A Dancing Elephant No More
At the New York Post, Fox Business correspondent Charles Gasparino reports that President Barack Obama has lost the support of the man he appointed to lead his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt.
When Immelt agreed to lead the council after the midterm elections, the press corps fired off a round of stories about how Obama had mended fences with business leaders.
At the time, Immelt seemed the perfect choice for the role. “The government has moved in next door, and it ain’t leaving,” he had informed his fellow business leaders in 2009. While registered as a Republican, Immelt decided to be a good neighbor. After all, good neighbors make good business partners, especially when Uncle Sam down the street is betting on a green energy revolution.
But unlike the cute dancing elephant in GE commercials, Immelt apparently is dancing for Obama no more. Here is a taste of Gasparino’s article:
Friends describe Immelt as privately dismayed that, even after three years on the job, President Obama hasn’t moved to the center, but instead further left. The GE CEO, I’m told, is appalled by everything from the president’s 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, “Jeff thought he could make a difference, and now realizes he couldn’t.”
Immelt’s 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.
If the story checks out – Gasparino received a strong denial from GE – it would be the latest evidence that Obama’s “reset” with the business community lasted even less than time than his reset with Russia.
In December, Obama traveled to Osawatomie, Kansas, where he encouraged comparisons between his campaign and Theodore Roosevelt’s radically anti-business New Nationalism platform. The next month, White House Chief of Staff William Daley, whose appointment one year earlier signaled the administration’s new commitment to business, showed himself the door.
The story of Obama’s failed outreach provides a lesson in how government can best serve business – not by moving next door but by moving off the block. No one should ever look to Uncle Sam for a cup of sugar.
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Comments:
Jun '10
Re: A Dancing Elephant No More
What an idiot. He expected Barack Obama to change? Obama hasn't had any new ideas since he was a college freshman.
Jul '11
Re: A Dancing Elephant No More
Immelt has one chance to redeem his crony teat slurping hide. Stand up and deny Obama. Privately doing anything after being a public stooge is the refuge of a coward more concerned with reaping his federal largesse than the salvation of our country. Shame on him.
Mar '11
Re: A Dancing Elephant No More
Well, I guess he is only one of millions who didn't believe Mr Obama is a, err, man of the left - quelle surprise!
Edited on March 21, 2012 at 6:27pmMar '11
Re: A Dancing Elephant No More
I wouldn't ride Immelt too hard. A big chunk of GE's business is selling stuff to the government. He really couldn't afford to annoy a customer that large. Plus, around the time Obama asked him, GE was waiting for approval from the FCC and the DOJ for a deal that would let them unload NBC Universal to Comcast. Obama's FCC. Obama's DOJ. So it is not like Immelt was entirely free to turn this down, at least not without Chicago-style consequences.
Sometimes it's pay to play, and sometimes its play to get paid.
Re: A Dancing Elephant No More
Percival, I agree with you. It's the government's fault -- not GE's -- for blurring the line between the public and private sector. What do others think?
Percival: I wouldn't ride Immelt too hard. A big chunk of GE's business is selling stuff to the government. He really couldn't afford to annoy a customer that large. Plus, around the time Obama asked him, GE was waiting for approval from the FCC and the DOJ for a deal that would let them unload NBC Universal to Comcast. Obama's FCC. Obama's DOJ. So it is not like Immelt was entirely free to turn this down, at least not without Chicago-style consequences.
Sometimes it's pay to play, and sometimes its play to get paid. · 42 minutes ago
Jul '11
Re: A Dancing Elephant No More
Jonathan Horn, Guest Contributor: Percival, I agree with you. It's the government's fault -- not GE's -- for blurring the line between the public and private sector. What do others think?
Percival: I wouldn't ride Immelt too hard. A big chunk of GE's business is selling stuff to the government. He really couldn't afford to annoy a customer that large. Plus, around the time Obama asked him, GE was waiting for approval from the FCC and the DOJ for a deal that would let them unload NBC Universal to Comcast. Obama's FCC. Obama's DOJ. So it is not like Immelt was entirely free to turn this down, at least not without Chicago-style consequences.
Sometimes it's pay to play, and sometimes its play to get paid. · 42 minutes ago
2 minutes ago
Who is John Galt?
May '10
Re: A Dancing Elephant No More
I think that those who cooperate with tyranny deserve it.
May '10
Re: A Dancing Elephant No More
In business, Survival is the Prime Directive. Just as in politics, Winning is the Prime Directive. If you don't fulfill the Prime Directive, nothing else matters.
Apr '11
Re: A Dancing Elephant No More
I feel that it is important to welcome converts. Anyone abandoning our opposition's cause should be treated with gratitude. Telling them that they shall be friendless if they abandon the friends they have is not a technique that incentivizes disloyalty amongst those we desire it in. Even if he does nothing for us, his ceasing to work against us is good.
It seems worth noting, incidentally, that Immelt is a classic example of one of Romney's electoral virtues; those who resemble Immelt and are tiring of Obama will be more difficult to scare back into service with Romney as the nominee than with other candidates.
Jul '10
Re: A Dancing Elephant No More
Immelt is tasting the bitter fruit of one of the president's favorite tactics. President Obama makes big noises about wanting to hear from all sides, particularly from those who disagree with him. He invites his critics to meet with him (anyone remember the Obama-Cons?). He sits with furrowed brow, chin in hand, nodding thoughtfully, looking for all the world as though he is ready to be persuaded. Meeting over, he pursues whatever policy he was inclined to pursue in the first place, just as though the meeting never took place.
He gets credit for being "open to persuasion" (a compliant media sees to that) without ever changing his position on anything. Because of course he never has any intention of changing his position; the meetings are just a puppet show. Shame on Immelt and the rest of the puppets who fall for it.
Jul '11
Re: A Dancing Elephant No More
James of England, Immelt made a pact with an evil man and now objects to being used. I get your point about being welcoming anyone to the big conservative tent. I feel, however, he has a responsibility to do something at least more than remaining quiet considering the role he has played in deluding the American public about this horrible president. I am sure there are many stooges ready to take his place and darn few with the guts to stand up and tell the truth.
Edited on March 22, 2012 at 5:27am