The Biden administration is giving nearly $7 billion to a project run by a former top executive of the failed green energy company Solyndra.
Brian Harrison, the former CEO of Solyndra, is now president of an Arizona subsidiary of the Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC, according to <a href="https://freebeacon.com/energy/biden-admin-gives-6-6-billion-to-project-run-by-ex-solyndra-ceo/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Washington Free Beacon</a>. Harrison is heading a project to build a semiconductor manufacturing plant in the United States, part of a push by the U.S. to on-shore production of valuable advanced semiconductors that are in large part produced in Taiwan, which is under threat from Chinese expansion.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced on Monday that the federal government has granted Harrison’s project $6.6 billion as part of the on-shoring process. She said the partnership with TSMC will bring “the manufacturing of the world’s most advanced chips to American soil,” according to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/08/tsmc-set-to-receive-up-to-6point6-billion-in-funding-for-arizona-plants-.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNBC</a>.
Harrison is previously known for his work with Solyndra, a now-defunct solar energy company that accepted $500 million in loans of taxpayer money from the Obama administration. The administration greenlit the loans under a 2009 stimulus program. At the time, the administration celebrated Solyndra as a key player in the United States’ future transition toward green energy.
Solyndra announced bankruptcy in 2011 and never paid back the loans it received from taxpayers. Harrison oversaw the company at the time, and while Harrison and other executives were probed by federal investigators over the company’s failing, neither Harrison nor any other Solyndra executive was charged over the ordeal, according to the Free Beacon.
The $6.6 billion grant funds part of the construction of three semiconductor plants estimated to cost a total of $65 billion. The grant includes tens of millions of dollars to train local workers in semiconductor manufacturing.
The taxpayer funds were designated toward semiconductor creation under the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act. The act was passed in 2022 and designated $53 billion in taxpayer money to build and protect the United States’ ability to manufacture the semiconductors, which are commonly used by the U.S. military in advanced weapons systems.
President Joe Biden celebrated the investment into Harrison’s project in a statement, according to CNBC.
“Thanks to this investment, TSMC will also build a third chip factory in Phoenix, increasing its total investment in Arizona to $65 million and creating over 25,000 direct construction and manufacturing jobs, along with thousands of indirect jobs,” Biden said.

Solyndra

Biden Awards Ex-Solyndra Boss Nearly $7 Billion To Fund New Tech Project

Arizona

Gina Raimondo

Joe Biden

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden administration</a> tightened restrictions on exporting advanced computing semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China on Tuesday to counter the Chinese government from producing military applications involving hypersonic missiles and artificial intelligence.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a <a href="https://www.bis.doc.gov/index.php/documents/about-bis/newsroom/press-releases/3355-2023-10-17-bis-press-release-acs-and-sme-rules-final-js/file" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news release</a> that the administration updated the export rules to further shut off pathways China uses to evade restrictions.
&#8220;These controls maintain our clear focus on military applications and confront the threats to our national security posed by the [People&#8217;s Republic of China] Government&#8217;s military-civil fusion strategy,&#8221; Raimondo said. &#8220;As we implement these restrictions, we will keep working to protect our national security by restricting access to critical technologies, vigilantly enforcing our rules, while minimizing any unintended impact on trade flows.&#8221;
The updated restrictions impose license requirements for companies from nearly two dozen countries under U.S. arms embargoes to prevent countries of concern from diverting access to restricted items to China.
Raimondo reportedly told members of the press on Monday that while AI has the potential for &#8220;huge societal benefits,&#8221; it could also invoke &#8220;tremendous and profound harm if in the wrong hands and in the wrong militaries.&#8221;
The move comes over a year after Biden officials announced they would revise China&#8217;s access to certain high-end chips critical for military advantage.
After visiting Beijing and Shanghai in August, The Hill <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/technology/4260804-biden-administration-china-ai-chip-export-restrictions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> Raimondo said that the Biden administration is &#8220;trying to choke&#8221; China&#8217;s military capacity.
&#8220;If they feel that, that means our strategy&#8217;s working,&#8221; she told NBC&#8217;s &#8220;Meet the Press&#8221; in early September. &#8220;Certainly, on my watch, we are not going to sell the most sophisticated American chip to China that they want for their military capacity.&#8221;
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But she <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/10/17/biden-export-restrictions-ai-chips-china?utm_campaign=editorial&amp;utm_content=politics&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> said the Biden administration&#8217;s &#8220;export controls are not designed to impair China&#8217;s economic growth.&#8221;
&#8220;We don&#8217;t want to be more restrictive than necessary,&#8221; Raimondo said, adding that the vast majority of semiconductors would remain unrestricted.
Mao Ning, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, <a href="https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/2511_665403/202310/t20231016_11161588.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">criticized</a> the U.S. for expanding export controls on Monday, accusing the U.S. of &#8220;politicizing and weaponizing trade and tech issues&#8221; and &#8220;destabilizing global industrial and supply chains.&#8221;
President Joe Biden <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2023/08/09/executive-order-on-addressing-united-states-investments-in-certain-national-security-technologies-and-products-in-countries-of-concern/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> an executive order in August imposing restrictions on outbound 
investments in China&#8217;s industries ranging from artificial intelligence to semiconductor and quantum computing, but administration officials reportedly admitted that slowing down the Chinese military from gaining access to such technology without economic consequences could pose a challenge.
&#8220;Now I can&#8217;t say that there&#8217;s not going to be some slowdown in Chinese capability around artificial intelligence at that high level that could possibly be used for goodness,&#8221; a senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in a briefing ahead of the announcement, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/10/17/commerce-china-chip-sanctions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The Washington Post. &#8220;But we have to focus on the national security implications there. Large language model applications or military applications can be very risky for the United States and its allies.&#8221;

