GE’s Immelt Advises Obama On Jobs Yet Ships Jobs to China

President Obama has done a remarkable job of failing to run the executive branch of government in an efficient manner. In particular, Obama has surrounded himself with bad advisors and has been slow to remove them. This is one of the problems with electing a Senator, especially one with no private sector experience. The lack of executive management means Obama doesn’t know how to judge advisors and he doesn’t know  how to place the right advisors in the right roles. It’s been clear to just about everyone that the Treasury Secretary has done a poor job, yet he remains in office. There are countless other examples.

One glaring example is Jeffrey Immelt. Immelt is the CEO of General Electric and he heads up Obama’s panel on US Jobs and Competitiveness. It just came out this week that GE is going to partner with China to produce a commercial airliner that will rival Boeing. How exactly can Immelt advise Obama on American jobs and competitiveness when he’s actively joining with the Chinese to go into direct competition with Boeing? Surely competition with Boeing isn’t going to be good for American jobs.

It’s worse than that though. Last year GE recorded record profits in the billions. Yet they paid no Federal income tax. Boeing has attempted to make themselves more competitive by building a manufacturing facility in South Carolina. The Obama administration actively opposed this move and is forcing Boeing to build the facility in Washington state. At first glance it appears that Obama is aiding his union pals, as the South Carolina facility would be a right to work plant while Washington would have a forced union plant. But on second glance one wonders if he isn’t aiding his advisor’s new venture in China.

Immelt has no business in the White House advising President Obama. Immelt’s presence is a conflict of interest in many different ways. Keep in mind, GE owns a substantial portion of NBC, which has been the biggest cheerleader for the Obama administration. Couple that with GE’s failure to pay income taxes (and the subsequent lack of auditing by the IRS) and the company’s venture with China which threatens US jobs at Boeing and one wonders how Immelt can properly advise Obama on much of anything.

Yet Immelt remains in the White House, advising the President. He remains the head of Obama’s panel on US Jobs and Competitiveness, even though his company has shipped jobs overseas and seeks to aid a Chinese aviation company go into direct competition with American Boeing. Surely this sort of nonsense isn’t going to be part of Obama’s grand jobs plan that he plans to unveil after his vacation. Or is it?

President Obama has done a stunning job of failing to lead his own administration. Immelt is bad politically for Obama at this point, even though the media (particularly NBC) has been silent about the deal. News is trickling out and it isn’t good for Obama’s administration. There are a number of advisors and cabinet members who are liabilities for Obama, yet they remain in place. Obama is slow to move, slow to recognize that he isn’t getting good advice.

This is why the country doesn’t usually elect Senators with no private or public executive experience. Senators don’t do anything but control their fiefdom of 15-20 staffers. That’s a far cry from running the entire executive branch of a state or the Federal government. It’s a far cry from running a business. All those people who thought Obama was so smart, who thought he would be the best President ever failed to recognize that being President isn’t all about having a few political positions. It’s about managing the White House and the executive branch of the Federal government. Obama’s credentials were poor going into his administration. Immelt’s continued presence in the administration shows Obama’s poor credentials at work.