Sundays with Sherrod: China Envy
by Jason HartWhen not attacking American companies, President Obama gets downright romantic about the grand things American companies do with Washington’s guidance. China is frequently a source of envy (see: passenger rail boondoggles), because China’s statist capitalism-lite floats Obama’s boat. As America’s most statist senator, Sherrod Brown (D-OH) is on board for anything involving more government!
Sherrod asked President Obama about his plans for a federal manufacturing and energy policy during a February 2010 Democrat meeting:
President Obama knows what’s best, and seems annoyed by the democracy blocking his path. For all his worries of “falling behind” autocratic China in the race to throw money at unmarketable products, we have to wonder how much of the New York Times coverage he was briefed on the week before!
In the United States, power companies frequently face a choice between buying renewable energy equipment or continuing to operate fossil-fuel-fired power plants that have already been built and paid for. In China, power companies have to buy lots of new equipment anyway, and alternative energy, particularly wind and nuclear, is increasingly priced competitively.
[...]
As in many other industries, China’s low labor costs are an advantage in energy.
Emphasis mine. Impromptu poll: Do you think Sherrod Brown or President Obama comprehend how expensive capital is, or realize China’s population and infrastructure are different from ours? Do you think they would cross Big Labor in order to compete with Chinese manufacturing in a meaningful way?
What the average person might call “reality” is only a cloud of pesky details for Barack Obama and Sherrod Brown to wave aside. Green energy is A Good Thing, so taxpayers should happily spend money on green energy while coal & oil companies take their medicine and ask for more. Pipelines are right out. Sure, we’ll lose the occasional half billion or so funding the endeavors of Obama donors, but that’s part of the fun!
If you suffer through the complete hour-and-fifteen session on the White House YouTube channel, you’ll hear both Sherrod and the president mention glowingly Ron Bloom, Obama’s former “Car Czar.” Bloom, instrumental in bringing the UAW out on top of the Chrysler and GM bailouts, is both an SEIU alum and a Mao enthusiast. Forget about the jobs lost to China; the ghost of Chairman Mao draws in Obama appointees like a siren!
In matters of manufacturing and green energy – as with most everything else – Sherrod Brown is a cheerleader for Obama’s worst Progressive tendencies. For a Senate seat the GOP can retake this November, look no further than Ohio!
Follow Jason on Twitter: @jasonahart
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31 Comments
Our Dear Leader seems to have avoided learning an expensive lesson all those countries in Central and Eastern Europe learned through decades of trial and tragic commie/socialist error, and which would be abundantly apparent in China if they didn't have a vast ocean of liquidity to cover up and fund all the missteps misguided infrastructure and industrial sector championing is creating:
State-directed lending almost always results in, at best/at best, suboptimal outcomes.
Bureaucrats, especially those currently running amok in the national money bin, know precious little about the rigorous treatment any entreaty for loans must undergo before credit can be extended with the necessary protections and tripwires signalling impending events of default.
They've thrown massive amounts of money at their favorite projects apparently with almost no controls built in to ensure that our money is used for the purposes intended or achieves the desired outcomes.
Larry Sommers was right about what he said shortly after leaving Obama's orbit of economists: "It's like 'Home Alone' in this White House."
The most charitable thing that can be said about this pack of dolts contriving to "change" our economy is that they are naive.
More appropriately, they are criminally non-feasant.
So KeystoneXL will NEVER be built while BHO is president. We will, however, be forced to pay for more government picked projects that can not possibly work.
BTW-How long have these Marxist indoctrination classes been going on?
What is that saying…
Those that can do, those that can't teach and those that are INCOMPETENT NARCISSIST SOCIALIST GOVERN
US lack of Energy Policy crushing manufacturing as many questions linger in the idle minds of the useful idiots about how to increase energy cost to force more "clean energy" but to date there is not a clean energy that makes sense without major subsidies,
Stack on ObamaCare, EPA wildcard (new regulation), Union unrest and it is much easier to move your facility overseas..
China's strategy of flooding us with dollar store items, which we buy since it looks good, but it breaks with gentle use, it's toxic nature pollutes the landfill, thus destroying the enviroment, therefor making our country more like China, All the while our leader declines producing domestic fossil fuel, or assisting our northern friend, who has good railroads to their west, accross beautiful nature, for China. Our fakir and chief loves his win-win choices, but there are always losers.
From your lips to God's ears. Thanks, Jason, for your focus on this disaster of a senator. He won that seat in the Bush backlash of '06. I wasn't thrilled with his opponent, but we surely have some good men to choose from now. I will do my part to get the word out on Brown's record, and you're reports are a great resource.
China and "clean energy"—?
They are one of the most polluting nations on Earth!
He'd much rather see barrels of oil get shipped down from North Dakota via train than build that pipeline. He'd much rather buy oil from unfriendly Arab nations than a friendly neighbor like Canada
Makes perfect sense…….. to a left-wing, environmental wing-nut
Just another example that proves liberals are insane………..
