Senator Sanders: Obama's jobs panel head closed 25 U.S. plants and outsourced thousands of jobs.

[Better Believe It]

News Release:
Sanders Hopes Immelt Focuses on U.S. Jobs
January 21, 2011


WINDSOR, Vt., Jan. 21 - President Obama today named Jeffrey R. Immelt, chairman and chief executive of General Electric, to lead the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.

The GE chairman has been outspoken about job growth - not in the United States but in China. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) hoped the appointment means Immelt has reformed his thinking.

"I hope he changes his mind and focuses on rebuilding the manufacturing sector here in the United States, not in China, and in the process creates millions of good-paying jobs," Sanders said during a visit to this once-thriving industrial community in Vermont's Connecticut River Valley.

"For the sake of our manufacturing sector and the collapsing middle class, let's hope that Mr. Immelt's appointment by President Obama indicates a transformation in his thinking," Sanders added. "It is time for GE and other large and profitable corporations to start investing in America again."

Since 2009, General Electric has closed more than 25 manufacturing plants in the United States and slashed thousands of jobs, according to the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America. GE now employs more workers overseas than it does in the United States. While GE has laid off at least 10,000 workers in the United States, it has created more than 30,000 jobs in India over the past decade.

In a Senate floor speech last month, Sanders discussed the disappearance of manufacturing jobs in the United States. During the 8 ½ hour speech, the senator cited a statement by Immelt at an investors' meeting on Dec. 6, 2002. Said Immelt: "When I am talking to GE managers, I talk China, China, China, China, China. You need to be there. You need to change the way people talk about it and how they get there. I am a nut on China. Outsourcing from China is going to grow to $5 billion. We are building a tech center in China. Every discussion today has to center on China. The cost basis is extremely attractive."

Immelt's views were consistent with those of his predecessors at GE. Former CEO Jack Welch spoke in 2000 of the company's search for cheap labor: "Ideally, we'd have every plant we own on a barge." And Frank Doyle, a former GE executive vice president, was unusually blunt in a 1995 interview when he told Business Week magazine about the company's workforce policies: "We did a lot of violence to the expectations of the American workforce....We downsized. We delayered. And we outsourced."

http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=34f4b721-60c6-4c18-b0ab-99baf5733dba


-------------------------------------------

GE Promotes Manufacturing Jobs in US, Then Ships 'em Overseas
By Mike Elk
Campaign for America's Future
July 21, 2009

Jeffery Immelt, the CEO of General Electric, has led the outsourcing charge in the past. So commentators were shocked last month when, speaking at the Detroit Economic Club, Immelt said that the United States needs to invest in American manufacturing in order to get out of our current economic crisis.

While Immelt was calling for manufacturing to stay in the U.S., his company was at the same time shipping manufacturing jobs overseas by canceling an order with an American-based wind turbine maker, ATI Casting Service in LaPorte, Ind., so that GE could instead buy the parts from a factory in China.

Recently, ATI made $30 million worth of investments to buy, convert, and modernize a shuttered factory in economically ravaged Michigan so the company could provide more parts to GE as the green economy expands with federal stimulus funding. But a Chinese firm underbid ATI, and the factory faced having to lay off 302 union workers and shutter the plant.

In an aggressive bid to keep the factory open, ATI offered to match the price of the Chinese producers. GE once again said they would prefer to buy from China. The ATI plant is now closed, the jobs gone.

Read the full article at:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-elk/ge-promotes-manufacturing_b_241944.html


-------------------------------------------


In 'reboot,' Obama names GE's Immelt to head new jobs panel
Board replaces one that had been chaired by former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker
NBC, msnbc.com and news services
January 21, 2011

President Barack Obama is restructuring his economic advisory board to place an emphasis on job creation, and he is naming General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt as its new head.

The new board, called the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, will replace the former Economic Recovery Advisory Board that had been chaired by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. Volcker has said he was ending his tenure on the panel when its mandate expires on Feb. 6.

Immelt, a member of the board of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, has been a frequent visitor to the White House and attended a CEOs meeting with Obama and visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday.

So his appointment adds another corporate insider to the White House orbit, underscoring the White House's efforts to build stronger ties to the business community. Earlier this month, Obama named former commerce secretary and JPMorgan Chase executive William Daley as chief of staff.

Immelt has been a White House ally since the start of Obama's presidency, though his political contributions tend to be bipartisan and he financially supported Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republicans John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney during the 2008 presidential elections.

Read the full article at:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41186668/ns/business

[RKP5637]

1. Recommend!!! n/t

[onpatrol98]

69. Immelt is a nod...

Immelt is a nod to China. It's really as if he was handpicked by the Chinese.

[SharonAnn]

134. Not thousands. Tens of thousands. Hujndreds of thousands.

[hedgehog]

2. "only Nixon could go to China"?

:hide:

[golddigger]

3. Fukitol. At the point of being done with it all.

[Echotrail]

37. At least he's not from Goldman Sachs!

It would have been great to choose a leader who actually cares about the shrinking American middle class, not one who helped create it.

But I guess that would have been out of character. Kick 'em while they're down.

[Fuddnik]

43. That's his next job.

All in the family.

[molly77]

54. Or rather the Corporate States of America

chose Jeffrey Immelt. Obama's job is to make speeches and smile at his wife and daughter.It's the system that is the problem.Blaming one person is not realistic. Maybe early 20th century the president had some power but not any more. Jimmy Carter stated that when he was in office it took him about a year to figure out that his opinion did not matter.

[davidwparker]

115. +1

[aquart]

129. Obama has all the power Bush swiped plus the precedent of being unimpeachable.

Me, I think he could do something with that.

