Senator Bernie Sanders let the semiconductor corporations have it as they threatened to leave America if Congress did not pass the CHIPS Act, corporate welfare.
Bernie strikes This time, semiconductor corporations.
Intel’s CEO, Pat Gelsinger, appeared on CNBC recently. He showed his patriotism by threatening to move his company’s investments and jobs to Europe and Asia if Congress did not stay in town and pass the CHIPS Act.
What is the CHIP Act? The CHIPS Act would presumably help meet the long-term challenge by incentivizing semiconductor research, design, and manufacturing in the United States and would strengthen the U.S. economy, national security, and supply chain resilience.
Bernie did not take kindly to the threat. He said that what the CEO said was tantamount to extortion. He would not have any of it. He went into a rant where he pointed out all the needed social programs that the $76 Billion directed to the CHIPS act could fund.
Most importantly, Bernie made it clear that the problems that semiconductor companies are experiencing are because of the faulty greedy decisions they made. They exported jobs overseas, and now that there is a supply problem caused by an unreliable supply chain they designed, they want welfare to fund building semiconductors in the United States.
Bernie pointed out the billions of dollars that the semiconductor makes in profits. He said as opposed to investing in R&D, they instead buy back stocks, disperse them as executive bonuses, and additional spending that goes directly to the companies’ rich owners.
While Bernie will likely support the bill, he will attach strings to it. His amendment forbids the companies from buying back stocks and destroying unions and ensures the American corporate welfare investment would reap the rewards to our coffers.