One News Now: Exec Should 'Know' A Swamp When He Sees One

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A high-profile business executive continues to make headlines for talking about gridlock and dysfunction in Washington, but one commentator suggests that executive ought to take a look in the mirror.
In a recent conference call, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said the U.S. economy has been growing at 1.5 to 2 percent in spite of stupidity and political gridlock, because the American business sector is powerful and strong. "What I'm saying is it would be much stronger growth had we made intelligent decisions and were there not gridlock," Dimon added. "We have become one of the most bureaucratic, confusing, litigious societies on the planet."
Dimon went on to say that it's "almost an embarrassment" being an American citizen traveling around the world and listening to things that U.S. citizens have to deal with. "And at one point, we all have to get our act together or we won't do what we're supposed to do for the average Americans," he continued. "Competitive taxes are important for business and business growth, which is important for jobs and wage growth."
Justin Danhof of the Free Enterprise Project (FEP) at the National Center for Public Policy Research says it's not wrong to say there is dysfunction in Washington. "But what I would have to say is that it takes a lot of hubris for someone on Jamie Dimon's part to call out dysfunction in Washington, DC, considering that as the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, he is the definition of 'the swamp' – and has been for quite some time," says Danhof. "His hands really are tied when it comes to speaking on these issues, in my opinion, because we can go down the long list of cronyism but I think it begins and ends with the American taxpayers bailing out companies such as JPMorgan during the financial crisis."
The Free Enterprise Project has attended JPMorgan Chase shareholder meetings in the past and filed a shareholder resolution in 2015 to protect the political freedom of company employees. "I think they've returned to the radar with silly comments like this," says Danhof.
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