CHINA-US-TRADE-DIPLOMACY-RAIMONDO

Biden Admin Tightens Exporting AI Chip Restrictions To China

Artificial Intelligence

Biden Administration

Commerce Department

Communist China

Executive

World

Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jd-vance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">J.D. Vance</a> (R-OH) confronted the Biden administration&#8217;s commerce secretary on Wednesday over so-called diversity mandates dictating the hiring practices for domestic semiconductor manufacturing companies seeking federal funding as the industry faces a shortfall of skilled workers.
Vance, who sits on the Senate Commerce Committee, tore into U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo during a hearing that focused on the implementation and oversight of the $52.7 billion <a href="https://www.congress.gov/117/bills/hr4346/BILLS-117hr4346enr.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CHIPS and Science Act</a>, which provides grant support for new manufacturing sites and research and development while also including various provisions aimed at promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Meanwhile, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) and Oxford Economics published a <a href="https://www.semiconductors.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/SIA_State-of-Industry-Report_2023_Final_080323.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> over the summer that showed semiconductor manufacturers face a shortfall of roughly 67,000 workers by 2030, painting a grim future for U.S. industries needing computer scientists, engineers, and technicians.
&#8220;I&#8217;m struggling to make sense of the fact that we apparently have a shortage of skilled labor to manufacture chips on the one hand, and yet the Secretary of Commerce is telling people that they can only hire the people who check the right diversity boxes,&#8221; Vance <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcSORWzpaSs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;That doesn&#8217;t make a ton of sense — and seems to be counterproductive to the goal of bringing this industry back to the United States in the first place.&#8221;
The Biden administration <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-signs-52-billion-semiconductor-bill-in-latest-push-to-fight-inflation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> the act into law last year as an effort to combat supply-driven inflationary pressures and bring American manufacturing industries back to the United States as multiple key Asian manufacturing economies enforced harsh lockdown measures two years ago in response to COVID, creating bottlenecks in the global semiconductor supply chain that persist to the present day.
The department is overseeing a $39 billion semiconductor subsidy program under the act to help create industry jobs. The department <a href="https://fortune.com/2023/10/03/commerce-secretary-gina-raimondo-china-semiconductor-ai-working-group/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> has received over 500 statements of interest from companies to work on semiconductor manufacturing and over 100 applications.
But Vance&#8217;s concerns over the particular implementation criteria could sway a company to plant a chip fabrication facility in China rather than the U.S.
&#8220;From China, they get cheap labor, massive subsidies, and a government that seems to want to work with them,&#8221; he said. &#8220;From the United States, they get a little bit of money and a human resources statement that looks like it was written by a 22-year-old gender studies graduate of Harvard or Yale.&#8221;
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Raimondo acknowledged during the hearing the need for the U.S. to produce chips and said the federal government would use the legislation toward labor, training, and workforce, but denied companies are mandated to hire so-called diversity applicants.
&#8220;What would you call it when the Secretary of Commerce says you must do this in order to receive funding? If it&#8217;s not a mandate, what is it?&#8221; Vance asked. &#8220;They have to show us a workforce plan in order to receive money from the federal government &#8212; that is the definition of a mandate. You must do X in order to receive Y dollars.&#8221;
&#8220;Why would you locate your facility in the United States of America when you get a human resources lecture from us, but from China, you get a whole lot of money and a whole lot of facilitation for your business? What&#8217;s the market economy here? Is it the economy that makes it hard to do business or easier to do business?&#8221;
Raimondo contended her job is to &#8220;protect taxpayer money.&#8221;
&#8220;And in order to do that, these companies have to be able to meet their mission,&#8221; she <a href="https://www.commerce.senate.gov/2023/10/chips-and-science-implementation-and-oversight" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;And in order to do that, they need to have a trained workforce, and I&#8217;m going to work with them to make sure that happens.&#8221;
Raimondo said during the hearing that her department hopes to award its first chips funding award from the government&#8217;s multi-billion dollar semiconductor subsidy program by the end of this year.
&#8220;I am moving as fast as I can, but it&#8217;s more important to get it right than move fast,&#8221; Raimondo said.
Ben Zeisloft contributed to this report.