[RKP5637]

143. Presidents are window dressing for the masses. The "real" power and wealth

carries on administration after administration on their greedy agenda well hidden for the most part in the shadows unbeknown to the masses.

[cui bono]

153. Is that Carter statement in print or video anywhere?

Thom Hartmann has said on his show that when Clinton took office Greenspan sat him down and told him how things really work there and that's why Clinton campaigned as a progressive then governed as a moderate at best. I haven't been able to find that one anywhere.

Would love to know more about this. And would love to know why someone doesn't step up and speak out about it more fully. If this is true it needs to be shouted out no matter what the danger is to the person doing the shouting. If I were president I would hold a live news conference and say what was going on and who's really running the show. It's too important not to, no matter what the cost to one's self.

I keep wondering if it's promises or threats that make Obama keep moving to the right and appointing all these corporatists into key positions. Or maybe he's just content knowing no matter what he does he's going to have a lifetime pension and be making plenty of money on speaking engagements and books when he retires.

[DeSwiss]

161. When the President.....

...doesn't even have the highest security clearance of the security apparatus which he's legally responsible for overseeing -- well that should tell you all you need to know.

[defendandprotect]

178. +1

[Jackpine Radical]

4. I think Obama just added another layer of complexity

to that n-dimensional chess game he's playing. I know I'm dumb, but unless we're planning to annex China and thereby inherit all those new jobs (which the Chinese may resist), I don't see how bringing Immelt on board is going to help matters much,

[WCGreen]

5. He's up there in the high number range....

[valerief]

6. It'll help the wealthy. It won't help us. We'll be Somalia in ten years. nt

[Jackpine Radical]

8. Ya know, we have a lot of Somali refugees in communities

near here.

I wonder how long it will take before they start applying to go home in order to improve their economic chances. Maybe we should go with, if they'll have us.

[gtar100]

28. No need to go to anywhere. You can have it all here.

If we offer our labor for $0.57 an hour, I'm sure there are plenty of republicans who will salivate at the opportunity to pay that.

Oh wait, there's that pesky job-killing law called minimum wage. Well no need to worry, the republicans have that on their hate list as well.

Ah heck, I say we stay here and give the fascists another run for their money. They suck and they know it, which is why they have to shell out big bucks for political influence, buy their way into public office, cheat in the elections, hold the media hostage, force-feed propaganda on us day and night, and create think tanks to spew out lies that sound like liberal and progressive ideas but are not. They are hollow. Their bluster is full of cowardice and fear, and ignorance is what they bank on. Let's not give it to them.

[guyton]

121. what good are minimum wage laws ...

... when companies can just outsource to the lowest paid slave labor?

Minimum wage laws aren't that useful without strong trade policies.

[gtar100]

169. I agree but we should never abandon them. They are one of the

great achievements of liberals in American in the 20th century. We aren't done until all countries and all people of this world are protected by minimum wage laws. Republicans may want to dismantle them, but that's because they are stupid, short-sighted and selfish. Is that the kind of person we want to give up to?

[bertman]

32. He said "n-dimensional chess game". Hehn hehn. Love that one, JR.

[Enthusiast]

57. The Sunday AM talk shows will

praise the choice.

[decidedlyso]

73. It won't. It will do just the opposite. Why was Immelt given that

job? It staggers the mind.

[Better Believe It]

7. In his address Obama will be talking about jobs creation that will be led by a top job destroyer.

And we're expected to take President Obama's comments about job creation seriously.

[Jackpine Radical]

10. That's a false canard. Immelt has created thousands of jobs

in China.

[Better Believe It]

11. And also created 30,000 jobs in India!

[quickesst]

15. Too bad...

....the same people griping about sending jobs overseas at lower wages don't gripe as much when those same people come here and take jobs at much lower pay-grades. But then, I'd be called racist. Nice logic. Thanks.
quickesst

[RufusTFirefly]

47. Either the President is being held hostage by the corporatists, or else...

...he is one of them.

Try as I may, I can't think of another option.

[kath]

49. Sadly, there is no other option.

[Enthusiast]

59. He is one of them.

Might as well accept it. It took me a long time. It's called denial.

[davidwparker]

116. He's one of them.

Wouldn't it be funny if the (R) presidential nominee is to the left of Obama?

[Lorien]

146. Wouldn't take much. Reagan was. nt

[RufusTFirefly]

126. That certainly seems like the most logical explanation, although there's always Bill Hicks

"I have this feeling that whoever's elected president, like Clinton was, no matter what promises you make on the campaign trail - blah, blah, blah - when you win, you go into this smoky room with the twelve industrialist, capitalist scumfucks that got you in there, and this little screen comes down... and it's a shot of the Kennedy assassination from an angle you've never seen before, which looks suspiciously off the grassy knoll.... And then the screen comes up, the lights come on, and they say to the new president, 'Any questions?'"

"Just what my agenda is."

[SammyWinstonJack]

165. My vote, He IS one of them.

x(

[Enthusiast]

58. We might be expected to

but I will never believe another word he says.

[Brickbat]

9. I hope people aren't waiting for the end game of that amazingly complex and awesome chess game that

Obama's been putting into place over the last couple years. With groundwork like this, the end game is going to be very ugly for the vast majority of this nation.

[Better Believe It]

12. I hate to say this but maybe Obama doesn't play chess and is just following his marching orders

from corporate America and Wall Street.

Is that even possible?

[Jackpine Radical]

13. Naaaaah, no way.

[Enthusiast]

60. No! He wouldn't do that!

A liberal would never do that.

