http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Obama-helps-strengthen-General-Electric-Putin-ties-59644627.html
More pay to play paybacks. Chicago politics on a global scale.
| Quote: |
| Obama helps strengthen General Electric-Putin ties
By: Timothy P. Carney Examiner Columnist 09/17/09 2:06 PM EDT (AP Photo/Alexei Nikolsky, Pool) Reuters reports an interesting nugget in the wake of President Barack Obama's decision to grant Vladimir Putin his wish and kill the Eastern European missile shield: Shortly after the pullback on the shield programme was announced, Russia's government said Prime Minister Vladimir Putin would meet several U.S. executives on Friday from firms including General Electric, Morgan Stanley as well as TPG, one of the world's largest private equity firms General Electric may be the company with the closest ties to the Obama administration (if not, GE is second only to Goldman Sachs), and here we see the company benefiting from an abrupt foreign policy change made by President Obama. But GE isn't the only company benefiting. Reuters paints the broader picture: "U.S. companies have arguably lost out to some European companies in joint ventures, and better diplomacy will likely improve the chances for investors in the strategic sectors of the Russian economy," said Carlo Gallo, senior Russia analyst at London-based consultancy Control Risks. GE CEO Jeff Immelt sits on Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, and GE owns MSNBC, the network famously friendly to Obama. |
More pay to play paybacks. Chicago politics on a global scale.
Perhaps the latest announcement has more to do with Obama Chairing a Nuclear Disarmament Meeting of the UN Security Council on 24 September. But everything is possible. Could be Obama is trying to "make buddies" with Russia hoping to soften Russia as a prelude to the meeting.
That seems to be his strategy in a lot of places... Problem is, it's the USA that's becoming soft, not Russia.