J.D. Vance Sept 7

J.D. Vance Grills Commerce Sec Over ‘Diversity Mandates’ For Fed Funding In Semiconductor Industry

J.D. Vance Grills Commerce Sec. Over Unfriendly U.S. Business Policies

Congress

JD Vance

Politics

U.S. Senate

Commerce Secretary <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/gina-raimondo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gina Raimondo</a> refused to support <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/taiwan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Taiwan</a>&#8216;s claims of independence from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China</a> Wednesday while testifying on Capitol Hill.
Raimondo sat in front of the Senate Commerce Committee and in part fielded questions on her August trip to China and her interactions with Chinese heads of state. Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee grilled the secretary on whether she held the Chinese “to account” on human rights abuses and aggression.
“I was clear that there would be no negotiation on anything related to national security or export controls,” Raimondo told Blackburn, later adding that the Chinese were challenged directly on their treatment of Uyghur Muslims.
Raimondo demurred when asked about Taiwan, however. The Commerce secretary has yet to visit the island nation despite its importance as a supplier of semiconductors and other goods to the United States.
“I have had no reason to visit Taiwan,” Raimondo said when pressed by Blackburn.
When the Tennessee senator asked the secretary if she would recognize Taiwan as a country, Raimondo responded that “the administration’s policy is clear on Taiwan” and that Raimondo would “absolutely not” deviate from it.
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Why did <a href="https://twitter.com/SecRaimondo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecRaimondo</a> refuse to acknowledge that Taiwan is a country? <a href="https://t.co/LvWj5IHUwa">pic.twitter.com/LvWj5IHUwa</a>
&mdash; Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarshaBlackburn/status/1709669307104285044?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 4, 2023</a></blockquote>
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“It has long been clear that the Biden administration is the pro-China administration,” Blackburn told The Daily Wire in a statement. “Today’s comments by Secretary Raimondo prove that the Biden administration is once again prioritizing Communist China over Taiwan. China is committing genocide against millions of Muslim Uyghurs, and this administration is willing to turn a blind eye to advance their radical climate agenda and Green New Deal.”
Taiwan has been a wedge issue between some of the United States’ top Democratic leaders. Last year, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi traveled to Taiwan in a show of support for the island against Chinese threats and aggression. The former speaker <a href="https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-asia-beijing-nancy-pelosi-taipei-938933cfaea62b31e7577b0a2a4f7006" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> the United States commitment to Taiwan “ironclad.”
The Biden administration has adopted a more vague stance on the issue of Taiwanese independence, standing firmly on a position of “strategic ambiguity” that neither commits to Taiwan nor shuns it. The U.S. supports keeping the “status quo,” according to the State Department.
“The United States has a longstanding one China policy, which is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the three U.S.-China Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances.  We oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-Strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means,” a May 2022 <a href="https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-taiwan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a> from the Department of State says.

Biden Commerce Secretary Demurs When Grilled On Whether Taiwan A Country

China

Department of Commerce

Marsha Blackburn

Taiwan

Washington D.C.