[BlueJac]

72. Obama is no liberal..........

Liar might be a good name for him

[Enthusiast]

78. Yup..........nt

[Brickbat]

14. I think it's a lot more likely than the lovely chess game so many have been hyping.

[liberation]

51. He could very well be playing chess

After all, in Chess the peons are usually the first ones to go in order to protect the "important" pieces. So....

[Jackpine Radical]

98. Woof. Devastating!

Sacrificing the pawns. Yes!

[notesdev]

19. There's a name for this opening

"Fool's Mate"

[Angry Dragon]

16. As long as the big boys have theri jobs, that is all that matters

to hell with the American workers
There are no more American corps
Have to think global or you are considered un-American

[notesdev]

17. Who's the rocket surgeon who came up with this idea?

Immelt as head of job creation policy? Really?

Couldn't we at least get something that's on the fairer side of cruelly perverse? Don't we deserve that much?

[Enthusiast]

61. No one on the M$M will question

this choice. Now that KO is out of the way.

[cantbeserious]

18. Why Bother Waking Up With A President That Has Swung So Far Right

Hi All,

Is it really worth our time fighting (influencing) a President that blatantly pursues advice from a man that is an avowed enemy of labor, working people, and the middle class.

The answer for me is no!

[emilyg]

21. Welcome to DU.

[Sherman A1]

48. Precisely

Welcome.. I am pretty much done with my support for this administration.

[Enthusiast]

63. I agree.

To me there is no reason to petition Obama, it doesn't work. Welcome to the DU.

[Jackpine Radical]

101. I think we need to strengthen those roots--

labor, working people, and the middle class.

Suddenly there are little groups of pissed-off progressives forming everywhere. I'm in 2 of them myself. I'm encouraging us to start on the local level, taking over town boards, city councils, county boards, school boards--all those little local governmental units that are beneath the radar of the Corporate Machine. It's damned surprising how much those local government bodies actually have to do with what happens to you. The county allocates funds for things like roads, health care for the poor, etc. & are generally more interested in paving the road outside the local corpo-CEO's house than they are in seeing to it that some poor person gets medical attention. Time to turn that around. And those little local campaigns are the spawning grounds of a new generation of progressive politicians. State legislators often come out of county boards and school boards, etc. & Congresspeople come out of state legislatures.

[ProSense]

20. "Sanders Hopes Immelt Focuses on U.S. Jobs"

Agree. Outsourcing certainly will not bring down the number of umemployed Americans.

It'll take 1.5 million jobs to keep pace and at least 2 million to make a dent this year. So we'll see.

[rhett o rick]

38. Unbe-fucking-believeable. One more corporitist appointed by Obama. And you say, we'll see. nm

[Name removed]

65. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Jackpine Radical]

106. Unfortunately, "certain people" won't see.

[ProSense]

154. Damn right we'll see.

If he doesn't create any jobs and the U.S. economy falls into depression, you can say you were fucking right.

[Major Hogwash]

62. " . . . former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker . . . "

He was at the Fed when President Carter was in the White House.
He screwed Carter by refusing to lower the prime interest rate, the rate that the Fed would charge other banks for loans, which caused the money supply to tighten up in 1979.

Much like what is going on now.

[Better Believe It]

22. GE's Main Man Gets the President's Ear

GE's Main Man Gets the President's Ear
by Kent Hoover
January 21, 2011

President Barack Obama’s embrace of corporate America continued today with the announcement that General Electric Co. CEO Jeff Immelt will chair the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.

GE doesn’t have a problem with big government. It not only is a major federal contractor, its GE Capital subsidiary benefited from government backing of its debt during the financial crisis. Immelt also supported Obama in his unsuccessful push for legislation to cap carbon emissions.

The council itself “is a promising step toward a renewed focus on creating jobs, boosting economic growth and enhancing America’s global competitiveness,” said Tom Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Immelt is a good choice to lead it because of his business experience and “understanding of global markets,” Donohue said.

“As a business leader, Immelt understands first-hand what it means to grow a business and create jobs,” said John Engler, president of the Business Roundtable, an association of big-business CEOs, including Immelt.



President Barack Obama applauds as GE chief Jeff Immelt speaks at a GE plant in Schenectady, New York.

Read the full article at:

http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/capital/2011/01/21/obama-taps-immelt-as-outside-economic-adviser#

[Enthusiast]

66. global competitiveness = workers fucked nt

[MattSh]

94. Oh my!

GE still has a plant in Schenectady NY? What do they make there? Photo ops?

[Dappleganger]

23. So what is this chess move called?

[bvar22]

31. It is standard Chess.

...sacrifice the Pawns (Working Class) to protect the Royalty (Ownership Class).
...Sucks if you are a Pawn.

Obama plays this game well,
and seemingly has no reservations about sacrificing the Pawns.



All Hail the Invisible Hand!!

[Jakes Progress]

44. +1000 Absolutely perfect description of what is happening.

[davidwparker]

117. +1

[Catherina]

163. Candyland n/t

[Better Believe It]

24. "naming one of the country's leading oursourcers as your chief guy on jobs wasn't the smartest move"

Manufacturing Alliance Chief: Obama Turning to ‘One of Country’s Leading Outsourcers’ in Immelt
ABC News’ Rick Klein reports:
January 21, 2011

President Obama’s naming of General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt to a new post focused on creating US jobs has drawn cheers from the corporate community, and appears to reflects a change in tone from the White House with regard to big business.

But the head of a leading manufacturing association told us on ABC’s “Top Line” that the president’s choice sends the wrong message to many of those who are currently out of work – who happen to be some of the same voters the president needs to win back.

“He could have done worse, but he certainly could have done a lot better,” Scott Paul, executive director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, told us.

