How Crazy Are Right-Wing Corporate Zillionaires? This Crazy

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Jon Schwarz

Jon Schwarz is editor of MichaelMoore.com and was research producer for 'Capitalism: A Love Story.' He's also contributed to the New Yorker, New York Times, Atlantic, Wall Street Journal, Slate, Saturday Night Live and NPR.

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October 5th, 2012 2:07 PM

How Crazy Are Right-Wing Corporate Zillionaires? This Crazy

By Jon Schwarz

This is from "Transaction Man: Mormonism, private equity, and the making of a candidate" in the New Yorker last week:

"The private sector is less forgiving," [Romney] said. "If you make serious mistakes in the private sector, you'll lose your job, or, if you're in a position of responsibility, you might lose other people's jobs. In politics, politicians make mistakes all the time and blame their opposition, or borrow more money, or raise taxes to pay for their mistake. In the business world, the ability to speak fast and convincingly is of very little value. I remember the first time I met Jack Welch. I expected him to be a super-salesman. Instead, he spoke quietly, somewhat haltingly, but brilliantly. Stuff matters a lot more than fluff in the private sector."

Jack Welch today on a Bureau of Labor Statistics report saying unemployment has fallen to 7.8%:

Unbelievable jobs numbers..these Chicago guys will do anything..can't debate so change numbers
— Jack Welch (@jack_welch) October 5, 2012

Welch has stood by this tweet, saying "I wasn't kidding."

Now here's Welch on MSNBC's Morning Joe, back on July 3, 2008:

BRZEZINSKI: Now, we have one more opinion page to get to. Jack, what did you choose?...

WELCH: I brought this from yesterday's Wall Street Journal," page A-15. The title of it is "Global Warming as Mass Neurosis"...what they’re saying is, NASA has changed some of their numbers. Some of the hottest days, they have a lot of technical numbers here to show you that NASA overstated what's happening. But then they go on to try and explain this is a movement. Global warming as a movement. And they’ve got a theological basis for it, they’ve got a sociological basis for it and they got a psychological basis for it. And they got an argument that states that global warming is the attack on capitalism, that socialism couldn't bring, and that other movements couldn't bring. It's the same crowd that brought you out of control population. It's a very thoughtful piece. And it's on A-15. Anybody who even hasn't even had their mind completely jammed shut on global warming has to read it. Has to read it....This is a thoughtful guy taking a position, not some politician running for office.

Between them, Mitt Romney and Jack Welch are worth about a billion dollars.

In fairness to Welch, though, Republicans have traditionally believed in conspiracies at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the past, those conspiracies were run by a cabal of Jews:

In July 1971, dogged by rising unemployment and inflation, Nixon imagined the existence of a “Jewish cabal” involving Federal Reserve Chairman Arthur F. Burns and the Bureau of Labor Statistics...

[A]lone with Colson, Nixon said, "Well, listen, are they all Jews over there?"

"Every one of them," Colson said. "Well, a couple of exceptions."

"See, the Jews are all through the government, and we have got to get in those areas. We’ve got to get a man in charge who is not Jewish ... The government is full of Jews. Second, most Jews are disloyal...you can’t trust the bastards. They turn on you.”

And indeed, the Daily Caller is still concerned that the Bureau of Labor Statistics may be getting a bit too Jewy. However, Welch has not said anything along these lines, which I guess is progress.

(Daily Caller story via Irin Carmon.)