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It has been a banner year in government largesse for America’s fourth-largest corporation. This month, the Federal Communications Commission approved the 51 percent/49 percent NBC Universal joint venture between Comcast and GE. Last week, GE announced a White House-backed plan for another joint venture with a Chinese avionics company. Mr. Obama capped the good news by naming GE Chief Executive Jeffrey R. Immelt as head of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness - this after GE eliminated 18,000 U.S. jobs in 2009 (the most recent data available).

Mr. Immelt has long been an Obama champion, seeing opportunities for profit in the administration’s emphasis on so-called green technologies and in opening foreign markets. The GECEO envisions a future with less emphasis on free markets and more “coordinated commitment among business, labor and government.” In 2009, he praised government intervention in the economy, telling shareholders that “in a reset economy, the government will be a regulator; and also an industry policy champion, a financier and a key partner.”

One example of partnership in action is the $24.9 million in stimulus money GE received, primarily for “green technology” projects. This payout was only slightly more than the $23.4 million GE forked over last summer to settle charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission that the corporation had violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by paying kickbacks to Iraqi government agencies to win domestic infrastructure building contracts.

Last month, the Obama EPA began enforcing new rules regulating the greenhouse gas emissions from any new or expanded power plants. This week, the EPA issued its first exemption; to General Electric.








so the question has to be asked. is it fair for the reigning ceo of a company who has received bailout funds, exemptions, and lucrative government contracts, to head the presidents economic board?  or should he be made to choose between public service and running a corporation? to me, this is crony capitalism personified.

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and if you're interested in reading more on the institution of crony capitalism in america, here's a good article from the weekly standard.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/016/695beqni.asp

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It is cronyism.  Immelt helped get Obama elected.  
NBC was owned by GE.
Jeff Zucker (president of NBC) was appointed by Immelt.
Zucker and NBC are big BIG contributors to the Obama campaign.  Also NBC has been criticized as being in the tank for Obama.  Most of the news on NBC is said to be mostly positive toward Obama and negative to tea partiers and anyone who criticizes the President.

So Obama is rewarding his flunkies.  Happens all the time though.

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it does happen all the time with lobbyists. but lobbyists typically aren't the CEOs of companies, while simultaneously being employed by an administration. i mean i guess this is a cute little way of getting around obama's (broken) promise of not employing lobbyists in the white house, but surely the way obama's been doing business discredits the assertion that only republicans are in the pocket of big business.