Boeing lives by big government, dies by big government

[Geee]

Washington Examiner:

Boeing is not free to make its jets at the factory of its choosing, according to the National Labor Relations Board -- it must make them in Washington state, using union labor.

This extraordinary abridgement of economic freedom might suggest an anti-Boeing vendetta from President Obama, except that this administration's Export-Import Bank has subsidized Boeing with nearly $15 billion in loan guarantees in the past two years -- roughly three-quarters of all of Ex-Im's guarantees during that time.

This puts Boeing in an awkward position. The NLRB is surely overreaching in trying to block Boeing from making some of its 787s in South Carolina, a right-to-work state (NLRB calls this illegal retaliation against the machinists and aerospace workers union for its 2005 and 2008 strikes). In its effort to fight back, Boeing could be defanged by its reliance on big government. It's a cautionary tale for Obama's other corporate allies -- from the drug industry that benefits so much from Obamacare to the tech, agrichem, coal, and other industries that have benefitted from the president's corporatism.

Boeing and Obama, both based in Chicago, have a real political friendship. In 2008, Obama was by far the biggest recipient of campaign contributions from Boeing employees and executives, hauling in $197,000 -- five times as much as John McCain, and more than the top eight Republicans combined.

Boeing's lobbyists include some of Obama's closest allies. The Podesta Group, co-founded by Obama's transition director and John Podesta, represents the jet maker, with Democratic fundraiser Tony Podesta and former Obama campaign aide and administration official Oscar Ramirez as two of the lobbyists on the account. Linda Daschle, wife of Obama confidant Tom Daschle, is a longtime Boeing lobbyist.

[NCTexan]

Like they say in the 'hood... "What goes around, comes around."

[Sabre86]

Boeing is one largest, and often the largest, U.S. exporter in terms of $$$.

 

If they went under, it would take the entire U.S. economy right along with it.

[clearvision]

OK so we don't export cars and planes will diminish in time with foreign competition, but at least we have Segways to fill the gap in the future.