Senate Passes $280 Billion Industrial Policy Bill Meant to Counter China

Senate Passes $280 Billion Industrial Policy Bill Meant to Counter China

The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 passed in a vote of 63-33, with 17 Republicans voting in favor. The over 1,000-page legislation includes $52.7 billion for direct funding for the construction and expansion of semiconductor manufacturing and $24 billion for tax incentives and other purposes.

The bill will authorize roughly $200 billion in science and technology research funding that will be spread across several government agencies over the next five years. The largest recipient of the research funds will be the National Science Foundation, which will receive $81 billion.

Related:

CHIPS Won’t Help China

Third, the CHIPS Act actually has provisions designed specifically to restrict investments in China. These so-called “guardrails” require that companies taking federal dollars for American projects must also agree not to invest in state-of-the-art technology in China—not just with the federal dollars, with any dollars. Good-faith critics have raised fair concerns that these guardrails should be broader, tougher, and firmer. But any guardrails at all represent unprecedented restrictions on what U.S. companies can do in the People’s Republic. It’s one thing to say an ideal bill would hurt China even more; it’s quite another to try and claim that less-than-perfect restrictions count as “help.”

Pelosi’s Husband Dumped Up to $5M of Tech Stock Right Before Senate Passed CHIPS

Pelosi’s Husband Dumped Up to $5M of Tech Stock Right Before Senate Passed CHIPS

Just before the Senate passed a major bill to subsidize computer chip manufacturers on Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-California) husband sold thousands of shares of Nvidia — a tech company that could stand to gain from the passage of the nearly $80 billion bill.

Pelosi’s Husband Dumped Up to $5M of Tech Stock Right Before Senate Passed CHIPS

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Nancy Pelosi And Husband Sell NVIDIA Corp Stock After Public Pressure

“I think this comes in response to public pressure and the conflict of interest her stock position posed,” the founder of Congresstrading.com, who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of his site, told Benzinga.

“It is surprising to see the sale. Also, what’s surprising here is that she sold and reported one day later. Usually she takes a couple of weeks. She wanted the public to know she cleared her books of this conflict of interest immediately.”

Congresstrading also noted Pelosi’s filings typically come on Fridays, when the media may potentially bury the story over the weekend.

The Nancy Pelosi Tracker on Twitter, which shares transactions by the Speaker of the House, noted the transaction history of NVIDIA Corporation by the Pelosis dates back to May 2021. According to the account, the Pelosis still own 50 options on NVIDIA Corporation with a strike price of $100 and expiration of Sep. 16, 2022 that were purchased back on July 23, 2021.

Pelosi remains one of the most active filers of stock transactions in Congress due to her husband being a venture capitalist.

Democrats Love Saying That AR-15s Should Only Be Used On Foreigners

Every time there’s a mass shooting in America with an AR-15, high-level Democrats line up to proclaim that those weapons should only ever be used to kill impoverished foreigners.

Democrats Love Saying That AR-15s Should Only Be Used On Foreigners

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Automatic Rifle vs Assault Rifle – Here’s the Difference

I would hope that veterans of war, like Tammy Duckworth and Pete Buttigeig, would know the difference between a semiautomatic rifle and an automatic rifle (which IS a weapon of war)! Of course, they’re being deceptive!

The Flaw in the Progressive Stance on Guns + AOC Suggests Checking Juvenile Criminal Records To Be Able To Buy A Gun Could Be Racist

The flaw in the progressive stance on guns

Fulminating at congressional inaction in the face of spree killers may be satisfying and even necessary. But it is unlikely to persuade them to change the law. Continuing to insist on new rules while shying away from enforcing existing ones, meanwhile, burns credibility with conservative voters, who see a left that’s eager to penalize their hobby and reluctant to punish criminals.

Considerable progress against gun violence is politically and logistically feasible with more quality-of-life policing and vigorous prosecution of illegal gun possession — and the increased levels of incarceration both would require. If progressives want to make guns harder to get but don’t want to prosecute those who have guns illegally, then … it’s almost as if they’re inviting a future in which only outlaws will have guns.

Related:

AOC Suggests Checking Juvenile Criminal Records To Be Able To Buy A Gun Could Be Racist

The racial politics of gun control

Gun control’s racist reality: The liberal argument against giving police more power

THE (REALLY, REALLY) RACIST HISTORY OF GUN CONTROL IN AMERICA

The Racist Origin of America’s Gun Control Laws

Marksman who is Asian American says gun control laws are racist, puts Asians at risk

Speaker at DSA panel: “War creates the possibility for a push of socialists ideas” + “Democratic Socialism” in the Service of U.S. Imperialism

At a recent panel event hosted by the Democratic Socialists of America’s (DSA) chapter for the state of Maine, Vladyslav Starodubstev, a leader of the Ukrainian pseudo-left Sotsialnyi Rukh (Social Movement), put forward the chilling perspective that “the war creates the possibility for a push of socialist ideas in Ukraine.” The panelists and DSA moderators stated their agreement with the speaker and demanded the US government deploy more tanks, missiles, and howitzers to wage war against Russia, regardless of the risk of nuclear holocaust.

Speaker at DSA panel: “War creates the possibility for a push of socialists ideas”

Related:

“Democratic Socialism” in the Service of U.S. Imperialism:

In “The Real Heritage of Harrington’s DSA,” we show where the reformist “democratic socialism” of 2018 came from, and what it actually stands for. Today’s Democratic Socialists of America hails the “tradition” of Michael Harrington and Norman Thomas, long-time leaders of the Socialist Party (SP) that gave rise to what is now the DSA. In that article (see p. x), we explain that this tradition has often, and accurately, been described as “State Department socialism.” Those unfamiliar with the left may think the term is a polemical excess or empty epithet. Not at all. In fact, intimate ties to the Department of State are only the beginning of the intertwining of the official social democrats with the agencies of U.S. imperialism. Activists who want to devote themselves to genuine socialism need to know what’s what. So here’s the story

The Washington Quid Pro Quo and a Comment on Roe v. Wade

The Washington Quid Pro Quo and a Comment on Roe v. Wade

As to Neuburger’s on Roe v. Wade, the fact that many people are mighty unhappy about it being overturned is not germane unless they manage to pass new Federal legislation, which seems unlikely. Women’s advocacy groups collectively need to be taken out and shot. If you read the original ruling, it’s a handwave. It was always vulnerable to being reversed. And yet those with most to lose did nothing to protect their rights. The response to abortion doctors being shot and women going to abortion clinics being threatened didn’t elicit remotely the warranted level of outrage. This action should have been made domestic terrorism in the laws of the Democratic-leaning states and prosecuted as such. The defenders of abortion acting like a bunch of wimps helped pave the way to where we are.

Comment by Yves Smith