The President's Awkward Steve Jobs Reference at the State of the Union

In his State of the Union address, President Obama talked a lot about bringing back American jobs as well as American ingenuity as represented by Steve Jobs. But talking about them together somehow seems oxymoronic. "You see, an economy built to last is one where we encourage the talent and ingenuity of every person in this country," Obama said, bowing to Laurene Powell Jobs, who sat with Michelle Obama as an honored guest. "That means women should earn equal pay for equal work. It means we should support everyone who's willing to work; and every risk-taker and entrepreneur who aspires to become the next Steve Jobs."

There are several contradictions in this short passage worth pointing out. First of all, as America's most valuable company and an industrial powerhouse, Apple could very easily create a lot of jobs. Obama's speech happened to hit just a few minutes after Apple released it's fourth quarter earnings report, a bombshell of a document that showed not only that Apple's profits exceeded Google's entire revenue but also that the company remains flush with cash. They have almost a hundred billion dollars on hand and Apple executives says they're "actively discussing uses of our cash balance." Why not build some factories, as Obama's populist speech suggests is the way forward for America? Well, based on new information about Apple's manufacturing practices published in Sunday's New York Times , Obama tried that when Jobs was still alive.

Read the full story at The Atlantic Wire.