U.S. Politics

[Rick Plant]

Social Security enemy Ron Johnson endorses plan to 'coax' retirees back to work
https://www.rawstory.com/social-security-enemy-ron-johnson-endorses-plan-to-coax-retirees-back-to-work/

[Rick Plant]

President Biden @POTUS

Take a look at this message I received – because of student loan forgiveness, Americans will be able to crawl out from under unsustainable debt and finally start thinking about saving for their first home.



https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1566161614843281409

[Rick Plant]

Charlie Crist slams Ron DeSantis for declining invite to ‘Before You Vote’ debate



Democratic nominee Charlie Crist is slamming his opponent Gov. Ron DeSantis for declining to participate in an upcoming debate.

The “Before You Vote” debate series is the longest running in Florida history, and this year’s is expected to draw national attention. DeSantis participated in the same debate during the 2018 gubernatorial race.

Florida Politics’ Peter Schorsch first reported that DeSantis would not be participating in the Oct. 20 debate in a tweet. In response to the news, Crist issued a statement.

“Ron DeSantis can’t defend his record of banning abortions and ignoring Florida’s affordability crisis. DeSantis wants people to think he is tough, but you can’t play dress up like a fighter pilot and then chicken out of debates. These are the actions of a wannabe dictator, it’s weak, Floridians see through it, and it’s why we’re going to defeat him,” Crist said in a statement.

Soon after reporting on DeSantis’ decline to participate in the “Before You Vote” debate, news broke that the Governor’s campaign has accepted an Oct. 12 debate against Crist hosted by CBS 12, meaning the two should have at least one debate before the November Election.

As for the “Before You Vote” debate, it will air through 10 broadcast partners throughout the state.

WPBF will be the lead producing station and, as he has in the past debates, WPBF anchorman Todd McDermott will moderate the programs with a select panel of journalists, to be announced soon, according to debate organizers.

The debate will be simulcast on statewide public ration, on participating TV stations’ websites or Facebook pages and on daily newspaper websites or Facebook pages. A national rebroadcast on C-SPAN after the live debate has aired.

The debates are part of a large collaboration of partners across the state. And, this year, the Everglades Foundation has become a sponsor of the event, joining Florida Trend, The James Madison Institute, the Leroy Collins Institute, AARP Florida, the Florida Press Association, the Florida League of Cities and Palm Beach State College.

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/553732-charlie-crist-slams-ron-desantis-for-declining-invite-to-before-you-vote-debate/

[Rick Plant]

Another new manufacturing plant and thousands more manufacturing jobs thanks to President Biden's CHIPS and Science Act! 


Micron launches $15 billion Idaho project amid federal push for US tech manufacturing

The announcement comes after the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act



On Thursday, Micron announced that it would invest $15 billion to build a new semiconductor plant in Idaho — just weeks after Congress passed $52 billion in new money to boost domestic chip manufacturing.

Micron’s announcement is just the latest in a series of multi-billion-dollar plans to jump on the Biden administration’s recently approved CHIPS and Science Act. Last month, Micron said it would use the act’s new subsidies to invest $40 billion into US-based memory fabs, or fabrication plants, by 2030, creating an estimated 40,000 new jobs. The new Boise plant is expected to create 17,000 new jobs, including 2,000 Micron jobs, over the next eight years.

In a Thursday statement, Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra thanked the Biden administration for finishing the bipartisan chips legislation. “Our new leading-edge memory manufacturing fab will fuel US technology leadership, ensuring a reliable domestic supply of semiconductors that is critical to economic and national security,” Mehrotra said.

President Joe Biden celebrated Micron’s latest investment in a statement on Thursday, calling it “another big win for America.”

But up until last month, it wasn’t clear whether the CHIPS and Science Act would make it across the finish line this year. As it stalled in Congress, Intel delayed a groundbreaking ceremony for a new $20 billion Ohio chip plant and even went as far as pitching the Biden administration on overtaking an abandoned Chinese plant instead of waiting for the funding’s approval. These pitches frightened lawmakers, according to The New York Times, and pushed them to more swiftly approve the bill.

