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Senate Passes $280 Billion Industrial Policy Bill To Counter China (nytimes.com) 62

Posted by msmash from the moving-forward dept.
The Senate on Wednesday passed an expansive $280 billion bill aimed at building up America's manufacturing and technological edge to counter China, embracing in an overwhelming bipartisan vote the most significant government intervention in industrial policy in decades. From a report: The legislation reflected a remarkable and rare consensus in an otherwise polarized Congress in favor of forging a long-term strategy to address the nation's intensifying geopolitical rivalry with Beijing, centered around investing federal money into cutting-edge technologies and innovations to bolster the nation's industrial, technological and military strength.

It passed on a lopsided bipartisan vote of 64 to 33, with 17 Republicans voting in support. The margin illustrated how commercial and military competition with Beijing -- as well as the promise of thousands of new American jobs -- has dramatically shifted longstanding party orthodoxies, generating agreement among Republicans who once had eschewed government intervention in the markets and Democrats who had resisted showering big companies with federal largess. "No country's government -- even a strong country like ours -- can afford to sit on the sidelines," Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader who helped to spearhead the measure, said in an interview. "I think it's a sea change that will stay."
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Senate Passes $280 Billion Industrial Policy Bill To Counter China More

Senate Passes $280 Billion Industrial Policy Bill To Counter China

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  • Pork Pork Pork (Score:5, Insightful)

    by NoWayNoShapeNoForm ( 7060585 ) on Wednesday July 27, 2022 @02:25PM (#62739112)

    As usual with the US Congress - good intentions wrapped in thin paper that will fall apart in the first rain.

    The political payoffs disgused as "plans" are nothing but PORK.

    This bacon is not good for you, your children, your grandchildren, or for any future generations that will be saddled with this immense debt.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by GoTeam ( 5042081 )
      Exactly what I was thinking. Stupid republicans can't even stay true to their party platform. They probably have investments in these companies that are getting $$. Maybe congress should work on solutions that don't involve printing more money.

      • Re:Pork Pork Pork (Score:5, Insightful)

        by MachineShedFred ( 621896 ) on Wednesday July 27, 2022 @02:41PM (#62739174) Journal

        When have they ever stayed true to their party platform, even when they had one? They shout as loud as they can when not in power about fiscal responsibility, right up until they are to vote on corporate welfare bills and tax cuts for rich assholes that don't need tax cuts, then it's time to put even more on the federal credit card. Then bitch and moan about raising the debt ceiling to pay for spending they already approved.

        Today's verse is about inflation and how making sure half the country didn't fall into depression-era poverty due to the covid relief packages was a bad thing, and it's all Joe Biden's fault. And then they go and vote for $230,000,000,000.00 more spending probably in the same breath. Then the familiar refrain of "fiscal responsibility" comes back.

        This has been the same song and dance since 1994. I really don't know why anyone still falls for it.

        • This has been the same song and dance since 1994. I really don't know why anyone still falls for it.

          I am pretty sure its the marketing behind the "your vote matters" people.
          I can say that my vote amounts next to nothing. Hell, if I could sell it for $20, I would.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by GoTeam ( 5042081 )
          Both side will tell their constituents that it'll be a job creator. Somehow these programs never seem to create many jobs and the money often ends up going to foreign companies. It's a pain in the ass to go back and track the money dispersed from previous spending bills, but more citizens need to start doing this. There are resources [usaspending.gov] that try to make it easier, but sometimes you have to do the work [congress.gov] on your own.

        • Re: (Score:1, Troll)

          by Powercntrl ( 458442 )

          I really don't know why anyone still falls for it.

          Because "Look over there, gays / brown people / China!" still works.

      • Republicans have favored pork ever since the Bush 2 era. That's why Ron Paul ran for president. He didn't get much support. It's not a very popular platform in America. We like "free" gifts.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by Tablizer ( 95088 )

          Democrat pork tends to be for social programs and Republican pork tends to be military and corporate favoritism. But these are just tendencies as there are plenty of exceptions and flip flops.