“I mean, Immelt has outsourced a ton of jobs. They've closed -- GE has closed 29 factories in the last two years alone. And if you're trying to send a signal to those white, working-class voters that left the Democratic Party in droves in November, naming one of the country’s leading outsourcers as your chief strategy guy on jobs -- I don't think was the smartest move.”

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/01/manufacturing-alliance-chief-obama-turning-to-one-of-countrys-leading-outsourcers-in-immelt.html

[madrchsod]

26. smart move for barack...it`s all about campaign money.

[dflprincess]

36. I think it has more to do with how well he expects to be rewarded after he leave office

whether it's 4 or 8 years.

Look how well Clinton has done.

[SammyWinstonJack]

166. +1000!

[BobbyBoring]

114. Nor was

keeping war mongering Gates in office, putting Larry Summers around money, etc. Keep the change~

[StarsInHerHair]

174. CEOs should be barred from holding any Public Office for 5 years after they

leave their CEO perch, after 5 years ok. Should also work in reverse, politicians cannot slide into executive positions until 5 years.

[gtar100]

25. WTF! Jeez, I want to like Obama, I really do. But with appointments like this

I just feel disappointed. What a shame and what a waste. He talked about jobs for Americans *a lot* during his campaign but this move tells me he's not serious about it.

He's too insulated where he is now. In fact, all these CEOs and investors are too insulated from the effects of their decisions. I assume they could really give a shit about the totality of life and the environment they live in. They appear to be content to be rich in a poor country. No vision, no integrity. Simply asinine.

[OhioChick]

27. Rec n/t

[Octafish]

29. This guy gives Jack Welch a good name.

Upper class Twit of the Year stalwarts, these chums. Certainly liked golf.



Thank you, Better Believe It. Outstanding post and thread, in every way.

[old mark]

30. K&R- several years ago, we bought a large GE air conditioner, thinking it would be good quality...

it turned out to have been made in China. We had to assemble the thing by sliding the works into the case, and it never worked well. We threw it away. Something tells me this might not be the guy we really needed to find real jobs for US workers...unless they are going to ship the unemployed to China...
I suppose there are NO liberals left in Washington at all.

mark

[MasonJar]

33. And this is a surprise after Rahm and all!

[bertman]

34. Maybe Immelt's been Born Again as an American instead of a Corporatist.

[Kurovski]

35. K&R. (nt)

[placton]

39. from Mr. Obama's viewpoint

he has, once again, picked the perfect man for the job (a real job killer)!

[Better Believe It]

40. Should GE's Jeffrey Immelt Really Be Leading Our Job Creation Strategy?

Should GE's Jeffrey Immelt Really Be Leading Our Job Creation Strategy?
By Scott Paul
Executive Director, Alliance for American Manufacturing
January 21, 2011

There is no swifter way to alienate working class voters than to name an outsourcing CEO to lead your jobs strategy. Yet that's exactly what President Obama is doing.

General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt has fooled the media and the White House into believing that he cares about American manufacturing jobs. I have a hard time imagining a worse pick, unless Obama would have tapped Immelt's predecessor Jack Welch, who seemed fine with the idea of putting factories on barges in search of the lowest wages in the world.

Let's look at GE's jobs record. You would have difficulty finding a company that has outsourced more jobs and closed more American factories than GE. While they have slashed their American workforce to fewer than 150,000, GE has dramatically expanded its global presence, now employing over 300,000 workers worldwide. Yes, GE has brought a trickle of jobs back to the U.S. over the past two years, but it still outsources more than it insources. And those executives at GE are not clueless--they realize the value of good publicity as it announces new hires at a time like this. But they do not devote nearly the same amount of publicity to their factory closings.

Read the full article at:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-paul/should-ges-jeffrey-immelt_b_812132.html

[radhika]

41. He was brought in to save ONE job - Obama's n/t

[BlueIris]

131. Superman couldn't save that job. nt

[Jakes Progress]

42. Ah. Feel the change.

Face it everyone. We've been had. No one likes to be on the losing end of a scam, but part of the recovery is admitting your problem. We were gullible, and we got taken.

[MissDeeds]

87. And yet we are supposed to support him

We dare not mention a primary challenger or supporting another candidate who supports labor for fear of getting deleted or TSd. A Democratic president has to govern as a Democrat.

[Jakes Progress]

138. Blindly.

After all it worked so well for the republicans. Now we are to act like republicans.

[defendandprotect]

45. What would we do without Bernie Sanders ...? Can we clone him a 100X???

[McCamy Taylor]

46. Can we stop inserting the name "Obama" in titles of stories like these?

They create the impression that he only does bad things. There is an implied subliminal here that Obama did the outsourcing. Even though that is not what is said the eye sees "Obama" and "outsource" together and they get linked. How about just "New Head of Job Council Outsourced..."

[Fuddnik]

50. OK, lets pretend Bush appointed Immelt.

It wouldn't be true, but it would make people feel better.

The story is about the APPOINTEE's record. Somebody appointed him.

[liberation]

52. Wow just wow...

Do you understand the ultimate consequences of what you are proposing?

[tomp]

68. that's ridiculous. are you drunk? 'cause i know you're smarter than that.

"obama's financial advisors responsible for economic catastrophe we are now facing".

same thing: true statement, needs to be said.

why are you trying to protect our trojan-horse-in-chief?

[BlueJac]

74. Have you been sleeping the last two years.......

Bush III is running things now in the WH

[decidedlyso]

76. Ah, yes, hot fudge on rabbit turds.

[golddigger]

85. Huh? Obama inserted the name "Obama" when he

appointed him.

[Forkboy]

103. Oy vey.

[neverforget]

122. wha?

