🇺🇸 Discussion: The REPUBLICAN Party - - - - - Part 20

[Teelie]

Once more we see the GOP and Trump administration are not looking out for anyone but themselves.

 

[Donner]

Gold.

 

[Sithborg]

Someone missed their cue for the "applause" sign.

 

[Sithborg]

This is odd. I get a feeling an indictment is coming.

Pennsylvania Republican congressman, Rep. Tom Marino, resigns - CNNPolitics

 

[Teelie]

Just re-elected and already out the door? Definitely sounds like a Trump guy.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Roll Call - House floor erupts after GOP lawmaker shouts ‘Go back to Puerto Rico’

The Washington Post - After butting heads with Trump administration, top HUD official departs agency

Last fall, Patenaude expressed concern over the Trump administration’s intervention in disaster-recovery money that Congress had appropriated for Puerto Rico and states hit by hurricanes.

President Trump in late September grew incensed after hearing, erroneously, that Puerto Rico was using the emergency money to pay off its debt, according to two people with direct knowledge of Trump’s thinking.

Trump told then-White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly and then-Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney that he did not want a single dollar going to Puerto Rico, because he thought the island was misusing the money and taking advantage of the government, according to a person with direct knowledge of the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive internal deliberations. Instead, he wanted more of the money to go to Texas and Florida, the person said.

“POTUS was not consolable about this,” the person said.

Democrats actually give a **** about Puerto Rico. Unlike the Republicans.

 

[samsnee]

A reminder that the party that is trying to make it harder for you to vote probably isn’t the party that believes in democracy.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

The Hill - [Senate Republican Majority Leader] McConnell blocks bill to reopen most of government

 

[Man in the Suit]

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

The Trump-McConnell-(and Ryan initiated) shutdown continues.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

A pressing issue for a state that borders Canada and is 93% non-Hispanic white but for a particular political party fueled by racial resentment and hostility.

 

[Sithborg]

They do understand that she is going to be in a tough, tough fight for re-election, right?

 

[Teelie]

If we're lucky she won't give into their demands but she's a Republican and these days all Republicans are really just spineless Trumpists who won't stand up to Trump.

 

[mclay18]

Collins voted to confirm Kavanaugh. She deserves to be primaried and lose her seat to a Democrat.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

 

[CaptainWagner]

If Pompeo runs, that would be a repeat of Koback, basically gifting Dems another big win in Kansas. Meanwhile, we've got to find someone who can beat McConnell. His actions are utterly unacceptable and we must pull out all the stops to beat him this year.

 

[Sithborg]

I mean, he won his district very solidly when he ran for his House seat. It isn't exactly a bad choice, but it is one that reeks of desperation. There are a lot of weak spots, as shown by the last election. McConnell wants as strong candidates as possible, because they will be fighting for as many seats as possible.

 

[Iceman]

A Growing Chorus of Republican Critics for Trump’s Foreign Policy

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Just think about it: Making voting convenient for all parties is thought to be anathema to the Republican Party.

Mitch McConnell and his associates fear the people.

 

[Schlosser85]

The only way that constitutes a "power grab" for Democrats is if McConnell knows making it easier for everyone to vote would benefit the Democrats.

As in, McConnell knows the American people swing more toward Democrats, thus he wants to make it difficult and inconvenient for people to vote.

 

[Sithborg]

I wonder what would happen if Scott Walker were still governor.

Foxconn may drop plans to build flat screens in Wisconsin - CNN

Shocking, big company doesn't stick to its promises after it bleeds the state for everything it can.

 

[Teelie]

Just think about it: Making voting convenient for all parties is thought to be anathema to the Republican Party.

Mitch McConnell and his associates fear the people.

That is why they gerrymander every district they can get away with.

 

[Teelie]

I wonder what would happen if Scott Walker were still governor.

Foxconn may drop plans to build flat screens in Wisconsin - CNN

Shocking, big company doesn't stick to its promises after it bleeds the state for everything it can.

This was obvious a long time ago. And even before the deal was done people had concerns over it being unreliable. It didn't take long for them to renege on it either.

June 28, 2018.

Foxconn scales back plans for its first factory in Mount Pleasant

The Foxconn Technology Group manufacturing complex that President Donald Trump helped launch Thursday in Mount Pleasant will differ significantly, at least initially, from the original plans.

While two economic-impact analyses prepared last year and the state’s contract with Foxconn say the company will build a type of factory that carves display panels out of immense sheets of wafer-thin glass, Foxconn now says it first will erect a plant that uses much smaller sheets of glass.

Such factories typically are much smaller and less-expensive than the sort of plant Foxconn originally planned, industry observers say.

The firm, however, has said “categorically” that it remains committed to investing the full $10 billion in what it has named the Wisconn Valley Science and Technology Park, and to creating 13,000 Wisconsin jobs with an average annual wage of $53,875.

In a statement Thursday, Foxconn said it still plans to build the larger type of factory in a second phase of its project, along with "other next-generation manufacturing facilities."