U.S. businesses are getting fed up with trying to deal with the unpredictability of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/china">China</a>, according to a top <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration">Biden administration</a> official.
Commerce Secretary <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/gina-raimondo">Gina Raimondo</a>, who appeared for multiple interviews on Sunday to talk about her recent trip to China, told <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxtxW5uinas">CBS News&#8217; &#8220;Face the Nation&#8221;</a> that creating a fair and competitive environment was a pressing issue amid concerns about opaque regulations, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/f956ab7c-7980-44e4-b2b4-5f101398e2b3">raids</a> by Chinese authorities, and preserving trade secrets.
&#8220;I&#8217;ll tell you, prior to going to China, I personally spoke with more than 100 U.S. business leaders and labor leaders. And what they tell me is that even the ones that have been doing business in China for decades, you know, these are sophisticated people used to dealing with the traditional concerns of, you know, IP theft or non-market practices,&#8221; Raimondo said.
&#8220;They say, it&#8217;s much harder now, right? Like China is making it more difficult because of the reasons you say the &#8212; raids, the counter-espionage law. They are going to make a business decision to do business in other countries unless that improves. And so I was very clear with China that we need to — patience is wearing thin among American business,&#8221; she added. &#8220;They need and deserve a predictable environment and a level playing field. And hopefully China will heed that message so we can have a stable [and] growing commercial relationship.&#8221;
Raimondo traveled to China last week to map out cooperation areas in the commercial sector and address &#8220;challenges&#8221; faced by U.S. businesses.
She met with Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao, who stressed that trade and economic relations between their countries are suitable for the world economy, according to a readout from China&#8217;s embassy in the United States. Wang also raised concerns about issues that are a priority for Beijing, such as tariffs, semiconductor policies, and investment restrictions, per the release.
The Biden administration recently sent another Cabinet official, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/yellen-admits-to-eating-magic-mushrooms-in-china">Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen</a>, to China in a bid to improve relations at a time of <a href="https://apnews.com/article/yellen-china-tensions-spy-balloon-taiwan-russia-edcb0077d45a3ffabbe4b9dbbf9fe29c">rising tensions</a>.
Raimondo said she believes her visit amounted to a &#8220;great deal of progress,&#8221; including the opening of new lines of communication and an agreement to share information about export controls, though she noted that commercial interests need to be balanced with national security needs. The secretary claimed she confronted Chinese officials about a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinese-hackers-spied-on-state-department-13a09f03">hacking campaign</a> that gained access to her emails, an incident she said &#8220;erodes&#8221; trust.
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Chinese officials gave &#8220;verbal assurances&#8221; that U.S. businesses would be treated &#8220;fairly, that they will not engage in non-market practices which hurt American workers,&#8221; Raimondo added. The secretary said she told her Chinese counterparts that she wanted to see them live up to their words.
&#8220;Time will tell whether they are going to really be as they say they want to be, you know, more market-oriented and open and reform-minded when it comes to their economy, their regulatory regime,&#8221; Raimondo said. &#8220;They need to be less arbitrary in the way they administer regulations to actually give American businesses a fair shot to compete.&#8221;

Biden’s Commerce Secretary Warns U.S. Businesses Getting Impatient With China

Biden's Commerce Secretary Warns U.S. Businesses Getting Impatient With China

Global Politics

House Republicans have opened a probe into suspected Chinese cyber-espionage campaigns targeting the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/state-department" target="_blank" rel="noopener">State Department</a> and the Commerce Department after hackers gained access to federal government communications. 
The <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/release/comer-mace-grothman-open-probe-into-data-breach-of-email-systems-at-u-s-federal-agencies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">investigation</a> is being led by House Oversight and Accountability Chair James Comer (R-KY), Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), and Rep. Glenn Growthman (R-WI). In two letters sent Wednesday, the lawmakers requested further information from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo after <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinese-hackers-spied-on-state-department-13a09f03" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a> last month that Chinese hackers had gained access to communications from both departments. 
“According to recent reports, as part of a ‘suspected cyber-espionage campaign to access data in sensitive computer networks’ by China, the breaches reportedly occurred at over two dozen organizations, including some U.S. government agencies. The Department discovered this alleged intrusion by China on June 16, 2023, yet, you left later that evening for a trip to Beijing,” the <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/State-Dept-Email-System-Breach-Letter.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to Blinken said. 
The lawmakers want a briefing on the compromise by August 9, saying they believed the recent discovery of the hacking indicated that China’s cyberattacks were becoming more advanced. 
“The incident even raises the possibility that Chinese hackers may be able to access high-level computer networks and remain undetected for months if not years,” the letter says. 
Lawmakers also requested a briefing from Raimondo in a nearly identical letter to the one sent to Blinken. 
News of the hacking, which federal officials first discovered in June, was first made public in July. 
 “Microsoft notified the department of a compromise to Microsoft’s Office 365 system, and the department took immediate action to respond,” a spokesman for the Commerce Department said last month. “We are monitoring our systems and will respond promptly should any further activity be detected.”
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In March, the White House put out a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/National-Cybersecurity-Strategy-2023.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">framework</a> discussing the need for cybersecurity, warning that China, North Korea, Russia, and Iran were all working to increase their cyber capabilities.
According to the framework, China represents “the broadest, most active, and most persistent threat to both government and private sector networks and is the only country with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to do so.”
It added that China was pursuing “digital authoritarianism” to “shape the global Internet” into its image.

