Dividing wealth, not increasing it

OPINION:

It is hard to imagine a more ill-equipped individual than President Obama to originate policies that would lead to job creation. At least President Franklin D. Roosevelt tried his hand at a few business investments before entering politics. He failed measurably, but Mr. Obama lacks even Roosevelt’s modest experience.

Mr. Obama’s past is all about seizing and dividing up the wealth created by others. That was what the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) was all about and that is what Mr. Obama’s union allies are all about. Mr. Obama and entrepreneurship amount to as stark an antithesis as one will ever find.

Jeffrey Immelt, General Electric’s chief executive officer and picked by Mr. Obama to run a jobs panel, demonstrates this ineptitude. Mr. Immelt has reduced GE employment by 30,000 workers while creating employment in foreign subsidiaries by 25,000 workers. His company, along with General Motors, received a bailout that paid GE to buy GM’s products. Has any wealth been created? Absolutely not. It has just been transferred from taxpayers to another one of Mr. Obama’s supporters. It’s what passes for entrepreneurship in his administration, and can eventually lead to a national economic implosion.

SAMUEL BURKEEN

Reston, Va.