GE's Jeffrey Immelt Tapped to Head Obama's Jobs Advisory Panel

The Obama administration framed Chinese President Hu Jintao's state visit to Washington this week largely as a trade and jobs mission, and on Friday, President Obama used a trip to a General Electric plant in Schenectady, N.Y., to push hard again on the employment front.

At the plant, Obama announced that Jeffrey Immelt, CEO and chairman of GE, will head a new advisory panel, the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.

"Our challenge is to do everything we can to make it easier for folks to bring products to market and to start and expand new businesses, and to grow and hire new workers," Obama said.

With unemployment stuck at over 9 percent and the 2012 re-election campaign kicking off this week, the Obama White House is focusing more intently on creating jobs as he seeks a second term.

Obama is making the argument that the economy under his leadership has recovered from the meltdown that started before he took office -- but is not growing fast enough. It's a distinction and one that may not mean much to the long-term unemployed.

The panel that Immelt will oversee will replace the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, which goes out of business on Feb. 6. Members of the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness will be announced later.

The president has been emphasizing that global trade expansion is a path for the U.S. to gain more jobs.

Promoting exports is important, Obama said at the plant. "That's why I've set a goal of doubling American exports within five years. And we're on track to do it. We're already up 18 percent and we're just going to keep on going, because we're going to sell more and more stuff all around the world.

"When a company sells products overseas, it leads to hiring on our shores. The deal in Samalkot means jobs in Schenectady. That's how we accelerate growth. That's how we create opportunities for our people. This is how we go from an economy that was powered by what we borrow and what we consume -- that's what happened over the last 10 years.

"What was driving our economy was we were spending a lot on credit cards. Everybody was borrowing a lot. The Chinese were selling a lot to us. Folks were selling a lot to us from all over the world. We've got to reverse that. We want an economy that's fueled by what we invent and what we build. We're going back to Thomas Edison's principles. We're going to build stuff and invent stuff."

Reaction to the creation of the advisory panel was mixed.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said in a statement, "The GE chairman has been outspoken about job growth – not in the United States but in China . . . I hope he changes his mind and focuses on rebuilding the manufacturing sector here in the United States, not in China, and in the process creates millions of good-paying jobs."

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a statement, "I am encouraged that the President was able to work with us after the election on a bipartisan plan to prevent a tax hike on any American and in creating incentives for economic growth. Hopefully this panel will remind the President of other actions we can take now to improve our competitiveness."