FBI Briefs House Oversight Leaders In Biden Probe

House Republicans Open Probe Into ‘Suspected’ Chinese Cyber Espionage Targeting Federal Agencies

Antony Blinken

House Republicans

James Comer

Nancy Mace

CNN&#8217;s Jake Tapper pressed Biden Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on Sunday over the administration&#8217;s seemingly slow response in dealing with various issues that he noted experts had forecasted would become problematic.
&#8220;So, you heard Secretary [Janet] Yellen this week said she got it wrong about inflation. In July, you told Bloomberg that inflation would be temporary, about a year ago,&#8221; Tapper said on the network&#8217;s Sunday morning show, &#8220;State of the Union.&#8221;
&#8220;As recently as six months ago, you were calling inflation a &#8216;short-term problem,&#8217; not a long-term problem,&#8221; he said. &#8220;So, you got it wrong too.&#8221;
&#8220;So, clearly, we are and Americans are struggling with inflation, but I don&#8217;t think anyone predicted Putin&#8217;s war in Ukraine or various other things that have happened that have been unexpected,&#8221; Raimondo said. &#8220;I still think we will get inflation under control. We just have to stick with it and see it through.&#8221;
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CNN&#39;S JAKE TAPPER: &quot;As recently as six months ago, you were calling inflation &#39;a short-term problem, not a long-term problem.&#39;&quot;
COMMERCE SECRETARY GINA RAIMONDO: &quot;I still think we will get inflation under control, we just have to stick with it.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/ftec6ui6Gv">pic.twitter.com/ftec6ui6Gv</a>
&mdash; RNC Research (@RNCResearch) <a href="https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1533450703447916545?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Well, all due respect, Madam Secretary, [economist] Larry Summers, a year ago, more than a year ago, was saying that the Biden administration was putting too much money into the economy, flooding too much money into the economy, and he was concerned about inflation,&#8221; Tapper countered. &#8220;And Biden administration officials said that Larry Summers was wrong. And it turned out Larry Summers was right.&#8221;
&#8220;I don&#8217;t really agree with that characterization,&#8221; she responded. &#8220;Look, the reality is, I was just in Europe a couple of weeks ago. Gas there in France is $10 a gallon. and &#8212; right? And they didn&#8217;t have an American Rescue Plan like we did.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
CNN&#39;s Jake Tapper roasts Biden Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo for repeatedly ignoring warnings of surging inflation.
RAIMONDO: &quot;Uh, I don&#39;t really agree with that characterization&#8230;&quot; <a href="https://t.co/cEPK8KuApy">pic.twitter.com/cEPK8KuApy</a>
&mdash; RNC Research (@RNCResearch) <a href="https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1533450251251634179?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Tapper then switched his focus to the administration&#8217;s response to the baby formula shortage that has hit the U.S. over the last several months.
&#8220;President Biden this week said he didn&#8217;t learn about the severity of the infant formula shortage until April,&#8221; Tapper said. &#8220;But problems first emerged back at the Abbott plant back in October of 2021. An industry executive said they knew how bad this could get when the plant closed in February.&#8221;
&#8220;When did you first learn of this problem?&#8221; he asked.
&#8220;I first learned about it a couple of months ago,&#8221; Raimondo claimed, later adding, &#8220;probably April.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;m not involved in the administration&#8217;s response here, I should say,&#8221; she said. &#8220;But I think they&#8217;re doing a very good job.&#8221;
Tapper then pressed Raimondo on why the Biden administration has repeatedly been &#8220;caught flat-footed&#8221; in responding to problems, including inflation, the baby formula shortage, and record-high gas prices.
&#8220;Why does it seem the Biden administration is consistently playing clean-up on these problems that are playing out exactly as many experts forecast they would, instead of heading them off before they become a crisis?&#8221; he asked.
&#8220;So, again, I mean, that&#8217;s one way to look at it,&#8221; she responded.
Raimondo did not answer the question related to the specific issues Tapper mentioned.
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CNN&#39;S JAKE TAPPER: &quot;When did you first learn of this [baby formula shortage]?&quot;
SEC. RAIMONDO: &quot;Uh, I first learned about it, you know, a couple of months ago&#8230;&quot;
TAPPER: &quot;So April?&quot;
RAIMONDO: &quot;Uh, yes, probably April. I&#39;m not involved in the administration&#39;s response here&#8230;&quot; <a href="https://t.co/XVPcQQh9La">pic.twitter.com/XVPcQQh9La</a>
&mdash; RNC Research (@RNCResearch) <a href="https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1533449403939311617?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo Testifies Before Senate Commerce Committee

