National Barack Channel NBC’s owner GE gets payoff in spending bill: "
GE gets $430 million for an engine nobody wants. Defense Secretary Robert Gates opposes the GE engine as unnecessary and a waste of money.
It does not bode well for cutting spending when a bipartisan group pushes almost half a billion for pet contributors when the defense department itself says it does not want the GE engine. How will they cut anything of real significance?
GE is one of the most politically connected businesses in Washington. It also spends huge sums of money lobbying to get our money. In 2010 GE spent over $32 million lobbying giving funds to almost every congressman. In February 2009, GE head Immelt was appointed as a member to the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Is it any wonder Ge was able to get incandescent light bulbs banned so it could close its US factories and make CFL’s in China?
GE has funding in a multitude of congressional committees.Despite the myth that Republicans are for big business its the Democrats who are getting the most funding from GE but that could just be because Democrats are the ones in power now. GE also has 85 affiliates that dole out influence money including left wing Obama agenda pushing media outlets CNBC, MSNBC and NBC and their affiliates.
Barack Obama tops the list of recipients for 2009-2010 $513,730 and Hillary a distant second with $253,476 according to OpenSecrets.org. Rep. Howard McKeon, a California Republican who will lead the House Armed Services Committee when the 112th Congress convenes in January received $8,500 in 2010 and according to the Bloomberg story below authored a letter to Gates urging continued funding of the GE engine.
This is an interactive map from Muckety showing the myriad connections of Jeffrey R. Immelt head of GE:
Oh what a tangled web they weave. ~ Editor
Tony Capaccio at Bloomberg.com has the story:
EXCERPTS:
Lieberman, who has been a consistent opponent of the second engine, said it was “unconscionable” that the administration “would be forced to waste one more dollar on this unnecessary second engine” as the Air Force and the Navy struggle with tight budgets. He said he would continue to “fight to terminate” the engine between now and March 4.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers fought to include General Electric’s engine in the measure. “Congress has funded the engine program for 14 consecutive years, including the $430 million provided for continued development,” they wrote to Gates and Lew in a letter sent Nov. 29.
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