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Wisconsin's $4.1 Billion Foxconn Boondoggle (theverge.com)
"A story from The Verge reports on Foxconn's substantially scaled-back plans for the heavily subsidized Wisconsin "Gigafactory," writes Slashdot reader kimanaw. Here's an excerpt from the report: The details of the deal were famously written on the back of a napkin when [Foxconn chairman Terry Gou] and the Republican governor first met: a $3 billion state subsidy in return for Foxconn's $10 billion investment in a Generation 10.5 LCD manufacturing plant that would create 13,000 jobs. [...] But what seemed so simple on a napkin has turned out to be far more complicated and messy in real life. As the size of the subsidy has steadily increased to a jaw-dropping $4.1 billion, Foxconn has repeatedly changed what it plans to do, raising doubts about the number of jobs it will create. Instead of the promised Generation 10.5 plant, Foxconn now says it will build a much smaller Gen 6 plant, which would require one-third of the promised investment, although the company insists it will eventually hit the $10 billion investment target. And instead of a factory of workers building panels for 75-inch TVs, Foxconn executives now say the goal is to build "ecosystem" of buzzwords called "AI 8K+5G" with most of the manufacturing done by robots.
Shortly after the Wisconsin deal was signed, Walker was touting the Foxconn deal in campaign-style speeches across the state. But by October 2017, just a month after the legislature passed the Foxconn deal, a poll showed only 38 percent of the people in southeastern Wisconsin, where the plant would be located, thought the plant would be a net positive for the state. This was followed by March 2018 poll, which showed that 66 percent of people in the state believed their local businesses wouldn't benefit from the Foxconn deal, and only 25 percent thought it would be beneficial. This was dreadful news for Walker, who suddenly stopped talking about Foxconn. He didn't even mention the deal in a November 2017 speech announcing his run for re-election. It was also bad news for Foxconn, as every Democrat running for governor proceeded to condemn the deal. Both Walker and Foxconn now needed to sell this deal to the voters.
Shortly after the Wisconsin deal was signed, Walker was touting the Foxconn deal in campaign-style speeches across the state. But by October 2017, just a month after the legislature passed the Foxconn deal, a poll showed only 38 percent of the people in southeastern Wisconsin, where the plant would be located, thought the plant would be a net positive for the state. This was followed by March 2018 poll, which showed that 66 percent of people in the state believed their local businesses wouldn't benefit from the Foxconn deal, and only 25 percent thought it would be beneficial. This was dreadful news for Walker, who suddenly stopped talking about Foxconn. He didn't even mention the deal in a November 2017 speech announcing his run for re-election. It was also bad news for Foxconn, as every Democrat running for governor proceeded to condemn the deal. Both Walker and Foxconn now needed to sell this deal to the voters.
... company insists it will eventually hit the $10 billion investment target ...
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
There are two issues with subsidies like this. One is that most companies will look for loopholes and try to take advantage of the deal, doing only the bare minimum to get everything they can. The other is that the government usually doesn't structure the deal such that the payouts are tied to meeting promises.
I'm under the impression that Nevada's deal with Tesla is a case where both issues were handled correctly, because Tesla really wanted to do everything they promised, so they had no reason to try to wiggle out, and because the deal was well-structured and tied to jobs.
I expect in most cases the people writing the deal for the government just don't have enough experience to put all the right teeth in them. I know from my experience in my town's government, we have sometimes failed to correctly specify details in agreements that have come back to bite us.
These bug tech companies only GO to a place that is willing to give up so much that it eats up any benefit for the citizen. That particular race to the bottom is already pretty much at the bottom.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
...22% of those are under 18, so that leaves about 4.5 million. Figure at least half a million of those are too old or disabled to pay taxes, so that's about 4 million taxpayers. A $4.1 billion subsidy means Walker took over $1000 from each taxpayer and handed it to Foxconn. No wonder he doesn't want to talk about it.
Never let a lack of data get in the way of a good rant.
Sorry but you don't seem to understand the difference between politicians and whores.
Whores have ethics and morals.
Paul Ryan was all over this deal when it looked good.
If it wasn't falling apart, he would be taking credit.
For example -
Paul Ryan Lauds Foxconn Decision
https://paulryan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398716
Paul Ryan Praises Foxconn Deal During Wisconsin Stop
https://www.wpr.org/paul-ryan-praises-foxconn-deal-during-wisconsin-stop
Paul Ryan: Foxconn deal is a game changer
https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/08/22/paul-ryan-town-hall-wisconsin-foxconn-deal-sot.cnn/video/playlists/paul-ryan-town-hall/
Paul Ryan calls eminent domain takeovers wrong, but won't help homeowners in Foxconn case
https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/business/2018/03/26/paul-ryan-decries-eminent-domain-seizing-private-property-economic-development-not-foxconn-homeowner/454233002/
Congressman Paul Ryan Breaks Ground at Foxconn Development
https://paulryan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398808
Even Trump was giving it his stamp of approval.
From Wikipedia -
Foxconn and President Donald Trump announced at the White House on July 26, 2017 that Foxconn will build a US$10 billion flat screen TV manufacturing plant in southeastern Wisconsin. The Foxconn deal, promising 13,000 high paying jobs, is the largest corporate attraction deal in U.S. history, in terms of pure number of jobs. Foxconn is expected to contribute $51.5 billion to Wisconsin's GDP over the next 15 years, which is $3.4 billion dollars annually. However, the deal is being criticized for the $3 billion in tax-payer funded incentives given to Foxconn, though every $1 in state incentives is estimated to generate a return of $18 in additional state GDP.
Foxconn will also be exempt from an environmental impact statement, water quality certification and permits for some activities on or near waterways, but must comply with air, solid waste and hazardous waste standards. Given water concerns, Foxconn is spending $30 million on zero liquid discharge technology, nearly eliminating any industrial waste water discharge. Foxconn is also required to replace wetlands at a higher ratio than other companies; Foxconn must restore 2 acres of wetland for every 1 acre disturbed instead of the ratio of 1.2 to 1 for other companies.
As of October 4, 2017, Foxconn agreed to locate their plant at Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, and broke ground for the plant June 28, 2018. President Trump was in attendance to promote American manufacturing.
we were the only country with a functioning manufacturing base after WWII and the cold war meant companies were scared that if they invested overseas their assets would get seized by the big bad communists. Nixon showed everyone that was bullshit, the middle east gave us a way to keep our endless war machine going and that meant it was open season on offshoring and outsourcing.
You need manufacturing to have a strong economy because you need lots of workers all working together in the same place with the same interests. In other words, Unions. What made the US middle class grow was Unions fought (and died) to pry money out of the hands of the working class. You can't do that at a WalMart, there's just not enough of a concentration. Also, the ruling class got this Union busting down pat.
The one thing that did _not_ make the US a powerhouse is corporate welfare. We had all that during the Robber Baron era and Gilded Age in spades. There was money, but it all belonged to our aristocracy.
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And what really pisses me off about this whole thing is Walker turned down government money to build a high-speed rail between Chicago/Milwaukee/Madison/Minneapolis, which would have provided many tourism and rail jobs in Wisconsin. He felt it was 'government waste' in that case, only because the money would have been from the Obama administration...
To add insult to injury, the Spanish train company Talgo had planned to build trainsets for the rail line at their plant in Milwaukee - further adding jobs. But since the rail deal never went through, they've since significantly downsized their operation in Wisconsin...