The White House today released Michelle Obama’s guest list for tonight’s State of the Union Address. On that list is Bradley Henning, a machinist at Atlas Machine and Supply, in Louisville, Kentucky, whose boss, Rich Gimmel, recently testified in front of Congress that Obama’s policies are hurting the economy.
Here’s how the White House describes Henning:
Even his boss at Atlas Machine had good things to say about Henning. “I can’t think of a better person to represent us than Bradley Henning,” Gimmel told the Courier-Journal. “In terms of work ethic, character, integrity and just plain skill, he’s as good as they get, there’s no question about it.”
But while Gimmel is supportive of his employee, he’s not supportive of the president. He testified to that in Washington in 2011.
“We have seen policies from Washington, D.C. that will not help our economic recovery and will not create jobs,” said Gimmel at a House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing. “Some are proposed policies that were prevented from being enacted, such as huge increases in the individual income tax rate, the deceptively-named Employee Free Choice Act and so-called cap and trade legislation. And we still face threats from an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that is out of control and a health care mandate that appears to worsen an already onerous health care cost burden on American businesses. To regain manufacturing momentum and return to net manufacturing job gains, we need improved economic conditions and improved government policies. It is because of the significant challenges affecting manufacturing that the NAM developed a strategy to enhance our growth.”