          • Social programs usually aren't referred to as pork.

            Both parties try to get funding for donors in their districts. It's how they reward the donors. It's not a partisan thing, it's a practical thing.

        • Republican spending policy:

          https://www.milwaukeeindepende... [milwaukeeindependent.com]

          At least the Democrats are trying to help, the Republicans are openly ripping you off.

          • Most Americans have benefited from tax cuts. Don't try to pretend that they haven't.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by noodler ( 724788 )

              If taxes are spent well then almost no one benefits from a tax cut, at least with the tax level in the US.

            • Most Americans have benefited from tax cuts. Don't try to pretend that they haven't.

              How much did the deficit increase because of it? When do the effects of that show up?

              (Clue: A couple of years after they leave office - that's the point of the Two Santas Strategy and you've obviously fallen for it hook, line, and sinker)

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by fermion ( 181285 )
      It is $50 billion is pork and $w00 billion in research and education. The sickness dooming this nation is we can just sit on our punches and the corporations and government will magically provide well paying jobs to an uneducated workforce. We have to accept that it might not be cost effective to pay $20 an hour to make coffee or $25 an hour to deliver packages. That we the people might have to meet half way an acquire skills and advance knowledge if we want a car and a house and enough money to fund some r
    • Reason TV has a series of great clips called "Great Moments in Unintended Consequences". I am sure that this bill will end in that series of clips sooner or later.
    • If it makes it down to working Americans. For example in the '80s we did massive amounts of infrastructure spending that resulted in entire new cities being built and kept housing prices down helping maintain the middle class in the face of our jobs being shipped overseas by keeping inflation on housing prices under control.

      I do have an objection to what we did during covid where we handed about 1.2 trillion dollars to the top 1%. We should just take that money back. By force if necessary. They didn't e

      • I've said it before and I will say it again stop voting for the politician who has the best advertisements and the most fun rallies.

        I tried to watch a recording of a Trump rally once. "Know your enemy" and all that jazz. I couldn't get through it. It was nothing but incessant whining, complaining and insulting people who are part of the out group. People who find that sort of thing fun or entertaining clearly just have brains that are wired differently.

        By contrast, the Hillary rally I went to was largely positive. Almost no time was spent disparaging Republicans, the messages were primarily about addressing issues facing the count

        • And the Republicans can best be seen in job numbers. 96% of all jobs are created during Democratic administrations. Seriously Google it. It's a fact.

          Also it's kind of telling that when I said people shouldn't vote for pro corporate candidates you immediately picked up but I was disparaging the Republican Party. I knew of course if I said the r word I'd get modded down in the pulp because people have been conditioned by our media to think that partisan politics is bad. Nobody ever asks why we have partisa

  • Oh fun, pork chops! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by nightflameauto ( 6607976 ) on Wednesday July 27, 2022 @02:37PM (#62739156)

    Q: How many companies will get millions of these dollars to produce marvelous new tech, then use that money to pay executive bonuses or do stock buy-backs, then continue to outsource any actual tech development to other countries?

    A: All of them.

    • Every primary election I voted in is had at least one usually two or three and they always lose. It's real easy to take the money back with taxes but you have to put people in your state and federal legislatures who will do that.

      I mean how many people bitching about pork on this thread showed up to vote for Bernie Sanders in the last two primary elections? And he's just the most obvious example. I'm not saying you throw your vote away in the general we are a two-party system thanks to winner take all vo

      • I vote in primaries. The candidates I vote for are typically either last, or second to last in the final standing of the primary. As you said, we're in a two party system. I tend to vote for the lesser of two evils on the national level, because what real choice to we have at that point? The primary process gives us the illusion that our voice matters, then goes to the most corporate sponsored candidates. By the time we reach the actual vote? Corporate corporate, corporate, corporate or corporate? Which way

        • In my state at least the primary voter turnout, in a presidential year, was 30%. The presidential election got 77%. Most states I look up are under 50% for primary votes.

