PrintSeptember 18, 2009
General Electric: Obama's Halliburton?
The hypocrisy permeating the policy decisions emanating from the Obama White House continues. General Electric will directly benefit from Obama’s decision to renege on a deal to provide Eastern Europe with missile defense systems (the obvious implications of which go well beyond the topic in this blog). As reported in the Washington Examiner:
“General Electric may be the company with the closest ties to the Obama administration (if not, GE is second only to Goldman Sachs), and here we see the company benefiting from an abrupt foreign policy change made by President Obama…
GE CEO Jeff Immelt sits on Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, and GE owns MSNBC, the network famously friendly to Obama.”
Where is the outrage from the left that was apoplectic over Cheney’s ties to Halliburton? Where are the people screaming “Missile defense Obama will ditch, but General Electric he’ll enrich?” Or “No need to be loyal so long as GE receives the spoils?”
I won’t be holding my breath on this one – like the lack of attention to the ACORN story, the media will ignore this little tidbit and the left will rationalize that Obama is helping the economy. History books will tell a different tale but until then, I’m hoping that this is the only result to come from his horrific decision to screw yet another ally and retreat from the strong foreign policy of his predecessor.
Update from Thomas Lifson (hat tip: Bryan Demko) from the Indian Business Standard:
General Electric (GE), which is in contention as the engine supplier for the medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) contract of the IAF with three of its engines, is keen on sourcing components from Indian industry.
GE said, it will manufacture, assemble and test the engine, if any of its partner wins the contract, at the Hindusthan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The global engine manufacturing behemoth said it will get many of its engine components manufactured by local firms. GE's F110-GE-132 turbofan engine powers the F-16 IN, which Lockheed Martin is seeking to sell to India. [emphasis added]
This amounts to local sourcing for an overseas contract. Nevertheless, it develops a much lower wage production base for these components overseas. One way or another, advanced aircraft manufacturing is migrating overseas, and GE, recipient of so much federal largesse now and into the future, is cashing in exporting tech jobs.
"GE: We bring overseas competition to life"
