Model Train Journal

A few years ago Trump tried to encourage companies to build their products in this country under his MAGA campaign.
Got some tax relief for companies to do it

Democrats wouldn't have anything to do with it. Called it corporate welfare.

Along comes Biden with his BBB... build back better. BBB same as MAGA.

Biden set to boost America’s semiconductor production with signing of CHIPS & Science Act
The president signed the legislation into law on Tuesday.
https://www.ky3.com/2022/08/09/biden-se ... ience-act/

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - President Joe Biden says he’s giving the nation a $280 billion dollar boost to make key products right here in America. $280 billion dollar in corporate welfare.

On Tuesday, Biden signed the CHIPS & Science Act into law at a ceremony at the White House in front of lawmakers from across the country.
“This law funds the entire semiconductor supply chain for research and development,” said Biden.

Trump pretty much failed on that effort - companies continued to move out of the US and very few ever came back. Tax cuts don't work for motivating corporations to do anything other than to pocket more profits. Reagan proved that trickle down doesn't.

Unclear how this new bill will work - lots of strings on the money requiring companies to build plants here to get any of it, and keep production of the inventions in the US exclusively. Given that we are heavily dependent on foreign companies for supply of chips (real Nat'l security issue...), seems something to watch and maybe learn from....

But it's funny how we turn a blind eye to all the other corporate welfare - like the $40 billion that the oil companies get......while Exxon and Chevron post record incomes for the 2nd quarter this year and Shell sets aside $6 billion of profit for a stock buy back.....while they still jack up the price of gasoline.

Rufus T. Firefly wrote:T
But it's funny how we turn a blind eye to all the other corporate welfare - like the $40 billion that the oil companies get......while Exxon and Chevron post record incomes for the 2nd quarter this year and Shell sets aside $6 billion of profit for a stock buy back.....while they still jack up the price of gasoline.

Just a temporary situation. Remember the Biden administration and the democrats have a war on fossil fuels with the green new deal. They plan to bankrupt the oil companies and put them out of business.

And Rufus is going to buy an electric car like the rest of us to save the planet

The chips bill is another scam, giving $82 billion to bring manufacturing to the US. What with the tax cuts given to business during the Trump administration, those particular companies are extremely profitable. We're talkin' like $20 billion per year.
All of this money going out just shows that the Democrat Party is the party of big business. Even with this inflation, just watch the stock market when the checks start going out. Middle America be damned!

Corporations run America, just like we've seen in so many futuristic movies over the decades....they became prophetic. Corporations are needed, but running unchecked, they're bad news. Lobbying should be illegal.

If you look into who becomes a lobbyist. You’ll see why lobbing laws don’t get changed

up148 wrote:Corporations run America, just like we've seen in so many futuristic movies over the decades....they became prophetic. Corporations are needed, but running unchecked, they're bad news.

Yes and then you very quickly run afoul of being accused of socialism and/or communism and against capitalism which is a Darwinist economy. Funny thing is that those that scream socialism and/or communism the loudest are the 1st in line when money is being made available from the Gov't. Consider all the money that was handed out to the airlines that are only marginally functional.....just what did they spend it all on?

Lobbying should be illegal.

Yep. And all donations from corporations, but sadly that latter bit got put into place by the Supreme Court so it's not going away since the folks that could make such a law love having their pockets filled with cash and being owned. The thought that the people that we elect actually represent us is at best a chimera - they're only there and exist to give the impression that we have free will and are involved in decision making. We're not.

Rufus T. Firefly wrote: Consider all the money that was handed out to the airlines that are only marginally functional.....just what did they spend it all on?

It cost 50 billion to bail out General Motors to keep it from bankruptcy and save the union contracts and all those high paying union jobs.

Ford didn't take any money because the CEO of Ford who had been the CEO of Boeing Did a great job of managing their finances.

The money to the airlines was to keep the industries alive and save a lot of high paying union jobs during the pandemic

Maybe it would have better to let everything go under and just pay the people to stay home

US made chips will cost more than foreign made therefore raising prices.

HONDO74 wrote:

Rufus T. Firefly wrote: Consider all the money that was handed out to the airlines that are only marginally functional.....just what did they spend it all on?

It cost 50 billion to bail out General Motors to keep it from bankruptcy and save the union contracts and all those high paying union jobs.

Ford didn't take any money because the CEO of Ford who had been the CEO of Boeing Did a great job of managing their finances.

And both closed plants and expanded operations in Mexico.....and maybe someday Ford will even come to get something back from that $1.2 billion they invested in Rivian. While GM put $2 billion into what turned out to be a major scam, Nikola.

Yup, great management there.

The money to the airlines was to keep the industries alive and save a lot of high paying union jobs during the pandemic

Yup, and they failed or just barely managed to not fall apart while continuing to schedule flight operations that they know that they cannot possible fulfill.

Maybe it would have better to let everything go under and just pay the people to stay home

Some should have gone under - at least 1-3 airlines should have been absorbed.

Maybe train them to do something better than standing around with their hands open? Maybe instead of propping up dying industries, prop up the ones that actually have direct Nat'l security involvement and get those jobs.

v8vega wrote:US made chips will cost more than foreign made therefore raising prices.

You want it cheap made in China, full of strings back China or do you want it made in the US?

It's going to cost to bring back and make stuff in the US - simple reality - want those high paying union jobs - guess what - you get to pay more.

Rufus T. Firefly wrote:

v8vega wrote:US made chips will cost more than foreign made therefore raising prices.

You want it cheap made in China, full of strings back China or do you want it made in the US?

It's going to cost to bring back and make stuff in the US - simple reality - want those high paying union jobs - guess what - you get to pay more.

The American worker wants to be paid top wages for what little they do but when they buy products they only want to pay slave wages. And yet they don't seem to mind paying big bucks for sports or concert tickets...

It's going to be interesting to see what happens when the amazon workers get a full union membership

HONDO74 wrote:

Rufus T. Firefly wrote:

v8vega wrote:US made chips will cost more than foreign made therefore raising prices.

You want it cheap made in China, full of strings back China or do you want it made in the US?

It's going to cost to bring back and make stuff in the US - simple reality - want those high paying union jobs - guess what - you get to pay more.

The American worker wants to be paid top wages for what little they do but when they buy products they only want to pay slave wages. And yet they don't seem to mind paying big bucks for sports or concert tickets...

There is that hypocrisy actively in play every day - everyone want to get paid but they also want everything for free... Yes, make in in the USA but make for China wages and costs......independent analytical thinking is not a strong point these days.

It's going to be interesting to see what happens when the amazon workers get a full union membership

Could be interesting, or not. They may find out that they had it pretty good. Every 4-5 years the nurses at my father's hospital got fired up to unionize. He just pulled out the contracts for the other hospitals with unionized nursing and handed them out.... After they read what they'd be giving up, no union...over and over. You put that clock on the wall and suddenly things change, and usually not for the better.

I don't recall of any corporation that was ever interested in MY welfare, even when I worked for them.

E7 wrote:I don't recall of any corporation that was ever interested in MY welfare, even when I worked for them.

Well, that sort of goes w/o saying,