Shortly after Biden signed the bill into law, The Columbus Dispatch reported that the president would attend a new groundbreaking for Intel’s plant this month. The company claims that it would be the “largest silicon manufacturing location on the planet” and would require 7,000 workers to build.

Last week, Biden signed an executive order to start rolling out the billions in subsidies to manufacturers like Micron and Intel. Biden’s order established a new interagency council to oversee the rollout, but it’s unclear when the Commerce Department will officially make the new funding available.

Through Biden administration priorities like the CHIPs funding and the bipartisan infrastructure law, the federal government has invested billions into creating domestic tech and manufacturing jobs.

"Just this week, we’ve seen First Solar, Toyota, Honda, and Corning make major announcements of new investments and new jobs as a direct result of my economic plan,” Biden said on Thursday. “In our future, we will make EVs, chips, fiber optics, and other critical components here in America, and we will have an economy built from the bottom up and middle out.”

In April, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm made $3.1 billion in funding available to US companies to build and recycle lithium-ion batteries to help boost EV adoption. Earlier this week, an energy startup called Sparkz announced plans to build a new battery factory in northern West Virginia.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/1/23332930/micron-idaho-manufacturing-chips-act-biden-white-house

[Rick Plant]

President Biden has has been dedicated to "Make it in America". The buy American economy is getting results.

President Biden has boosted manufacturing creating hundreds of thousands of new manufacturing jobs as jobs leave overseas to come back home. Plus new manufacturing facilities are being built and opening up.



https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-05/us-factory-boom-heats-up-as-ceos-yank-production-out-of-china

[Rick Plant]

Thanks to President Biden manufacturing is booming and more brand new factories are being built.


Honda and LG Chem will build a $4.4 billion EV battery factory in the US

The latest move to shore up the US’s domestic battery production to comply with new tax rules



Honda and LG Chem will build a $4.4 billion electric vehicle battery factory in the US, the latest move to shore up the country’s domestic production to comply with new tax credit rules.

Honda and LG Chem will form a joint venture to produce batteries in the US for the automaker’s upcoming lineup of EVs. The two companies aim to begin construction in early 2023 to enable the start of mass production of lithium-ion battery cells by the end of 2025. Honda and its subsidiary Acura have plans to release 30 hybrid, battery-electric, and fuel-cell vehicles by 2030.

The factory, which aims to have an annual production capacity of approximately 40GWh, is likely to be located in Ohio, according to The Wall Street Journal. The state is also the site of a future $2.3 billion battery plant that’s being built by LG Chem and General Motors.

Localizing battery production in the US is important for automakers that want to qualify for the $7,500-per-vehicle tax credit, which requires EVs to be assembled in the US. Foreign automakers have expressed concerns that the new tax credits could discriminate against companies without manufacturing facilities in the US.

The factory is part of a host of new EV facilities that are expected to come online in the coming years. Globally, battery production is expected to grow from 95.3 gigawatt hours (GWh) in 2020 to 410.5 GWh in 2024, according to GlobalData, a data and analytics company.

Ford has said its three new battery plants will enable 129 GWh a year of production capacity. General Motors is planning four new battery factories in the US (also with LG Chem) for a total annual capacity of 140 GWh, while Volkswagen is aiming to have six battery cell production plants operating in Europe by 2030 for a total of 240 GWh a year. And Stellantis is planning a new factory in Indiana, which will have an initial annual production capacity of 23 GWh.

Honda has teased two upcoming EVs: the 2024 Honda Prologue and an Acura concept called the Precision. The Prologue will be the first of two vehicles that Honda is co-developing with GM, using the US automaker’s Ultium battery packs. GM and Honda have said they expect to produce “millions” of affordable EVs starting in 2027.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/29/23326844/honda-lg-chem-ev-battery-factory-ohio

[Rick Plant]

Rep. Steven Horsford @RepHorsford

The #InflationReductionAct will upgrade affordable housing here in Nevada to ensure they are resilient to extreme weather.

These upgrades will also improve energy use and lower household costs.

That’s only one of many ways that we’re lowering costs and helping Nevadan families.



https://twitter.com/RepHorsford/status/1566610864106622977