“These are Republican CEOs who are trying to embarrass the President and Democrats in general. Where do you hear about this stuff? The Wall Street Journal editorial page and conservative websites. No one else picked up on this but you guys. It’s BS.”

– An unnamed White House legislative affairs staffer, quoted by the American Spectator, when asked about the announcements of writedowns by AT&T, John Deere, Verizon and other firms last week.