3M: “Politicians forget that business has choice"

Financial Times reports that the CEO and Chairman of 3M Corporation has strong opinions on Pres. Obama's economic policies:

The head of one of the US’s biggest industrial groups has launched a scathing attack on Barack Obama’s attempts to repair relations with companies, dubbing him “anti-business”.

Manufacturers could shift production out of the US to Canada or Mexico as a result, warned George Buckley, chief executive and chairman of 3M. . . . .

Mr Buckley, who has run the diversified manufacturer since 2005, said: “There is a sense among companies that this is a difficult place to do business. It is about regulation, taxation, seemingly anti-business policies in Washington, attitudes towards science.”

He added: “Politicians forget that business has choice. We’re not indentured servants and we will do business where it’s good and friendly. If it’s hostile, incrementally, things will slip away. We’ve got a real choice between manufacturing in Canada and Mexico – which tend to be pro-business – or America.” [Emph. added]

Interestingly, he also brought up immigration policy. The Democrats advocate citizenship for those who cross the border illegally while, at the same time, systematically excluding from the US the college graduates who apply for residency legally. As a result, he says, 3M is forced to move high-tech jobs overseas:

The 3M chief also criticised US immigration policy, saying the difficulty of obtaining visas was forcing companies to move research and development overseas. “About 68 per cent of our science PhD candidates are from outside the US,” he said. “Many want to stay here afterwards but we’re not allowed as many visas as we would like.”

“We are now exporting science overseas to China, India, Germany, building labs there. There’s a good strategic reason for it, but we also have no choice – if we can’t get the people here and we’re competing with the people there, we have no choice but to do it locally.” [Emph. added]

PREVIOUSLY on Obamanomics and its failures:
•Obamanomics and the prolonged recession
•How to lie with statistics
•Obamacare: Corporatism in action
•Obama 0, Germany 1:
• Medical insurance prices rising due to ObamaCare
•Laws of Economics 1; Obama 0
•Why Liberal economics fails: redistribution does not create wealth (Illustrated)
•Obamacare endangers student health
•Why business isn't hiring
•Dodd-Frank finance "reform" bill stops bond market cold
•Why unemployment insurance must be extended (illustrated)
•Obamanomics still failing, Washington Post discovers
•Russia goes supply-side
•Study: Liberals are economically illiterate

How bad is the Federal debt problem?

Icaucus explains the basics:

Today in unbiased media coverage

From Hope n' Change:

Liberals and their vivid imagination

Speaking on David Letterman, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow explains how Fox News is "fake" (interesting bit begins at 0:55 in the video):

Transcript:

Maddow: The problem is that is reasonable to assert about Fox is that they make up things out of whole cloth and then make a big deal out them. For example, they said the new black panther party decided the election for Barack Obama. They ran dozens and dozens and dozens of stories about how the New Black Panther Party, which is one guy who braided his beard in Philadelphia and who didn't have an organization yelling on a street corner, I mean, they said, they represented that story as if that is the guy who decided the election. That is fake.

If all of that sounds wrong-headed, it is because it is wrong-headed. Even the normally left-wing Politifact couldn't find a single case where Fox asserted that the New Black Panther Party decided the election, let alone "dozens and dozens and dozens" of such stories. Further, not how she also cannot summarize the story with even a shred of accuracy: no one cared about a "braided beard" and neither is the New Black Panther Party just "one guy."

Any channel that broadcasts news 24/7 is going to make some actual mistakes but Maddow cannot find one. Apparently, when hate-mongering on the enemy, facts are irrelevant.

Notice that, when Maddow claims "dozens and dozens and dozens" of such stories, she is making it up out of whole cloth. Her claim that Fox makes things up out of whole cloth is psychological projection.

PREVIOUSLY on the subject of psychological projection:
•Homophobia and liberals
•More psychological projection: Democrats says those racists call them names
•The masters of astroturf claim that tea parties are astroturf
•Air America projects hate
•Air America fantasizes a right-wing hate machine
•Syria imagines that Israel does not want peace
•The New Republic says lying is 2nd nature to Republicans
•Rahm Emanuel caught projecting his strategy onto Republicans
•Alec Baldwin projects his hate onto Republicans
•Progessives and prejudice and hate
•HuffPost blogger projects enviro-hypocrisy
•Dems accuse other Dems of acting like Republicans

The Islamic Bomb

If this trailer is any indication, "Iranium" will be a compelling movie:

The movie will be released free online February 8. To watch it then or to obtain a DVD of it, click here

Liberals and their selective envy

Danny Lemieux, of the BookwormRoom, makes an observation after a family gathering with his lefty in-laws:

In conversations, a lot of resentment was directed at corporations, CEOs and their “disgusting and greedy” profits, salaries, benefits and bonuses. . . . .

However, what floors me, is that these same Liberal/Lefty in-laws seem to have no trouble accepting the extraordinary high incomes of a) sports figures and b) entertainment figures (newscasters, movie actors, television personalities, etc.).

Sports figures that play games to entertain, singers that…sing songs…, actresses that pretend to be people they aren’t (when they do work) and newscasters that read copy from teleprompters are idolized.

Corporate executives that manufacture services and products that improve our lives (drugs, fuel, cars, food, shelter, insurance, bank loans, etc.) are vilified.

Why is this the case? Any ideas? Please help to understand.

Yes, it is curious. Vapid actors earn more than business executives but liberals are only envious of the business executives?

To my mind, the explanation lies in the superficiality of liberal thought. Movie actors, newscasters, and TV personalities are chosen for their likability and their looks. If one doesn't focus on the fact that actors and newscasters are reading from a script, one might even think that they were intelligent. A liberal can imagine being friends with these people. By contrast, few liberals have any clue what business executives do, how much skill it takes, and how hard they actually work. More importantly to liberals, business executives are not chosen either for their looks or likability.

Federal judge finds Obama administration contemptible

As reported by the Wall Street Journal (Hat tip: MichelleMalkin):

A federal judge Wednesday blasted the Obama administration for "determined disregard" of his order to lift a ban on offshore oil and gas drilling last year, giving fresh ammunition to the oil industry and its allies on Capitol Hill who want the Interior Department to speed approvals of new offshore drilling projects.

The ruling by Judge Martin Feldman of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana means the Interior Department could have to reimburse Hornbeck Offshore Services LLC, a Louisiana drilling company, for the costs of litigation that the firm brought last year challenging the legality of the drilling moratorium. . . . .

In his ruling, Judge Feldman said Hornbeck was owed the money because the government's conduct amounted to contempt of court. [Emph. added]

Hornbeck may get reimbursed. Too bad, the judge cannot order the Administration to reimburse the whole country for damage done to health care and the economy.

Former Ted Kennedy staffer convicted

From The Hill (hat tip: tatler and Instapundit):

Sen. Edward Kennedy’s (D-Mass.) former office manager was convicted on Tuesday of stealing more than $75,000 from the Senate.

Ngozi Pole was found guilty on five counts of wire fraud and one count of theft of government property. For at least 4 years, Pole submitted fraudulent paperwork that caused the Senate to pay him larger bonus payments than either Kennedy or his chief of staff had approved, according to the Justice Department.

Mr. Pole obviously lacked ambition.  He stole a mere $75K while Democrats have robbed future generations of trillions.

PREVIOUSLY on the subject of Democrats and crime:
•Top Dem fundraiser pleads guilty
•Kerry supporter pleads guilty
•Three Obama supporters plead guilty
•Bernie Madoff was a major donor to left/liberal causes
•Another ex-ACORN worker pleads guilty