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Anti-China Bill Being Softened After US Companies Complain (reuters.com)
Proposed legislation in Congress aimed at preventing China from acquiring sensitive technology is being softened after protests by big U.S. companies who fear a loss in sales, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the matter. From the report: Two bills in the House of Representatives and Senate would broaden the powers of the inter-agency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) in hopes of stopping Chinese efforts to acquire sophisticated U.S. technology. The bipartisan legislation has the support of President Donald Trump's administration. "We are concerned that it vastly expands the scope and jurisdiction (of CFIUS)," said Nancy McLernon, chief executive of the Organization for International Investment, a group that represents global companies with U.S. operations. Given the alarm that the legislation has caused, Senator John Cornyn's staff is drafting changes to address industry concerns, according to three sources. Cornyn's office did not respond to a request for comment.
If you look objectively and strategically at the moves Trump has made regarding China, he has done nothing but help them.
Whether getting out of TPP, his erratic behavior towards allies, cutting overseas funding, radically dividing the US politically, etc, etc.
Trump has created a huge power and influence vacuum that the Chinese are rapidly asserting control over.
The isolationist view of those who put Trump into power will inevitably lead the US closer to conflict with China, or even Russia.
For all his anti-China bluster, Trump is the lap dog of Xi.
The Chinese technology sector is rapidly catching up to the US. All a ban like this will accomplish is to make China more self sufficient.
Here is an idea for you. Take all the unemployed able bodied, give them room & board, basic access to the internet, 3 meals a day, and the only requirement is that they dig or fill a hole of dirt for 8 hours a day. Its actually a better idea than the inefficiencies you proposed. The societal healthcare cost reduction from the workout alone will be a better benefit than all the inefficient jobs your proposal generates.
Let me be blunt, NO I don't want your shitty, small, few options, higher cost Joe's Corner Mart. I will take the Walmart, Kroger, Target, Publix, Amazon.com, etc that gather the goods I want from around the world. Because you may think otherwise, but I do actually want to do other things with the money I saved... however little the rest of you may think it is....
There was no swamp, that was merely el Presidente Tweetie ginning up yet another fake antagonist for himself. He did a bank shot off the Republican view that the Federal government exists for itself. The Federal government looks the way it does because the American people want it that way. ePT cannot exist without straw men to get his followers excited about...it is just typical despot behavior done over the centuries the world over. No imagination, no class.
>. 'Its less efficient to have a zillion independent stores versus a few thousand Wal Marts you say? Yes, but it's much more job-intensive.
You're exactly right, that would be less efficient, needing more people to work to produce the same amount of stuff.
I wonder what you're estimates are to fill in these blanks:
If it takes 1 person to produce and sell $100,000 of value, that person can be paid a maximum of $__________.
If it takes 10 people to produce and sell $100,000 of value, each of those ten people can be paid a maximum of $_______.
Let's take as an example my job. My job requires one person to produce $200,000 of stuff. So the maximum amount my employer could pay me, without going out of business, is $200,000. It also takes other things that cost money, such as an office, computer, etc, so that reduces how much they can pay me and stay afloat. If it took ten people to do the same thing ("more job intensive"), the company can still afford to pay no more than $200,000, so that's $20,000 each, maximum.
"Job intensive" (labor intensive) is generally considered a BAD thing, because more people working to produce the same revenue means the revenue has to be divided between more people. As an example, picking $10,000 worth of corn by hand takes 50 times as many people as picking it with a mechanical harvester. That's why the manual pickers got paid $1/hour and harvester operators make about $50/hour.
The ideal is generally considered to *reduce* how labor-intensive tasks are. Most people would rather make $50/hour rather than $1/hour. Also, the lower production costs per unit mean lower prices per unit. Normally we'd say we'd rather have high wages (due to higher efficiency per working hour) and low prices (due to low labor cost per unit).
This isn't anything new.
The chinese have been spying and their espionage ranges from military to commercial.....and we really used to be cognizant of it and fight it back in the earlier days.
However, back then (60's and earlier), china wasn't the econmomic powerhouse they have become in recent decades....and while we like the money, we've let our guard down and let them take the upper hand in negotiations, etc.
The thing is, China thinks waaaay ahead with their plans, whereas we in the US seem to do well to see past 5 days, much less a year at a time.
I'm not a huge Trump fan, but one thing that the administration seems to at least be doing, is trying in some ways to address chinese aggression, which IS going on, has been going on, and trust me, they have long term laid plans to KEEP being aggressive.
They spy on everyone (not just the US)....and look how they are trying to encroach on international waters off their coast with the building of artificial "islands" and militarizing them.
Yes, we have to work with them, but we need to be wary of them and WILLING to stand up to them and say "no" from time to time.
If we only think of the commercial all mighty dollar in short term plans and actions, we'll lose the fight more than we already are doing currently.
We're letting them have too much leverage on us and the world as it is....
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........