Sherrie Brown is full of it. The PRC generates the vast majority of its power with coal & nuclear.
Hotels use solar a lot. But the water in them is almost never hot.
Neither wind nor solar can keep 1.3 billion people warm in the freezing winter. I'm all for developing
the technology in the US. But first we need oil. We needle coal. We need natural gas.
Green Energy?
Anyone know who the largest buyer of coal is, coming out of the Appalachian Coalfields?
China.
India is second.
The policies of this administration are predicated on the premise of cheap labor. This is fine with the union bosses, as long as they get their kickbacks, all is well.
Mao, Stalin, Hitler and the like all had huge reserves of cheap labor. Slaves. Worked unto death for the good of the nation.
Obama and company really do admire China.
Not for their innovation or cutting edge technology.
But for the ability to exercise raw power over the common folks
without the "debate" he says he favors.
…."And today, the Las Vegas Sun reports that Amonix, Inc., a manufacturer of solar panels that received $5.9 million from the Porkulus, will cut two-thirds of its workforce, about 200 employees, only seven months after opening a factory in Nevada."
From Global Warming. Org
I smell the odor of harry reid on that one………
Sherrod Brown is toast in Ohio come next election.
So… China drills oil off the coast of Florida and we are investing in "Solenda" green technology products which China.. in turn… produces for a lower cost… putting our "investments" out of business and bankrupting us all in the process.
Now I get it… It's a run over the horse with the cart strategy.
China's low labor costs shouldn't be an advantage in any industry, that's what tariffs are for. Huh, Democrats biggest supporter is union labor and the one tax that protects union labor happens to be the only tax Democrats are against. Eh, scrape together your pennies Big Labor, there's an election coming in November and you've still got a few jobs for the Democrats to ship to China.
What is amazing about the Democrats' China envy and admiration when comparing the U.S to China is that they fail to mention that as of 2007 it was estimated that 40 million Chinese still lived in caves. How do you even begin to compete with a labor pool with that standard of living? (Google it–you will be amazed).
It’s like listening to two children squabble about placement of the lemonade stand. Woops…scratch that, Sherrod and Barry would squabble about how to extort money from the industrious lemonade entrepreneurs, calling them “bourgeois, 1%, selfish, etc…” until the .50 cent cup of lemonade cost $1.00, so that Sherrod and Barry can remain bums, and shut the hell up.
The western world is socialist. It's only China that is capitalist these days thanks to the Democrats and, as usual, don't have a clue.
All those solar panels China is building. Are they using them or are they just selling them?
Boy this guy (BO) is misguided.
This is what happens from 100 years of creeping socialism.
We need to send a strong message of individualism while showing collectivism only
allows the government to steal our property and dignity.
The government should be afraid of the people not the people afraid of the government.
Coming to a city near you; government run factories where you will be employed based off your membership in the Democrat party and all run by party bosses. You will be issued the usual party uniform for work with the caveat of keeping your job means you must rat on your friends and neighbors who don't see the light or talk bad about the "party". This has been a tried and true method utilized in Russia and Germany earlier this century.
I wonder if the Unions realise that to do this he is gonna have to break them, force feed pay and benifit cuts, ect.
Of course we will all be one big happy party by then…
Don't be so sure there are a LOT of DUMB people in Ohio. They are also known for their voter fraud there as well.
China is overcrowded, so since they own most of our failing mortgages why not let them have our homes. We can't afford them since our government ran up the prices to increase their tax revenue. We can give them all amnesty, and let them in on Social Security and health care. They will love us then…RIGHT? Maybe they will bring some of our factories back with them.
Average federal pay matches Microsoft By Andrew Biggs January 27, 2012, http://blog.american.com/2012/01/average-federal-...
The only reason China is building solar panels is so they can sell them to suckers like us.
Here's something I want to know: where does all the data about the Chinese economy come from? Because I keep getting the impression that it comes from the Chinese government itself, and let's face it: they're not exactly the most trustworthy folks on the planet.
Allen West Tells Obama, Reid, Pelosi 'Get the Hell Out of the USA'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8YDnd1Yoyk&fe...
When does Obama break it to the Unions that in order to be more like China and compete they must all accept new contracts that mandate 12 hour days, 6 days per week with workers living at the factories and making only $17 a day? Because, those are the conditions that the workers in Apple iPhone plants live and work under, and those are plum jobs. That factory processes around 3,000 applications per day.
Maybe this is why we have no manufacturing jobs? The American worker who demands paid holidays, 40 hour work weeks, overtime pay, and gold-plated benefits on top of his $30/hour pay or more not counting all the contract restrictions on just exactly what is or is not defined as a job he can or can't be asked to do v. the Chinese man who will work 12 hour days, 6 days a week for $17 a day … You tell me which is the more economical and least aggravating option for any business.
A huge reason jobs went to China and overseas countries is the greed of American unions. And the unions own the democrats. So, when will the unions understand that they have created their own demise?
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