:banghead:

[Autumn]

160. Your post really surprises me

But to answer your question. If it was my post I wouldn't,Obama appointed him. Would you want that done if Bush had done this? I don't think so

[DeSwiss]

162. That would be like.....

...sugarcoating the turd Obama just laid before "his base." I used quotes around the words "his base" for its comedic value. Because everyone knows or at least should know by now that we ain't his base.

Well, we are "his base" on election day.

But. Only. On. That. One. Day.

- Only Bankers, CEO's and the utterly clueless hold the title of "his base" now......

[inna]

171. well said.

[StarsInHerHair]

175. I know and how different from 1 year ago......it's stunning and truly awful

trojan horse-in-chief indeed

[inna]

172. un-f*cking-believable.

:wow:

:wtf:

[indimuse]

53. people need to wake up!! n/t

[Ilsa]

55. At this point, I'm not likely to lift a finger to help Obama save his own job.

I volunteered in the last campaign. I really don't feel like doing that for him and Biden any more.

[Enthusiast]

56. Another bad actor appointed by Obama.

Imagine that. This is becoming sort of a trend. :rofl:

[xchrom]

64. recommend

[Vinca]

67. In my mind, this seals the deal. Obama doesn't care whether jobs

are outsourced or not. They (corporate overlords) have convinced him the solution to our problem is increased trade to other countries. They forgot to mention that all we have to trade is raw materials - what's left of them - and that doesn't provide many good-paying jobs. He could not have picked anyone worse than Immelt.

[dotymed]

70. I have had this daydream.....

Pro-corporatist(?) President Obama is re-elected. Not long after, possibly at one of his public forays (if they don't use a "body double"), he pleads (publicly) for asylum. After he is given this by a local jurisdiction (if he is not gunned down by the secret service) he tells America about the real powers that run our world and how if he refused to follow their orders he and his families lives would have been in jeopardy.
Eventually, these corporate masters and their minions are arrested and President Obama serves out the rest of his term as a real Progressive......oh well, we can always dream.
Realistically though, I think things would be much better if FDR had prosecuted the corporate masters that hired Smedley Butler to commit a coup de tat in America.
BTW, why aren't our children taught about this in our public schools?

[socialist_n_TN]

77. Actually, I've had night dreams (nightmares?)...........

about Biden and Obama both resigning (under duress?) and Boenher becoming POTUS. He is third in line after all. Then all they would have to do is switch 3 or 4 Dem votes in the Senate, which would be pretty easy to do with threats or bribery and voila! They've got the whole enchilada without that messy process of an election.

[bvar22]

88. They already have the whole enchilada.

Aside from some minor Kabuki Theater Democratic "victories",
Big Business & The Ownership Class has gotten everything they could wish for from the Obama Administration.
In some cases, the "Centrist Democrats" have given The Ownership Class MORE than the Republicans could have ever gotten away with.

No need to change anything.

Anyone remember when Campaign Obama promised to renegotiate NAFTA?
LOL


"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans. I want us to compete for that great mass of voters that want a party that will stand up for working Americans, family farmers, and people who haven't felt the benefits of the economic upturn."---Paul Wellstone


"By their works you will know them."

[socialist_n_TN]

90. Yeah, but it would be official then............

:) BTW, this was an ACTUAL nightmare I had last night. It's funny. Things MUST be getting pretty bad. I've NEVER had dreams about politics before and I've had two in the last week.

Edited to add a thought.

[Lorien]

145. Exactly. nt

[snagglepuss]

184. "Big Business & The Ownership Class has gotten everything they could wish

for from the Obama Admin" That is the clincher. What else has to be said?

[Flora]

71. I just wish

that the debt collector jobs would stay here in the United States. It's a slap in the face to have lost a job and then receive calls from overseas about late payments...

[MissDeeds]

99. Great post

And welcome to DU.

[RB TexLa]

75. GE is a worldwide company of course their employees are spread over the world

Saying they have more employees outside of one country means nothing. And China is much larger than the US so it stands to reason they would have more employees of a world wide company. Unless you think some countries citizens should be granted some special right to jobs that others aren't why would you not be for balance?

[dotymed]

82. Free Trade is the best idea ever

:sarcasm:

[RB TexLa]

84. Actually, trade restrictions are the worst idea ever.

[dotymed]

95. "Trade Restrictions", like Fair Trade?

Where the workers of the world are guaranteed a level playing field? Without that, just as is presently happening, the wages, benefits and ultimately the jobs, of "1st world workers" will have to plunge to the levels of the sweat shops and forced labor of many of the "3rd world countries."
In Europe, they have embraced "trade restrictions", that level the playing field and allow their workers to compete. Of course their CEO's cant "earn" 4000 times what their average worker earns. They have strong unions, co-ops and worker owned factories. They compete, head to head, with China, India and other low wage nations. Of course the wealthy banksters have been trying, with some success, to end their fair trade practices.
Almost all of the competitive countries like China, etc...have strong trade restrictions that favor their products over ours. Whether these restrictions be hidden in the manipulation of their currency, by artificially keeping it at a low value, or more obvious restrictions, it is obvious to all of them (as it was to Americans, before Reagan started the ball rolling downhill)that unless you have restrictions to protect your citizens lifestyle (Protectionism), you can not compete without lowering, rather than raising, wages to that of your competitor.
Come on, obviously you are putting profits before people (except yourself).

[Saxon]

135. How's 30 years of free trade working out for Americans?

I live in Fresno County Oklafornia. The birth place of freeperville.
The official unemployment rate went from 16.9 in Nov. to 17.2 in Dec..
Of course that doesn't count the people who have run out of unemployment benefits.
They are no longer unemployed.

[Grinchie]

137. You mean like banning Ag Exports because your citizens are Starving?

Like India did in 2008 because they couldn't get enough Lentils?

