Stephen Moore and Phil Kerpen write for the New York Post about another poor decision from the Biden-Harris administration.
Well, ladies and gentlemen: the chips are down — literally and figuratively.
Two years ago, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris touted their “Chips Act” to bring the semiconductor industry back home from Taiwan, China and Singapore.
The price tag on the bill: a cool $280 billion of corporate handouts. It was arguably the largest corporate welfare bill in American history.
Intel, Micron, Global Foundries, Polar Semiconductor, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Samsung, BAE Systems, and Microchip Technology have been the direct beneficiaries of the law.
This was supposed to be one of the “Crown Jewels” of the Biden-Harris admin. A massive job creator that would allow America to take back its technologicalleadership.
Even many Republicans in Congress shamelessly voted for the handouts at a time when the federal government was already borrowing more than $1 trillion a year.
But today, the failures far outweigh the successes — and in spectacular fashion.
Intel was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Chips Act, receiving an $8.5 billion grant announced in March, a $25 billion sweetheart tax incentive and likely the lion’s share of an $11 billion federal loan program. That’s only the opening act.
What did we get in exchange? Intel this week announced it was laying off 15% of its workforce — 15,000 positions.
America lost twice: billions of dollars and thousands of jobs.
Meanwhile, Nvidia, which took no government money, has been the top-performing stock over the past 18 months and has made hundreds of billions of dollars for American shareholders. Its chips are mostly made in Taiwan, but it creates thousands of jobs here at home.
This Chips Act was supposed to be the Biden-Harris crowning achievement. A giant job creator. Hundreds of billions of government handouts to bring the semiconductor industry back home. Now, it’s looking like the Titanic.
