Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/12/02/bernie-sanders-trump-just-use.html
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Not Carrier, its parent company, United Technologies Corp.
But otherwise, yes. This is Pence doing what he could have done all along as Indiana Governor, choosing not to when Obama was President, and performing a volte-face now he’s the VP-elect.
Also worth noting that UTC were less interested in a deal in the past. They want the new guy on side, too.
But John Mutz, a former Indiana lieutenant governor who sits on the agency’s 12-member board, told POLITICO that Carrier turned down a previous offer from IEDC before the election. He said he thinks the choice is driven by concerns from Carrier’s parent company, United Technologies, that it could lose a portion of its roughly $6.7 billion in federal contracts.
This was a good take from a local journo here:
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I am still trying to figure out where the ‘free’ in free enterprise resides. It’s not in the USA, for sure.
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Sorry for crappy compositing!
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Yep, this is a sucky idea.
But appearances count.
If Obama had done this sort of thing a couple of dozen times during his two terms, and Clinton had promised to do more of the same, she’d be president-elect today.
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He’d have been blasted by the right for it, if they even worked with him to allow it in the first place?
A President wouldn’t even really have the ability to do this. This was at a state level. And the method is the opposite of what Trump promised to do.
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Bullshit. And the reason?
Obama and Clinton are dead to Republicans because they are, respectably, African American and female. There’s your “appearances”. Either could have promised this sort of shit deal, and it is a shit deal, and they would’ve been pilloried for [Stupid Fucking Reasons Not Related To The Shit Deal Described].
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“I will soon be introducing the Outsourcing Prevention Act, which will address exactly that.”
You should have said that a year ago, Bernie. That’s the same angle that Trump used and it endeared him to the working class, even if he was mostly blowing hot air while he was saying it. I’m glad many Carrier workers won’t be losing their jobs but I think yanking the military contract would have been the better approach.
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Obama used taxpayer money to grant loans creating a number of green energy jobs. One company that used such a loan (Solyndra) went under anyway, and Republicans spent the next several years hounding him for it.
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You could say Obama did it more than a thousand times during his two terms - his GM deal alone kept 1.5M jobs in the country, rather than 800. tRump and Pence (who actually made this deal happen) both loudly denounced both the GM deal and the whole approach that they’re now using. Trump promised to retain jobs, not going into details as to how, except making some vague threats to punish companies with tariffs that did so - but clearly he’s not going to do that, as an outsourcer himself, and because that would collapse the economy. And while tRump (Pence) was cutting the deal, Carrier lost more jobs than it kept, and the economy lost thousands more to outsourcing and automation. It’s purely a PR victory with no substance (but a hefty price tag), but it only works because the Republicans are suddenly silent on the subject.
Maybe Clinton would have won if she had made a whole lot of bullshit promises to the Rust Belt as well, but I rather suspect not.
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Thanks to my dear sweet mother, I found out what the right thinks about Bernie’s response: they’re pissed that the old guy who has “never worked” is opening his trap, and that the important thing is that jobs are staying in Indiana.
But yeah, they would throw a fit. I know because when I read about Trump’s antics, it sounds like the kind of stuff that Illinois does and Indiana blasts us for doing. Pence is allegedly all about making a business climate that doesn’t require cutting deals, while Illinois wants businesses to negotiate a lower rate. That’s why we have such a crappy business environment on paper, but the businesses that are here don’t pay the official rates. We have some local factories that pay no state corporate taxes and no local property taxes.
The kicker was, the loan process was started under Bush’s watch, but Obama got all the blame.
If Trump only lasts four years, gets replaced by a Democrat, then Carrier moves the rest of the jobs out of the country or it otherwise goes sour, the next guy (gal?) will get the blame.
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You know I never looked at it that way. I saw articles saying now he just has to do it again 1,100 times - but I guess he really didn’t save or bring back any jobs at all.
Well played, Mister Trump!
@Mal_Tosevite Yes, that’s exactly how it works. Obama even caused 9/11.
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Bernie is right. They probably outsource at later time when no one is looking.
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looks like bernie’s started his 2020 campaign as a christmas re-gift.
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Maybe @lolipop_jones means the bailouts for the auto industry? Not the same thing, I’d argue.
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Oh-oh, Donald. Better tweet something about Pizzagate to deflect attention stat!
Or tomorrow morning at 3 AM.
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I posted this elsewhere yesterday, but it fits better here:
https://twitter.com/anamariecox/timelines/804421893935595520
Basically Trumpeteers don’t care about the truth of this.
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Today, it is not the action or the results that matter. What matters is getting the headline out. Once you announce something like “Trump makes deal” it’s out there and it cannot be taken back. Most people never hear the follow ups or the analysis. They only remember the headline.
This is another example of how our media is being played and is failing us. They need to cut out the pandering to Trump crap by repeating anything he wants them to repeat and they need to stop now.
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Con games all the way down.
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Not even in the same ballpark.
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