Am I The Only One Wondering About This?

I reported in January at rightwinggranny.com that General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt was appointed lead the President’s new jobs council. In March I reported at rightwinggranny.com that General Electric had paid no corporate income taxes in 2009.

The Wall Street Journal reported:

“”We expect to have a positive tax liability for 2010 when we file our U.S. income taxes later this year,” the conglomerate said in a written response to questions from Dow Jones Newswires. But “we think it will be covered by overpayments.””

“…GE called the Times report “particularly distorted and misleading” on its website Friday. On Monday, GE noted on its website that it paid almost $2.7 billion in “cash income taxes” globally in 2010, “including significant U.S. federal income tax payments.”

“GE also has said that its tax rate has been abnormally low recently largely because of losses suffered by its financial arm, GE Capital, during the financial crisis. The company noted that GE Capital lost nearly $32 billion from 2008 to 2010.

“”Our 2011 tax rate is slated to return to more normal levels with GE Capital’s recovery,” the company said.”

Today the New York Times reported:

General Electric, the nation’s largest industrial company, on Friday reported net earnings for the third quarter of $3.2 billion, up 57 percent from the same period in 2010 despite what the chief executive called a “volatile” economic environment.

The article further reports:

G.E. has been expecting its business for power generation equipment, which involves gas, steam and wind turbines, to improve this year. Profits in that component of its business were down 19 percent in the second quarter. 

Does anyone doubt that if the Obama Administration continues to pursue green energy, General Electric will profit handsomely by being well placed in the industry? I seriously doubt that any of this activity is illegal, but it is a glaring example of crony capitalism. The people at Occupy Wall Street are definitely protesting the wrong people–they should be out in front of the White House.


 

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