The decline and fall of General Electric, the poster child of Obamanomics

And yet, here we are. GE opened at $29.37 a share on Election Day, when the Dow was at 18,332.43. On Tuesday Jan. 23, GE closed at $16.30 (down about 45 percent), whereas the Dow closed at 26,210.81, up about 42 percent. The new CEO, John Flannery, has said he’s open to a breakup.

If it weren’t for the everyday people involved, watching the decline of GE, arguably the most crony company in the world (Monsanto, Goldman Sachs, Boeing, Google, a few others are in the running) would be almost too fun. The company deserves the hammering it’s getting. Plus much much more. Jeffery Immelt (the former CEO) sold the company’s soul and now, well, times are hard while times are getting better for GE’s competitors.

No one should shed a tear for GE. It thought it had tapped the taxpayer money mother load, and it had. But times have changed. It’s great when the fascist worm turns.

And make no mistake Obamanomics was a form of fascism. (The partnership of big business and big government.)

(From The Washington Examiner)

It’s a sad state for a company that has represented industrial strength for more than a century. It’s also a telling epigraph for Obamanomics.

GE CEO Jeff Immelt kicked off the start of former President Barack Obama’s administration with a letter prophesying a golden era of American industrial planning, ushered in by the bailouts and a new president who promised a “remaking” of America.

In a letter praising the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Treasury, “and global governments,” plus “stimulus programs being implemented around the world [that] will provide trillions in new investments,” Immelt foresaw that the “global economy, and capitalism, will be ‘reset’ in several important ways.” Specifically, “In a reset economy, the government will be a regulator; and also an industry policy champion, a financier, and a key partner.”

The letter bragged, “We have gained access to government funding programs that put us on equal footing with banks,” and described GE as “ a natural partner” with federal agencies, “as the role of government increases in the current crisis.” GE is “a particularly desirable partner for governments,” Immelt assured shareholders.

GE and Obamanomics have been an abject failure. No quarter for the corporatists.

Click here for the article.

http://www.againstcronycapitalism.org/