Obama's Jobs Adviser: 'Not Fair To Blame Business' For Tax Loopholes

WASHINGTON -- Jeffrey Immelt, the chairman of President Barack Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, joined Chamber of Commerce president Tom Donohue on Monday to urge lawmakers to quickly cut a deal to raise the debt limit.

But both stopped short of calling on corporations to concede special tax breaks in the grand deficit reduction compromise -- something Obama insists must be a piece of the "shared sacrifice" of all sectors feeling the pain of spending cuts.

Immelt, who is also the CEO of General Electric, ignored a question on whether corporations should swallow Obama's call for closing tax loopholes as lawmakers search for ways to generate revenues in what is now looking to be a $2.4 trillion deficit reduction package.

In fact, Immelt, who spoke to reporters after giving the keynote address at a Chamber forum on jobs, defended corporations receiving tax breaks and redirected attention back to Congress needing to do its job in resolving deficit matters.

"I think it's unfair to blame business," he said. "I think it's now time for our legislative process to work. I'm convinced, you know, these guys know what they need to do and we should get a deal done."

Donohue, also speaking to reporters, demurred when asked if Obama has a point when he says that corporations need to "step up" and take their lumps in the massive deficit reduction package.

"The president as well as everybody else is in a political season and we're in that jockeying back and forth," Donohue said. "I haven't seen the government step up on the question of Medicare and Medicaid."

"But, we will continue to talk. This thing will get resolved."

Both said the most important thing is for the White House and Congress to reach a deal to raise the debt ceiling by August 2, when the federal government is expected to run out of money to pay its bills. Obama and Congressional leaders are resuming talks Tuesday afternoon over a sweeping deficit plan that Republicans say should contain no tax increases and that Democrats say should generate revenues via closing corporate tax loopholes. Republicans have insisted on tying any vote to raise the debt limit to a deficit reduction plan, hence the increasing anxiety on the issue.

Failure to increase the debt limit "will drive this country into a major second recession we don't need," said Donohue.

Immelt expressed similar urgency on the issue, though he couldn't say how the administration is linking debt and deficit reduction to job creation, the number one issue on many people's minds after a dismal June jobs report and as unemployment hovers around 9.2 percent.

"You'd have to ask the president that. You really would. You'd have to ask the administration that. I'm very focused on job plan ideas."

Comments

[2Patriotic4U]

12:04 AM on 07/18/2011

Obama is doing everything possible to aid GE in taking control the U.S. with their proposed electric grid, etc. Howveer, since Immelt took GE over in 2001, GE has shed 34,000 jobs in the U.S., according to its most recent annual filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. But it’s added 25,000 jobs overseas.

Something stinks about this relationship and needs to be thoroughly investigated.

[seawillow]

02:06 PM on 07/13/2011

Those who blame business for taking advantage of loopholes would also blame lottery winners for cashing in their winning tickets. This takes money out of the system! And we might win next time!

[Eagleman]

08:57 AM on 07/13/2011

Never paid any taxes
Master of offshore businesses to evade taxes
Share value of GE is pathetic

Being Buddy Buddy with the president does help....

[Mike Rock]

08:13 AM on 07/13/2011

Fire Immelt.

[Ron666wood]

06:56 AM on 07/13/2011

No. Just because they spend tens of millions of dollars to curry the favor of easily corrupted politicians to preserve their preferential treatment a.k.a. "loopholes"...it's all just ...business.

[daikon]

02:36 AM on 07/13/2011

Immelt is a Republican. The fact that he is Obama's main economic and jobs advisor is a scandal. If Obama is serious about lowering the obscenely high unemployment rate, which is on the rise again, he needs to fire both Immelt and Geithner (an independent, formerly a Repub) immediately and hire Dems who understand that the Dem party exists to protect the middle class, not the Chamber of Commerce and Wall Street. If Obama does not fire these two plutocracy-friendly advisors, he will lose control of the economy, which will slow down even further if big budget cuts are made. If the unemployment is anywhere near 9% next summer, Obama will not win reelection. It's the economy, stupid. And it's the middle class, stupid.

