Tea Party Attacks Put GE on Defense
Activism Wednesday, October 12th, 2011
General Electric Co., where Ronald Reagan honed his communication skills as a company spokesman, is struggling to fend off attacks from conservatives over its relationship with the Obama administration and ventures in China, raising concerns inside GE that the controversy could damage its brand.
Former Republican Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin last month slammed GE for being “the poster child of corporate welfare and crony capitalism.” Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich used GE as an applause line during the Republican debate sponsored by the tea party in September. And Fox News television personality Bill O’Reilly has derided the conglomerate and Chief Executive Jeff Immelt almost weekly.
The company’s critics will get another opening this week. Mr. Immelt is to appear with President Barack Obama at a meeting of the president’s jobs council in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, the same day that the Republican presidential contenders square off in a debate at Dartmouth College.
The tea party and its allies are taking aim at GE for a number of alleged sins, including the company’s paltry 2010 federal tax payment, an aviation joint-venture in China, moving jobs overseas and taking federal stimulus dollars for green-energy projects.
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