(YBH) - Senate Democrats rarely do anything that isn’t a calculated move, and New York Senator Chuck Schumer never does anything that isn’t meant to further the Democrat cause.
Schumer, arguably the most partisan Senate Democrat currently serving, sent Apple CEO Steve Jobs a letter this week imploring Mr. Jobs to fix the iPhone 4′s “antenna issue.” I put antenna issue in quotes because even after yesterday’s Apple mea culpa it is still unclear how big of an issue the antenna actually poses to iPhone 4 users.
Schumer to Apple: "You are on our radar."
During the press conference, Steve Jobs said, “This has been blown so out of proportion that it’s incredible.” Well Steve-O, there may be more at play here than you think.
The press has begun to focus on the fact that major U.S. corporation’s are stockpiling cash instead of doling out jobs to the unemployed. The narrative runs one of two ways. A.) the uncertainty coming from Washington (particularly from the Obama administration) is putting the fear of regulators, the IRS, and mandates into the hearts of American business. “Who knows what they will do next?” is the refrain. Or, B.) Bush drove the economy to hell and Obama will need more time to dig us out. Business isn’t spending because Bush drove the economy into a ditch. BTW, anytime a pundit refers to the economy in a “ditch”, be certain he or she is fully behind whatever President Obama proposes now or in the future. The word “ditch” in reference to the economy must have tested well with the Democrat base somewhere along the line. If it is narrative A. then Obama looks bad, if it is B. well then it’s just Bush’s fault.
Back to Apple. Mr. Schumer is politely saying to Apple (and other CEO’s smart enough to be paying attention) that it is time to spend some of that cash spurring the economy. “Our guy looks bad, and you better help, pal,” is the silent message hidden in Mr. Schumer’s letter to Apple. Sure, Senator Schumer glows when he describes his feelings for Apple products in his letter to Mr. Jobs. Don’t be fooled, Washington is paying attention to how much cash corporations are hoarding. Calling for free iPhone bumpers may be a polite nudge to a company that is seen as generally sympathetic to the Obama cause.
Industrial companies in the S&P 500 were sitting on over $830 billion in cash earlier this year. That is a lot of money that can be spent growing the economy. Washington knows it and American business better be careful.
What would stop the Democrats from moralizing that corporations shouldn’t be allowed to keep that much money on hand? My answer is: not much. Washington Democrats have already broken contracts at Chrysler painting bondholders as greedy, reconfigured the American health care and financial businesses with only a handful of Republican votes it total, and have begun a drive to remake our energy economy in Berkeley’s image. Forcing companies to spend excess cash on jobs isn’t even close to being outside of their wheelhouse.
From iPhone bumpers to a conspiracy against business? A stretch? Perhaps, but Mr. Schumer’s busy-body letter to Apple may have been the opening shot in a new round of blaming business for Washington’s misuse or lack of public funds.
Perhaps on the plane back to Hawaii to finish his vacation Mr. Jobs will think a little further as to why the iPhone issue was “blown so out of proportion.”
Related posts:
- Schumer Ups The Ante: Blames Republicans for Obama’s Failure
- Apple founding contract fetches $1.5 million at auction
- When Founders Leave: Lessons for Apple From Microsoft, Intel and Sun
- Blog of the Month: Things Apple is Worth More Than
John Romano is the publisher and editor of Yes, But However!, a musician, a former political correspondent for BBC Radio London, and a serial web entrepreneur. Follow him on twitter: twitter.com/yesbuthowever or John Romano on Google+John Romano article archive.