CNN Grills Biden Commerce Secretary For ‘Consistently Playing Clean-Up’ On Issues Experts Warned About

baby formula shortage

Inflation

Jake Tapper

State of the Union

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and a group of GOP senators sent a letter to the Biden administration&#8217;s secretary of commerce to demand an end to permit delays that they say are hampering American energy production.
The <a href="https://www.cruz.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/cruz_et_al_to_sec.raimondo.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo called for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to quickly issue the necessary permits to bring additional production online from existing offshore federal oil and gas leases.
&#8220;While the Biden Administration and Members of Congress fault the domestic oil and gas industry for sitting idle on over 9,000 drilling permits and millions of acres in &#8216;inactive leases&#8217;, NMFS’s permitting delays represent one example of the Administration’s de facto ban on new drilling – impeding domestic oil and gas investment, exploration, and production,&#8221; the senators wrote.
The letter noted that the delays are largely caused by “three administration-made and admitted mistakes” due to miscalculations regarding the number of endangered species in the Gulf of Mexico in a 2021 Final Rule.
&#8220;It is unacceptable that agency miscalculations have restricted access to safe, secure, and reliable domestic oil and gas production through substantial, unnecessary, and arbitrary permitting delays,&#8221; the senators added.
Cruz also took to Twitter to express his concerns regarding the Biden administration&#8217;s delays.
&#8220;Under President Biden, America has seen record high gas prices,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;I and 19 other senators signed a letter demanding that the Secretary of Commerce stop delaying permits for existing oil and gas leases.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Under President Biden, America has seen record high gas prices.
I and 19 other senators signed a letter demanding that the Secretary of Commerce stop delaying permits for existing oil and gas leases.
⬇️READ MORE HERE⬇️ <a href="https://t.co/imTYM8RSNM">https://t.co/imTYM8RSNM</a>
&mdash; Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenTedCruz/status/1526959797534437376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2022</a></blockquote>
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In a recent <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2022/05/10/ted-cruz-the-biden-administrations-antagonism-toward-oil-and-gas-is-hurting-texans/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">op-ed</a> published in the Dallas Morning News, Cruz noted that gas prices were rising before Russia invaded Ukraine due to the Biden administration&#8217;s policies.
&#8220;A year ago, Russian hackers breached the network of the biggest pipeline in the country and demanded a ransom to unlock the system. Within 90 minutes, the pipeline was shut down for the first time in 57 years, and the transport of 2.5 million barrels of fuel a day, about 45% of the Eastern Seaboard’s supply, ground to a halt,&#8221; Cruz wrote.
&#8220;The Colonial Pipeline crisis should have been a wake-up call for Democrats, from the Northeast governors who won’t allow pipelines to deliver fuel from neighboring states to President Joe Biden, whose administration has made it exceedingly difficult for energy producers to return to pre-COVID-19 production numbers,&#8221; he added.
Cruz, a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, also addressed high gas prices last month during the committee’s meeting.
“Over the past 15 months, we’ve seen inflation grow higher than any time in the last 40 years. Perhaps the most painful driver of inflation has been the skyrocketing cost of gasoline at the pump,” Cruz <a href="https://www.cruz.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/-sen-cruz-slams-biden-admin-for-skyrocketing-gas-prices-they-told-the-american-people-they-would-do-this-and-they-kept-their-promise" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the committee.
“When Joe Biden took the oath of office, the average retail price of gasoline was $2.38 a gallon. Today, it is $4.23 a gallon. In some parts of the country, the price has crossed $6.90 a gallon. This was not an accident. It was not an unintended side effect. Nor was it principally the result of the war in Ukraine. This was the result of the Green New Deal zealots in the Biden administration,&#8221; he argued.

