GE CEO: Bernie Sanders says we’re ‘destroying the moral fabric’ of America. He’s wrong.
By Jeffrey R. Immelt
April 6, 2016 at 5:12 PM
General Electric Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt.(Michael Dwyer/AP)
Jeffrey R. Immelt is chairman and chief executive of GE.
We at GE were interested to read comments Monday by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who told the New York Daily News editorial board that GE is among the companies that are supposedly “destroying the moral fabric” of America. The senator had been asked to cite examples of corporate greed at its worst. Somehow that got him to talking about us.
GE has been in business for 124 years, and we’ve never been a big hit with socialists. We create wealth and jobs, instead of just calling for them in speeches. We take risks, invest, innovate and produce in ways that today sustain 125,000 U.S. jobs. Our engineers innovate every day to build hardware and software solutions that meet real-world challenges. Our employees are proud of our company. I meet second- and third-generation employees whenever I travel across the country. I am one myself. Our suppliers and partners are proud of our company. Our communities are proud of our company. Our pride, history and hard work are real — the moral fabric of America.
The senator has never bothered to stop by our aviation plant in Rutland, Vt. We’ve been investing heavily (some $100 million in recent years), hiring and turning out some of the world’s finest jet-engine components in Vermont since the 1950s. The plant employs more than 1,000 people who are very good at what they do. It’s a picture of first-rate jobs with high wages, advanced manufacturing in a vital industry — how things look when American workers are competing and winning — and Vermont’s junior senator is always welcome to come by for a tour.
Elsewhere in Vermont, GE Healthcare employs more than 340 men and women in South Burlington. Yearly, GE does about $40 million worth of business with dozens of suppliers of parts and services across Vermont. Nationwide, we have 200 GE plants, including 15 that were built in the past five years — all with the aim of making GE the world’s premier industrial company.
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Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders vowed to stand up "for working people and not just for the 1 percent" during a news conference before his speech at the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO convention April 7. (Reuters)
Sanders says that he is upset about GE’s operations abroad — as though a company that has customers in more than 180 countries should have no presence in any of them. He never mentions that we are one of the United States’ prime exporters, annually selling in excess of $20 billion worth of American-made goods to the world. Nor does he mention that our sales around the world support our manufacturing base here at home, along with the thousands of U.S. companies in our supply chain. You want to cause big problems for our suppliers — many of whom are small and medium-size businesses — and their workers? The surest way would be to pull out of those countries and lose those customers.
We are competing globally with foreign companies whose governments care whether they win and support them in innumerable ways. U.S. companies continue to wrestle with an outdated and complex tax code that puts them at a distinct competitive disadvantage. Sanders has stated many times that GE pays no taxes. Repeating a lie over and over does not make it true. We pay billions in taxes, including federal, state and local taxes. The U.S. tax system has not been updated in 30 years and isn’t designed for today’s economy, which is why we support comprehensive tax reform — even if it raises our tax rate.
It’s easy to make hollow campaign promises and take cheap shots in speeches and during editorial board sessions, but U.S. companies have to deliver for their employees, customers and shareholders every day. GE operates in the real world. We’re in the business of building real things and generating real growth for a nation that needs it now more than ever. I’m proud of all that we do, and how it all figures into “the moral fabric” of America is so plain to me. It seems Sen. Sanders is missing the point.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders and his wife, Jane, arrive on stage for a campaign event in the Bronx. (Mary Altaffer/AP)Sanders speaks at Bronx Community College in New York. (Eric Thayer/Getty Images)Actress Susan Sarandon stands onstage after introducing Sanders at a campaign rally at Bronx Community College. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)Supporters listen to Sanders at Bronx Community College in New York. (Eric Thayer/Getty Images)Sanders speaks at a campaign rally at Bronx Community College. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)People in the audience react to meeting Sanders at Bronx Community College. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)Sanders speaks at a campaign rally at the United Palace in New York. (Eric Thayer/Getty Images)Supporters clap as Sanders speaks during a campaign event in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York. (Mary Altaffer/AP)Sanders waves at supporters after a campaign event in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York. (Mary Altaffer/AP)Supporters pose for a picture as they hold posters with Sanderss outline before a rally in New York. (Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images)Sanders speaks at a campaign rally near the East River in New York. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)Supporters listen as Sanders speaks during a rally at WNYC Transmitter Park in Brooklyn (Eric Thayer/Getty Images)Sanders addresses a crowd at WNYC Transmitter Park in Brooklyn. (Eric Thayer/Getty Images)Sanders speaks outside his childhood home in Brooklyn. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)Sanders reaches out to the crowd after a campaign event in Brooklyn. (Craig Ruttle/AP)Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks during a campaign stop at the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Convention in Philadelphia. (Matt Rourke/AP)Sen. Bernie Sanders and his wife, Jane, eat at the Brooklyn Diner in New York. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)Sen. Bernie Sanders gestures to supporters during a campaign rally in Laramie, Wyo. Sanders won the Democratic presidential primary in Wisconsin on Tuesday. (Brennan Linsley/AP)Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders arrives to have breakfast at the Blue's Egg restaurant in Milwaukee. (Darren Hauck/Getty Images)Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks with a patron while stopping for breakfast at Blues Egg. (Mark Kauzlarich/Reuters)Sanders eats breakfast in Milwaukee on the day of the Wisconsin primary. (Mark Kauzlarich/Reuters)Sanders speaks with a patron at Blue's Egg. (Mark Kauzlarich/Reuters)Bernie Sanders arrives at a campaign rally at the Wisconsin Convention Center in Milwaukee. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)People cheer at a Sanders campaign rally at the Wisconsin Convention Center. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)Sanders arrives onstage at his campaign rally in Milwaukee. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)Sanders pumps his fist during the Milwaukee campaign event. (Paul Sancya/AP)Supporters listen as Sanders speaks in Milwaukee. (Paul Sancya/AP)Sanders speaks in Milwaukee. (Paul Sancya/AP)Sanders speaks at the Wisconsin Convention Center. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)Supporters hold up signs as Sanders speaks at a campaign rally in Green Bay, Wis. (Mark Kauzlarich/Reuters)Sanders addresses the crowd at the Sheboygan South High School Acuity field house in Wisconsin. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)People hold signs that say A future to believe in during Sanderss campaign event in Sheboygan, Wis. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and his wife, Jane, wave to supporters at Sheboygan South High School in Sheboygan, Wis. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)A supporters holds a sign at Sanderss campaign event in Sheboygan, Wis. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)Sanders shakes hands with a supporter after his address at the Sheboygan South High School in Wisconsin. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)A woman holds a drawing of Sanders as he speaks at a campaign rally at the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay campus in Green Bay, Wis. (Mark Kauzlarich/Reuters)Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks during a rally at Safeco Field in Seattle. (Jason Redmond/AFP/Getty Images)Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders pumps his fist at passers-by while arriving for breakfast at Lou Mitchell's Restaurant and Bakery in Chicago. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)Bernie Sanders smiles as he sits for breakfast with his guests, Cook County Commissioner, Jess "Chuy" Garcia and his wife Evelyn at Lou Mitchell's Restaurant and Bakery in Chicago. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)Supporters listen as Sanders speaks to them during a rally at the PNC Music Pavilion in Charlotte. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)
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