to outline a new mission for his economic team, a shift from economic rescue into ‘overdrive’ spurred in part by a ramping up of American exports.”

“The event at the birthplace of GE also served as the introduction of the company's CEO, Jeffrey Immelt, as the leader of Obama's new Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. It will replace the Economic Recovery Advisory Board he created two years ago after taking office.”

As with Obama and his Administration, it is all about re-branding failed initiatives. To remove references that might be used to highlight the Administration’s significant failure to govern and to serve as a convenience way to shift the blame to “those guys over there.”

Personal Re-branding: camouflage for when Obama leaves office?

While Ronald Reagan had a substantial relationship with General Electric …

“From 1954 to 1962, Ronald Reagan served as host of a popular Sunday evening television program called General Electric Theater. During that time he also spent ten weeks each year traveling the country as GE's roving ambassador. By the time the show concluded its eight-year run, Ronald Reagan, by his own account, had visited 139 GE research and manufacturing facilities. He walked the plant floors, toured offices and met over 250,000 individual employees, honing his renowned communications skills and leaving a unique legacy that continues to inspire our company today. <Source>

it galls me to see that …

Jeffrey Immelt is significantly involved in celebrating the life of a person who is denigrated at every term by the marxist-influenced democrat party and specifically by the Marxist-in-Chief, President Obama.

“The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation will host a series of events to honor the life and legacy of President Ronald Reagan over his centennial birthday weekend.” February 5: Concert for America – a Tribute to Ronald Reagan Event Location: The Air Force One Pavilion at the Reagan Library Event Time:  7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation is hosting a concert comprised of live music and in-person and video tributes from world leaders and prominent individuals whose lives were impacted by the legacy of President Reagan.” Live Tribute by: Jeff Immelt February 6: Official Birthday Celebration for Ronald Wilson Reagan 9:20 a.m. – Foundations of a Great Communicator Gallery Ribbon Cutting with GE -- Remarks by Jeffrey Immelt Birthday Program Ceremony from 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. to include remarks by Jeffrey Immelt

Bottom line …

While I can understand a corporation playing to the Administration to insure its immediate financial future, I find it personally disgusting that a Chief Executive Officer of an American Corporation who openly and wholeheartedly supported the most marxist of democrats is trying to position himself as something other than a marxist sympathizer.

I miss Jack Welch and his honest observations and no-nonsense policies …

While guest hosting Wednesday’s "Morning Joe", former General Electric CEO Jack Welch condemned global warming, the very theory MSNBC has been peddling for years. GE, of course, owns MSNBC; the rebuke of MSNBC’s favorite alarmist hypothesis came in a segment where hosts share noteworthy editorials. Welch decided to share an opinion piece from Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal aptly titled "Global Warming As Mass Neurosis." Welch informed the audience that the article has "a lot of technical numbers here to show you that NASA overstated what's happening." Welch summarized the article by saying "And they got an argument that states that global warming is the attack on capitalism that socialism couldn't bring.” To read more of this fascinating story … <Source>

But most of all, I miss “honest brokers” in industry and government that tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

-- steve

Reference Links:

Jeffrey Immelt: Obama names GE's Jeffrey Immelt to new advisory board - latimes.com