          If only the people who support pro corporate people vote thats who we get. I don't like it either but turnout is important and could make a difference, upsets and underdogs can and do happen so I wouldn't say primaries are an illusion when 6 or 7 out of 10 people don't bother to participate.

          Money in politics is a problem for sure and wit

          • So the last election was an outlier because Bernie Sanders brought more people than normal. That's fine but the key here is showing up when there isn't anything exciting going on. Also the key is talking to people about how to spot a pro corporate candidate. It's about telling people that if they see an exciting rally with production values more at home with Bruce Springsteen they should be asking who paid for all this and why? Once in awhile the answer might be small donors, but I don't think you're going
        • Where your vote matters. Very few people vote in the primary. The problem you're having where the candidates you support lose the primary is because the majority of people voting in a primary election are older people who are either bored or treat voting as a civic duty. Older people traditionally have allowed themselves to be manipulated by pro corporate candidates for a variety of reasons none of them good.

          This is why I remind people to stop voting for pro corporate candidates and to try and spot them

  • I for one agree (Score:4, Insightful)

    by TomGreenhaw ( 929233 ) on Wednesday July 27, 2022 @02:39PM (#62739166)
    Other governments are pumping billions into their domestic electronics industry and reluctantly the US needs to fight fire with fire. While I normally oppose government welfare projects, it's healthy that the US repatriate semiconductor production and public funds are the only way profit driven corporations will do so.

    This benefits consumers and us nerds as our steady stream of shiny new toys will continue to flow.

    Ignore the naysayers, they are likely paid to fill social media platforms with anti-US propagands.

    • Anybody disagreeing is a paid shill? Holy fuck, I love the level of discourse around here these days.

      This is the United States of America. If I had faith that our government could craft a bill like this that isn't just a straight, "Here, take this money and pocket it," hand out to the corporate class, sure, this would be a great concept. But, as I said, this is the United States of America. It'll be sunk into companies that will use it to pump their executive bonus pool, then continue to not build manufactu

    • public funds are the only way profit driven corporations will do so.

      Were tariffs outlawed while I wasn't looking?

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by mtm10 ( 1530769 )

      I agree with this bill as well.

      Sure there are messy details, and yes people will profit from this.
      But the reason humans make most chips in Taiwan and Korea is because those governments spent similar dollars to help get fabs built in their countries.

      It will take years after a bill like this passes before for the balance to tip back towards the west.
      The years start now.

      https://cdn.statcdn.com/Infogr... [statcdn.com]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by kenh ( 9056 )

      Where do you think we'll get the $230BN to fund this spending? China, yay!

  • On every issue, no matter how trivial or unimportant, you can see politicians bicker and shout at each other without end.

    But as soon as it comes to throwing your money at their owners, they're partners in crime.

  • More company handouts.

  • as well as the promise of thousands of new American jobs

    Really?!! Wowwwww!

  • Whilst it's a noble plan, I can't help thinking US companies are being rewarded for ripping out local manufacturing capability in the US [the Semiconductor business is a prime example of this] and sending it overseas. Now the US Government wants it back so it paying through the nose.

    Some of this could have been achieved by telling the companies "you want those nice juicy contracts? Local manufacture - all of it. And we mean ALL of it"

    Identify key current and future technologies and give the companies 3 year

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by hoofie ( 201045 )

      I should have added whilst they cost the Govt a few million quid, the Govt is putting in 400 million quid over 10 years [that's $5000 million] to increase capacity and capability.

  • That most of that money just gets funneled to China?

  • "Assembled in America from Chinese parts"

  • Next time you file your taxes remember the Senate just voted to give $75 billion to huge chip manufacturers—regardless of whether they use that money in the USA.
    @SenMikeLee

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