[Ron666wood]

06:57 AM on 07/13/2011

Just one more failed "bi-partisanship" attempt.

[daikon]

07:43 AM on 07/13/2011

Exactly! Fan! Have you checked out the "Third Way" web site? Several of Obama's key advisors are said to be close to this group of conservative Dems, which triangulates between the Dems and Repubs and comes up with Republocrat proposals that sound reasonable at first but that turn out to be basically proposals that would primarily benefit the plutocracy. Probably this group represents Obama's positions pretty well.

[piratesfan23]

11:57 AM on 07/13/2011

Did you really just blame a political party for Obama's own choices? Face it, the guy is George Bush III. He is a big government, corporatist. Who has lied on almost everything. Wars, wall street, energy policy, civil liberties.

Democrats and Republicans are the same party right now. They represent big government. Big government controls the economy and so they are in bed right now with lobbyists, corporations, and banks. This is why the rich keep getting richer and the middle class keeps shrinking. The government should not be controlling the economy. It has the power to change things for the better - but it will not do so - because it has unchecked, power.

You, yourself - also need to understand that you are the problem because you expect the government to take care of you, create jobs for you, give you free health care - and then expect at the same time that when you give the government all this power - it is not going to mismanage it.

Look into small government and you take ownership of being a citizen. You use the government as a safety net but not a parent. You hold politicians and leaders accountable by staying independent and politicially informed

Also, you stop thining that likeability = good person. Obama is very likeable. He is a horrible president. You can admit it now and you can balance both of those thoughts together.

[unionave]

10:44 PM on 07/12/2011

The blame must be put on the users of the "tax loop holes" and the law makers that designed them .

[MarkJudiGoet]

08:06 PM on 07/12/2011

Tax breaks to companies that ship American jobs overseas, that's like giving your worst enemy a loaded gun as a bribe to not shoot you.

[PensionerGiles]

06:46 PM on 07/12/2011

Remember that factory in New England that burnt down a few years ago with the owner rebuilding it & hiring back the workers? Now Mr. President, ask yourself, "What would Immelt do?"

Yeah, yeah, I know, it's a global economy. Sorry for being so plebeian.

[TomTheSeal]

06:46 PM on 07/12/2011

Not fair to send our jobs to other countries and to continue doing so.

I would like to write the word FAIR on a huge piece of cardboard and shove in his anatomy.

[glesslib]

05:50 PM on 07/12/2011

Is this headline some sort of joke? Are we supposed to believe that lobbyists are merely in Washington because the companies that pay them want to have a nice high profile and buy lunch for congressmen? Utterly foolish remark by Mr. Immell.

[KingofDetroit]

05:56 PM on 07/12/2011

And an utterly foolish appointment by President Obama.

[glesslib]

06:14 PM on 07/12/2011

Yep.

[NCEngineer]

05:35 PM on 07/12/2011

Of course, Immelt says we shouldn't blame business but in the next breath talks about the government taking on Medicaid and Medicare. The only thing those two programs have to do with business is that the corporations would rather see those programs cut than their own, ill deserved tax breaks.

[pb28]

05:33 PM on 07/12/2011

of course he did GE pays no taxes

[sueinmn]

05:29 PM on 07/12/2011

Imet has a huge conflict of interest working for the WH.

[Ailton]

05:23 PM on 07/12/2011

Obama should have fired this guy on the spot Is he there to solve the unemployment problem or to defend his own corporation whom made 14 billion dollars profit and paid absolutelly nothing in taxes. This is inmoral.
The legitimacy of this president is at stake.
He needs to demand of corporations, the following>
return the 3 trillion dollars they stashed overseas, back to the United States.
Start manufacturing here instead of China.
If the president is unwilling to to this, which apparently is the case, then he should be inpeached or at least dumpped next election.
American workers are not stupid and patience has a limit.