"Our plans for our Wisconn Valley Science and Technology Park, including the size of our Wisconsin facility, remain unchanged and they are linked to our commitment to this significant investment and to meeting all contractual obligations with the relevant government agencies," Foxconn stated.

In its statement, Foxconn said it has always planned a phased approach of construction "to ensure that we continue to meet current and projected demand for advanced LCD panels and the other technologies and products that will be the focus of that campus."

Earth-moving work to prepare Foxconn’s factory site in Racine County has been underway since early May, and two weeks ago the company bought a seven-story headquarters building in downtown Milwaukee where it says more than 500 people will work.

Foxconn’s change in direction on its initial plans for its flat-screen plant has emerged only in the last few weeks.

Last year, as the company was considering Wisconsin as a potential site for a massive new display panel factory, Foxconn’s consultant analyzed the impact of a “Generation 10.5” liquid crystal display plant, and shared the findings with state officials.

A second consulting firm, hired by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., also analyzed the impact of a Generation 10.5 plant to review the findings of Foxconn’s consultant.

Contracts Foxconn later signed with both the state and the local governments also refer to the “Generation 10.5” fabrication facility the company will operate.

But Foxconn no longer plans to initially build such a plant. Instead, the company first will build a “Generation 6” factory — Gen 6 in industry shorthand. Such plants are much smaller and much less costly than Gen 10.5 factories, use different machinery and turn out different arrays of products, industry watchers say.

The shift was first reported in May by Japan-based Nikkei Asian Review, in a story citing industry sources, and then by Milwaukee publication BizTimes last week following an interview with Foxconn executive Louis Woo. A Foxconn spokesman confirmed the BizTimes report.

“They are two completely different sets of production technologies, supply chains and markets,” Paul Semenza, a California-based display industry consultant, said of Gen 6 and Gen 10.5 plants.

The jargon about generations refers to the dimensions of the piece of “mother glass,” or substrate, that an LCD plant slices into displays for electronic devices ranging in size from a smartphone to a 75-inch TV.

A Gen 6 plant uses mother glass measuring roughly 5 feet by 6 feet — almost big enough to cover a queen-size bed.

The mother glass at a Gen 10.5 plant is more than three times as large. It measures about 9½ feet by 11 feet.

The size difference alone means a Gen 6 plant occupies significantly less space, said Bob O’Brien, president of Display Supply Chain Consultants LLC and a former executive with glass producer Corning Inc.

“The fab is so much smaller,” O’Brien, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, said. “Your line needs to be half as long and half as wide because your substrate is half as long and half as wide.”

Gen 6 factories typically are used to produce smaller display panels — nothing larger than a 39-inch TV, O’Brien said. Gen 10.5 plants are ideal for making 65-inch or 75-inch television screens.

Few plants of that size exist. One is in Japan, operated by Foxconn subsidiary Sharp. Foxconn showed that plant and its operations to a delegation led by Gov. Scott Walker last June amid Wisconsin’s ultimately successful effort to attract the company to the state.

A key factor in Foxconn’s decision to begin with a smaller Gen 6 factory may lie with Corning.

The New York State-based company likely will supply glass to Foxconn. With a Gen 6 plant, that glass could be shipped from a Corning factory in Harrodsburg, Kentucky.

Gen 10.5 glass, however, is so big that it can’t be transported over such distances. The glass-making capacity must be built near the LCD plant, if not on the same site.

Such glass production is expensive. In December 2015, Corning said its glass plant for a Gen 10.5 LCD factory — which opened late last year in China — would cost $1.3 billion.

But Corning has said flatly that it will not pay more than one-third of the cost of any new glass-making capacity for display plants. And Mark Hogan, CEO and secretary of the WEDC, has said Wisconsin, which stands to grant Foxconn up to $3 billion in public money if the company hits jobs and investment targets, will provide no further subsidies to suppliers such as Corning.

A Gen 6 LCD factory avoids the thorny problem of how to finance construction of a pricey new glass plant.

Asked whether Foxconn had communicated with the WEDC about its change in plans for Mount Pleasant, Mark Maley, WEDC’s public affairs and communications director, said by email:

“It’s up to Foxconn — and not state government — to determine what the best use of that facility is. Foxconn is one of the largest companies in the world and has a 44-year history of success, so we’re confident it will continue to make decisions to ensure that continued success. It’s not the state’s role to get involved in the business operations of one of the largest and most successful companies in the world.”

In a statement, Hogan, the WEDC leader, said:

“We would not be surprised if the company’s plans for its advanced manufacturing campus change as the facility is being constructed because technology keeps changing. One of the reasons we aligned with Foxconn in the first place is because this is a company that has been at the leading edge of technology for the last 44 years and continues to evolve and lead the way in the industry. They have done it successfully and we expect that success to continue going forward.”

Journal Sentinel

From August 23rd, 2018

Foxconn now declines to say it plans to build type of factory named in state, local contracts

Foxconn Technology Group on Wednesday said again that it will create 13,000 jobs in Wisconsin and invest $10 billion in its planned manufacturing campus, but declined to say it still plans to build the type of factory specified in its contracts with state and local government.

