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Title: 3M chief warns Obama over business regulation~"choice between manufacturing in Canada & Mexico – which tend to be pro-business – or America.”
Source:
Financial Times
URL Source: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bd9b4100- ... 0144feabdc0.html#axzz1F7ciNa6W
Published: Feb 27, 2011
Author: Hal Weitzman in Chicago
Post Date: 2011-02-27 21:34:15 by Happy Quanzaa
Keywords: Who is John Galt?
Views: 16595
Comments: 29
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. “I judge people by their feet, not their mouth,” he told the Financial Times. “We know what his instincts are – they are Robin Hood-esque. He is anti-business.” The Obama administration has struck a more conciliatory tone towards business since the Democratic defeat in November’s midterm elections. Last month, the president created a jobs and competitiveness council, chaired by Jeffrey Immelt, chief executive of GE, and including chief executives such as American Express’s Kenneth Chenault, DuPont’s Ellen Kullman, Antonio Perez of Kodak and Southwest Airlines’ Gary Kelly. Mr Obama also convened a meeting this month with technology chief executives, including Steve Jobs of Apple, Google’s Eric Schmidt, Oracle’s Larry Ellison and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook. 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.” 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.” Mr Buckley struck a gloomy note on the US economy. “The macro numbers seem to be improving but when we look at the micro numbers – at what’s going on in housing, automotive, in manufacturing in general – it’s hard to get enthusiastic about it,” he said.
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#3. To: Happy Quanzaa, A K A Stone (#0)
Traitors to their country need to be hanged. I don't want America looking like China or Mexico so George Buckley, chief executive and chairman of 3M can get more stock options. Any company that threatens to move production to enemy regimes should be jailed and their company nationalized.
I would be more in favor of using tariffs to encourage companies to stay. Hanging them is a little overboard.
I would prefer removing the regulations and let the corporations make a profit for their stockholders and to pay employees, who in turn pay taxes in the U.S.. Tariffs are just more regulations. Corporations do not exist to please money grubbing parasite politicians, they exist to make a profit for their stockholders. If the politicians and greedy union scum do not let them make a profit they will leave, as many have already done. They are not going to Mexico because they like tacos or to Hong Kong because they like shrimp fried rice, they are going because they have to turn a profit to survive. There is no option, they stay and they die under the draconian regulations and highest in the world corporate tax rate imposed by the U.S. government. This is basic economics, 1+1=2 and no tariffs or "Mom, USA, and Apple Pie" sentiment can change that.
Corporations are artificial structures given the right to exist by the govt. Even Adam Smith hated them. With that said, any pig free trader that threatens to take American jobs to foreign nations hostile to America (do you really want America to resemble Mexico and China so these greedy pigs can make more money?) should be hanged in public squares as traitors. Democrats and Republican treasonous enablers included. When did you scumbags value the stockholder over the national interests?
#8. To: Godwinson (#7)
In the U.S. government is given the power to govern by the people. When it becomes abusive, intrusive, and dictatorial the people have the duty to take that power away from them. "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." -- Thomas Jefferson
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestManufacturers could shift production out of the US to Canada or Mexico as a result, warned George Buckley, chief executive and chairman of 3M.
#4. To: Godwinson (#3)
#5. To: A K A Stone (#4)
(Edited)
I would be more in favor of using tariffs to encourage companies to stay. Hanging them is a little overboard.
#7. To: Happy Quanzaa, A K A Stone (#5)
Corporations do not exist to please money grubbing parasite politicians, they exist to make a profit for their stockholders.
Replies to Comment # 7. Corporations are artificial structures given the right to exist by the govt.
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
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