Or maybe restriction of the diversion of edible oils to the Biofuel industry because the one staple food item in asia skyrockets 300%?

Just wait until you get a load of the current razor thin margin on Corn stocks, and how it will affect the Feed industry for Livestock.

I think you will change your tune very quickly when you start walking around with an emptier stomach.

[baldguy]

79. How many union representitives will be on this board?

[Kweli4Real]

80. I haven't read most ...

of the comments on this thread, but from the few I've read I'm left with the question: What does his record as CEO have to do with his ability to head the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness?

$Certainly people recognize that the two positions have different job descriptions. As CEO it was his job to cut corporate expenses and he did so using the outsourcing model. As the head of the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness job will be to advise the President on how to best reverse that trend.

I personally do not see a problem.

[TheKentuckian]

83. Different position, same kat, same worldview, same influences, same principles, same broad goals,

same loyalties, same associations.

You are advancing a delusion that allows cognitive dissonance to be staved off under the guise of a thinly stretched plausible deniability.

[True_Blue]

176. He's remaining as CEO over GE while filling this position

because it is "not paid by the White House." Sounds kinda like a conflict of interest to me. I guess we'll see where his loyalties lie.

"The White House did not address concerns regarding G.E.'s corporate behavior, but an administration official clarified that Immelt would continue in his current role while serving on the advisory panel, as it is "not paid by the White House."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/21/immelt-appointment-labor-reaction_n_812278.html

[Kweli4Real]

177. Or, ...

We might find that his actions as CEO reflects the job-creation objectives of this adminstration.

Since I do not have a crystal ball, I'll just have to wait and see.

[AzDar]

81. K & R &

:puke:

[treestar]

86. that would mean he understands why it happens

We need people with knowledge to tell us how it happens so we can figure out how to keep jobs here.

You just want revenge on these people. They did what they did for economic reasons. The realities won't go away just by hating these people.

[Better Believe It]

91. I know how and why it happens as do most other DU'ers. And so does President Obama.

He didn't need to appoint the head of GE to figure out why and how big business destroys jobs.

[treestar]

92. What do you propose to do about it then?

I've never seen one suggestion on DU for that. Only hatred against "the corporations" and "the CEOs."

And how can this problem be solved? People won't even talk about it. They just assume Americans are entitled first and get outraged than any other nation gets in on any economic action.

Not a single proposal. And it is a tough question. Tariffs and the like will hurt too. And there is no way to get Americans to spend more for anything they can get cheaper. If that were the case, huge companies could not edge out small ones. We complain when WalMart takes over from the small shopkeeper, but never have a way to counter that. We just blame WalMart. What about the people who chose to go there just because it was cheaper?

Businesspeople deal with that reality. They are just your scapegoat for it.

[Better Believe It]

108. There have been many progressive proposals to jump start the economy and put millions to work.

Surely you have seen them on Democratic Underground if you read posts.

All of them have been rejected out of hand by conservatives and this administration.

And there have been numerous proposals to appoint liberals to top government economic positions and all of them, except one, have been rejected out of hand by conservatives and this administration.

This is all news to you????

[socialist_n_TN]

118. Hell, I've got a suggestion and I've posted it on DU...........

several times. Instead of shoveling money to bankers to bail out their bonuses, why don't we take some of that money and reopen shuttered factories through the unions as worker's co-ops? They could have a couple or so years to be able to compete with the capitalists before they'd start having to pay the low to no interest loans back to the people. This would probably cost LESS than bailing out the bankers and give REAL people jobs for a little breathing space.

This is from a Marxist heretic BTW, although not a professor.

[Raksha]

151. I've thought of that many times, and I'm all for it...

re-opening shuttered factories as workers' co-ops. But someone has to finance a project like that, right? Where would the start-up capital come from? Somehow I can't see a bunch of laid-off workers financing it from their piggy banks.

[socialist_n_TN]

157. Well that's why I said INSTEAD of bailing out............

the banker's bonuses. Also, I mentioned low or no interest government loans. IOW, this would be a REAL positive use of our tax money. And probably cheaper than bailing out the banker bonuses.

Now I know that under the current political setup this scenario would be unlikely. HOWEVER, I'd like to see ideas like this mentioned seriously as an option. Why even mention it if it's nearly impossible? Because I think that the IDEA itself would be wildly popular, deliniate the parties, and pressure the capitalists, so that they MIGHT decide to keep those factories open rather than close them and face competition with the co-ops. This would be ESPECIALLY true for those plants that were closed EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE PROFITABLE. Just not profitable "enough".

[Grinchie]

139. The Earth depends on Diversity, and so does Man.

Unfortunately, the Corporatists want to make the world into an amorphous blob. The Bankers want to turn Money into a one size fits all. The Agribusinesses want treeless, flat, mechanized farming, devoid of birds, insects and everything else that creates an ecosytem. The Government want a collection of mindless worker bees to provide for the monarchy.

They want to simplify everything down to some widget, without realizing that the human body is a set of specialized organs, consisting of Cells that have decided to work together for a common goal. Without the ability to be different, we are setting ourselves up to Global Illness, and we see it in economics, the environment, and health.

When the Globalists win, there will be nowhere to escape, as the whole world will be the same. THe economies will be the same, the foodstuff will be the same. The government will be the same. And all of this leads to a big monocultural mess.

CEO's are not the same as Businesspeople as far as I'm concerned. They don't get into the real world and muck out a chicken coop, sweep the streets, or fix the drainage on the roadways. They are many times removed from what it actually takes to perform real work, and just expect people to do their whim. When labor is demoralized, and at their whits end from debt, insecurity and lack of tenure, the labor just doesn't get done, or if it does, it is substandard and unsatisfactiory.

