The CEO of Loews Corp., Jim Tisch, who is smart, gives an interview to Bloomberg News, which the wire service unloads in two parts, one here on investment ideas and one here on politics and the economy overall:
Tisch, 57, said President Barack Obama's health care reform, financial regulation and moratorium on offshore drilling are keeping businesses from spending money to expand.
"The thing that business people don't like is uncertainty," Tisch said in an interview at Bloomberg's New York headquarters yesterday. "Part of the problem is that business has very little confidence in what's been going on and very little visibility."...
Tisch, who contributed to Republican Arizona Senator John McCain's 2008 presidential election campaign, said Obama's actions after BP Plc's Macondo well blew out in the Gulf of Mexico in April, creating the world's largest accidental oil spill, sent the wrong signal. Obama named a commission that failed to consider the oil industry's concerns, he said.
'Fair Shake'
"That sends a strong message to American industry that if your industry gets in trouble, there's a possibility you won't get a fair shake," Tisch said. Loews owns 50 percent of Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc., the U.S.'s largest deep-water driller. Two Gulf rigs owned by Houston-based Diamond have since left the Gulf to drill elsewhere.
In classic biased Bloomberg fashion, the wire mentions Mr. Tisch's contribution to the McCain campaign, but makes no mention of Mr. Tisch's contributions over the years to Democratic politicians, such as Senator Schumer. Also, somewhat strangely, the articles make no mention of the fact that he is a board member of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Disclosure: I own some Loews stock.