Responding to criticism from Democrats over changing plans for a project that could receive some $4 billion in public subsidies, Foxconn reiterated that it is committed to the jobs and investment numbers.

But in a shift from its stance of two months ago, the company on Wednesday did not offer assurances that it still plans to build the type of liquid crystal display panel plant the contracts cite.

Known as Generation 10.5 fabrication facilities, or fabs, such plants are the largest and most expensive in the display industry. They produce very large panels, such as 65-inch or 75-inch television screens, that are cut from ultra-thin pieces of “mother glass” measuring about 9.5 feet by 11 feet.

Foxconn’s original plans last year called for building a Generation 10.5 plant, and both the state and local agreements reached with the company define the project that way.

The first indication that things had changed came in June, when Foxconn executive Louis Woo told BizTimes Milwaukee that the company now planned to first build a Generation 6 plant — a smaller, less costly type of factory that produces smaller display panels from smaller sheets of mother glass.

A week later, the company said that while it indeed would first build the smaller factory at its chosen site in Mount Pleasant, “Foxconn is still planning to build Generation 10.5 TFT-LCD and other next-generation manufacturing facilities at that location.”

“TFT” stands for thin-film transistors, which are used in flat-screen display panels.

Foxconn’s changing plans drew fire Wednesday from Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh) and Rep. Dana Wachs (D-Eau Claire), a Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. board member.

Hintz told reporters at a news conference in the state Capitol that Gov. Scott Walker should provide taxpayers with updated investment figures, job numbers and compensation estimates, given recent news reports about the changes.

“It’s critical that the governor pay attention to what’s going on with taxpayer dollars and make sure that the public investment is sound and makes sense,” Wachs said. “What in the world is going on? This could be the mother of all bait and switches.”

A spokeswoman for Walker said Foxconn said "is committed to 13,000 good-paying, family-supporting jobs and a $10 billion investment in Wisconsin," but did not answer whether Walker believed the project would be as transformational for the state's economy if the project ends up being smaller.

Responding to criticism from Hintz and Wachs, Foxconn said the 13,000-job, $10-billion-investment commitments stand.

The firm said its phased approach in building its Racine County manufacturing campus would ensure that it could meet current and projected demand for LCD panels. The decision to build a Gen 6 plant in the first phase is in line with that strategy, Foxconn said.

The company was less specific about what will follow.

“In the next phase of the development, Foxconn is planning to build future generation research and development and manufacturing facilities at that location,” the firm said.

Asked subsequently whether Foxconn still plans to build a Gen 10.5 plant, the company said it “is still planning for an advanced fab facility in the near future after the completion of the first phase. Whether it is Gen 10.5 or something else depends on the market and economic situations at the time.”

Speaking to The Journal Times on Tuesday, Woo said that by the time a Gen 10.5 plant could be built, "it would have so much competition from others in China that the market would be glutted," the Racine newspaper reported.

Mark Hogan, secretary and CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., said Wednesday that Foxconn needs flexibility to respond to changing markets, and he is not concerned that the company has changed its plans.

The state contract — a pay-for-performance agreement that awards Foxconn tax credits after it invests money and creates jobs — protects taxpayers, Hogan said. The most the state would pay in the first two years of the contract is $9.5 million, he said, providing an opportunity to see how work progress.

“Nobody wants the taxpayers to be on the hook for this, and I feel better about the contract every day,” he said.

In a written response to Hintz, Hogan pointed to Foxconn’s size ($155 billion in 2017 revenue) and said its success “has been based on the company’s ability to be at the leading edge" of technology.

“We have confidence Foxconn will continue to be at the forefront of demand-based technology changes,” Hogan wrote.

Apparently citing the contract’s definition of the Foxconn project as the economic investment activities of building the company’s “Generation 10.5 TFT-LCD Fabrication Facility and supporting operations,” Hogan wrote that the agreement should be viewed not piecemeal but as a whole.

“Taking any individual section from WEDC’s contract with Foxconn, especially a definition, does not provide appropriate context to the requirements found when the contract is reviewed in its entirety," Hogan wrote.

“WEDC’s contract clearly contains provisions that ensure the taxpayers’ investment is protected. The contract also provides the company the flexibility to make the necessary business decisions to ensure the success of the project, something I am certain you want to see accomplished,” Hogan wrote.

Tim Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, echoed Hogan's description of the taxpayer protections in the contract.

Sheehy also said digital technology companies operate in markets that by their nature are highly unpredictable, and that firms such as Foxconn have to be flexible.

It appears, he said, that Foxconn is being held to a different standard than other companies receiving state aid. If, for example, German candy-maker Haribo concluded that market forces dictated it should make something different from gummy bears at its planned Kenosha County factory, "we're not going to have a headline story that Haribo makes popsicles instead of gummy bears," Sheehy said.

Journel Sentinel

 

[Lighthouse]

Scott Walker is a slimy toad who should never hold office ever again.

 

[Marvolo]

Just think about it: Making voting convenient for all parties is thought to be anathema to the Republican Party.

Mitch McConnell and his associates fear the people.

Someone should have jumped up and demanded he explain exactly how making voting more convenient for all Americans is a power grab.