Thats the reality, and CEO's aren't bothered by that, because they are in the CEO Club, getting paid big bucks to keep the charade going with full knowledge that it's a fraud.

[brentspeak]

100. Perhaps Obama should appoint a convicted serial killer to head his commission on violent crimes

We need people with knowledge to figures these things out for us. Great point, as always.

[Forkboy]

105. ....

:spray:

so much for treestar's "logic".

[treestar]

107. Fail

That's not a good analogy at all.

No, commissions on violent crimes should include people with experience in law enforcement. Real experience, not just people who don't like the system.

Why is there outsourcing and what can be done about it? Some Marxist professor won't do a good job of figuring that out - he just hates the system.

[Better Believe It]

109. Or appoint labor union busters to the National Labor Relations Board to build unions!

That's the ticket!

He hasn't done that, but that makes just as much sense as appointing a job destroyer to a Presidential board to create jobs.

[neverforget]

124. +100

[bvar22]

110. Worst. Argument. Ever.

Put the foxes in charge of the hen house because they know more about stealing chickens.
Brilliant.

[SammyWinstonJack]

167. +1

:evilgrin:

[grahamhgreen]

133. Everyone else understood it then, and now, we just did not do it.

[RoccoR5955]

89. Sanders/Kucinich 2012! n/t

[Jackpine Radical]

96. Well, if you're gonna crash & burn, that would be a classy way to do it.

Not that either of them would make the run, either in a primary or as a 3rd party entry.

[democracy1st]

93. K & R

[gibby2433]

97. I work for GE through a temp agency

I can't speak for the entire corporation but in my town 95% of the workforce at the plant are temp labor. You work for 12 months, are forced to leave for 3, and if they want you you can go back for another year. All of this is strictly temporary. About 5% of the temps get full-time employment at the plant. It's truly a constantly revolving door of temp labor, but the occasional hiring of a half-dozen people is the "dangling carrot," so to speak.

Temps are paid 12 dollars an hour. Permanents, who often are working right beside you, start at 22 dollars an hour.

Pretty much all us temps agree it's a shitty way to work, but we also all agree jobs are tough to come by and we have to do what we can.

Needless to say I'm not "psyched" that this guy is Obama's new right-hand-man. Full-time jobs with benefits are already playing a disappearing act in this country.

[brentspeak]

102. Please make this a lead topic in the GD-P

Info about Immelt's methodology needs to be made known.

[Better Believe It]

112. Yes, please do that. People need to know the facts from someone who knows first hand.

[tpsbmam]

147. Ditto what the others said. I bookmarked your post. VERY interesting and depressing. nt

[Starry Messenger]

104. recommend.

[WillyT]

111. K & R !!!

:kick:

[BrklynLiberal]

113. One more tip of the hat to corporate america. Are we a plutocracy yet?

[deminks]

119. Immelt = more 'prosperity for me, austerity for you'

or 'all your money belong to wall street.'

[RowdyRacer]

120. Obama is a one-term failure.

The man goes out of his way to do the wrong thing, time after time.

[Better Believe It]

123. Not necessarily. If Obama adopts and effectively carries out Wall Street policies in collaboration

with Republicans he could be elected President again with Wall Street money and a right-wingnut heading the Republican ticket.

[Lorien]

148. Yep. The media and the "powers that be" will decide

the people will vote as they're told to. If not, there's always Diebold!

[SammyWinstonJack]

168. Not if the PTB want him in the WH, he's not.

[Rex]

125. Hey now! We were told to 'suck it up' and get ready for the global workforce!

That, we should just be happy if we have a job and can put food on our families. Personally, I believe if we survive this wave of greed and criminal activity from CEOs we will have a debilitated workforce and a permanently crippled economy (which seems to benefit the richest among us. Why, I have no idea.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

127. It's the much honored "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" ploy. Aka - Triangulation.

[somone]

128. Recommended

[Better Believe It]

130. Machinist Union leader: "We are rewarding the guy who is turning off America's lights, literally"

Immelt’s appointment has labor leaders concerned
By Staff Reporter
International Business Times
January 21, 2011

Jeffrey Immelt’s appointment by President Obama to head his new White House economic council has some labor leaders concerned, given the perception that the boss of General Electric (NYSE: GE) is hostile to the union movement and is committed to outsourcing American jobs to foreign (cheaper) workers.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) pointed out in a press release that in just the past five months, Immelt has eliminated “scores” of U.S. jobs when he ordered the closure of GE plants in Virginia, Massachusetts and Ohio.

“We are rewarding the guy who is turning off America’s lights, literally,” said IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger.

“Two of the plants on Immelt’s hit list made incandescent light bulbs. Replacement bulbs will be made in – you guessed it – China.”

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/103735/20110121/immelt-jobs-unions-outsourcing.htm#

[neverforget]

132. But Mr Outsourcer knows how to bring them back because he shipped

a shitload of them overseas. Or something like that and chess......:crazy:

[Better Believe It]

136. Jeffrey Immelt Interview: “I thought the [Bowles / Simpson] deficit commission did a great job."

Transcript: Immelt talks to the FT
By Ed Crooks
TRANSCRIPT OF AN INTERVIEW WITH JEFF IMMELT, GE CHIEF EXECUTIVE, IN WASHINGTON DC., ON WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19, THE EVE OF HIS APPOINTMENT AS HEAD OF THE US GOVERNMENT ECONOMIC RECOVERY ADVISORY BOARD. HE GAVE HIS VIEWS ON A VARIETY OF ECONOMIC AND POLICY MATTERS TO ED CROOKS.
January 21, 2011

President Obama’s deregulation initiative

“It’s a very good, very strong way to think about it... This can unlock lots of productivity and speed, without back-stepping in terms of any of the important protections that these industries have. I think the president is right on on that one.”

The deficit

“I thought the deficit commission did a great job. I read the deficit commission report – I actually read it over the holidays – it’s a pretty good framework on which we should be executing.” And I think everybody has to recognise that there is going to be nobody that’s untouched as we go through it. But it’s important for the long-term competitiveness of the United States, and therefore we’re all in.”

President Obama’s export target

“I think doubling exports in the next five years is a great target. We have done it over the last five years; we know it’s possible. That creates jobs.”

(And that's how GE was able to close down 29 U.S. plants and destroy thousands of jobs in just the past two years. Exports .... job exports that is. BBI)

Globalisation and free trade

“I think we all have to worry about the lack of love, let’s say, for globalisation today. And everybody has a role to do better.” .... if we can get the Korean free trade agreement signed, and maybe Colombia and some of the other ones that are in the queue, I think step by step by step this all gets better.”

Foreign investment by US companies

“Jobs today – particularly in the types of businesses GE is in – are really about markets. It’s not about cheap labour. The labour content of our products is very small.... If I build a factory in Saudi Arabia because I’ve got a big market in Saudi Arabia, I don’t apologise about that, necessarily."

Read the full interview at:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a622a1a4-256c-11e0-93ae-00144feab49a.html#axzz1Bt2RXqPt

[neverforget]

140. Oh God!

:banghead: :puke:

[JJW]

141. Appointing this guy is a big "F" u to unions

[earth mom]

142. Some of us here on DU tried to warn people that Obama was a corporatist during the primaries....

:banghead:

[HughBeaumont]

158. And our realistic other options were the following:

1) another corporatist (Hillary, a hawk who is less of an economic progressive than her husband)
2) a philanderer who would have put the whole thing at risk (Edwards)

First AA president? First female president? I want to know if we're ever going to get a real, honest-to-goodness PROGRESSIVE president again. I'm afraid it's never going to happen unless we make the ruling class start fearing us.

It's not just that Obama's a corporatist. It's that the entire system is broken and rotted THANKS to unbridled capitalism run FOR the needs, and at the behest, of corporations and the wealthy. You can't BE president unless you're vetted by the wealthy. That's a product of plutocracy. It needs to change and change FAST.

[Better Believe It]

159. The system isn't broken. It's working at the behest, of corporations and the wealthy

That's the way it's suppose to be.

When did ordinary working class people run things?

The closest may have been in the south during Radical Reconstruction until federal troops were withdrawn.

[defendandprotect]

181. We need to add "None of the Above, thanks!" to our choices!!

[defendandprotect]

180. Thanks earth mom ... had I known he was "New Dem" wouldn't have voted for him -

You have to admit, most of us DU'ers need our BS meters turned waaaay up higher --

Don't go off duty!!

:)

[Hawkowl]

144. Fascism

We have a government of, by, and for the corporations. That is to say maximize profits for the few, with no responsibility to the many. Change! Change my ass.

[defendandprotect]

182. Agree -- but corporations aren't casting the votes in Congress . . .

they've bought puppets in Congress to do that for them!!

Every politician they pre-buy or pre-own does great harm to America and democracy!!

[sarcasmo]

149. Corporate insider is the norm.

[Better Believe It]

150. President Obama: "“We think GE has something to teach businesses all over America.”

Are GE and Jeffrey Immelt Really American?
by Dave Lindorff
January 22, 2011

Between 2005 and 2009, according to GE’s own 10-K financial reports, the company shed jobs in the US so fast, and added them abroad so fast, that the US employee share of GE’s total workforce dropped from 51% to 44%, a process of job destruction that has continued apace since then. In 2009 and 2010, according to information compiled by the United Electrical Workers (UE), GE closed down 29 manufacturing plants in North America, 28 of them in the US and one in Canada. A total of 3000 workers lost their jobs in those closings, with many of those jobs being added at GE facilities overseas in low-paying countries like China and India. But actually, the job losses were greater, as those shuttered facilities had until recently employed twice that many workers, UE reports.

Just last September, for example, GE announced that it was shutting down its last US lightbulb manufacturing plant and moving that operation to China. The 200 workers at the factory in Winchester, VA, who had been earning some $30 per hour making lightbulbs for the US market, were all added to the US jobless rolls. Why? Workers in China could make the new substitute fluorescent bulbs cheaper, and then GE could import them back into the US duty-free.

Doesn’t sound like the kind of model that’s likely to be adding many jobs here in the US, does it?

And yet, President Obama, in naming Immelt to his new post, said, “We think GE has something to teach businesses all over America.”

Read the full article at:

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/01/22-7

[nashville_brook]

152. that was a chilling statement. ask anyone (left) in Detroit.

[defendandprotect]

183. Can't believe Obama said that ... but Americans have to STOP buying goods not made in USA....

including light bulbs!!

We should have unions outside of every store delivering that message!!

[ProSense]

155. Here:

respond to this poll, thanks.

[Vidar]

156. Unfortunately not surprising.

[Catherina]

164. Color me shocked. n/t

[EndElectoral]

170. kick..needs to be read

[avaistheone1]

173. Is this our cue to toast Obama's 2nd term?

Or is this when Obama announces he is running on the republican ticket?

[defendandprotect]

179. Any doubt these are the recommendations Obama is looking for-- ???

What we need to be looking for is to end this corporate welfare program --

and to pick another candidate for 2012 -- pretty much anyone we can trust

who can run on a Dem ticket --

ANYONE --

from Tom Hayden to Bernie Sanders --

from Robert Redford to Michael Moore --