Ted Cruz

‘Unacceptable’: Cruz, GOP Senators Demand End To Oil And Gas Lease Permit Delays

Ted Cruz, GOP Senators Demand End To Oil And Gas Lease Permit Delays

Green New Deal

Oil and Gas

The husband of one of Democrat President Joe Biden&#8217;s cabinet secretaries is a top executive in an artificial intelligence company that is backed by China&#8217;s communist government.
&#8220;Danhua Capital, based in California but established with the financial backing of the Chinese Communist Party, is one of the main funders of PathAI, an artificial intelligence firm that employs [Commerce Secretary Gina] Raimondo&#8217;s husband, Andy Moffit, as its chief people officer,&#8221; the Washington Free Beacon <a href="https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/commerce-secretarys-husband-is-top-executive-at-tech-firm-funded-by-chinese-government/">reported</a>. &#8220;A venture capital firm backed by the Chinese government is a major investor in an artificial intelligence company that counts Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo&#8217;s husband as a top executive, a potential conflict of interest as her agency works to counter China on the world stage.&#8221;
Reuters reported a few years ago that Danhua Capital was part of China&#8217;s &#8220;penetration of Silicon Valley,&#8221; noting that the communist government plays a very influential role &#8220;in the smaller venture firms they back by providing a greater percentage of their funding.&#8221;
Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-techinvesting-insight/chinas-penetration-of-silicon-valley-creates-risks-for-startups-idUSKBN1JP08V">reported</a>:
<blockquote>
Danhua Capital, which is backed by the Zhongguancun Development Group, a state-owned enterprise funded by the Beijing municipal government, has holdings in some of the most sensitive technology sectors.
Its investments include data management and security company Cohesity, which counts the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Air Force among its customers. Drone startup Flirtey, which in May was selected by the U.S. Department of Transportation to participate in projects to help the agency integrate drones safely into U.S. air space, is also part of the Danhua portfolio.
</blockquote>
The report said that Raimondo has emerged as one of &#8220;the most pro-China voices in the administration,&#8221; noting her department provided a lifeline this year to China&#8217;s Huawei, which is reportedly tied to China&#8217;s genocide of religious minorities.
Raimondo told The Wall Street Journal in an interview back in September that she wants to increase U.S. business ties with communist China, even though she acknowledged that Chinese policies harm American companies.
The WSJ <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/commerce-secretary-gina-raimondo-aims-to-strengthen-business-ties-with-china-11632475802">report</a> said:
<blockquote>Raimondo said she plans to lead delegations of U.S. chief executives overseas, including to China, to hunt for business and discuss longstanding trade issues, though nothing has yet been put on the calendar. &#8230;
Chinese economic policies disadvantage U.S. companies by subsidizing exports at below-market prices and winking at the theft of intellectual property, Ms. Raimondo said. Even so, she said the U.S. must trade with China given the size of its market.</blockquote>
Matt Pottinger, who served in the Trump administration as the senior Asia adviser on the National Security Council and later as deputy national security adviser, and David Feith, who served in the Trump administration as U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/30/opinion/xi-jinping-china-us-data-war.html">warned</a> in a New York Times op-ed on Wednesday that China was dominating the world in the crucial domain of data.
&#8220;The Biden administration has spoken about the importance of data in our competition with China. But no visible strategy has emerged,&#8221; they wrote. &#8220;That threatens Americans’ privacy, economic competitiveness, national security and future global standing. This will be a major test of America’s China policy in 2022.&#8221;
Related:
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<li><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/setting-off-alarm-bells-u-s-officials-scramble-as-china-pushes-to-build-atlantic-military-base">‘Setting Off Alarm Bells’: U.S. Officials Scramble As China Pushes To Build Atlantic Military Base</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-space-force-general-details-strategy-u-s-is-using-to-counteract-chinese-aggression-in-race-for-space-dominance">U.S. Space Force General Details Strategy U.S. Is Using To Counteract Chinese Aggression In Race For Space Dominance</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-moves-to-extend-global-dominance-in-mining-processing-key-resources">China Moves To Extend Global Dominance In Mining, Processing Key Resources</a></li>
</ul>

President Biden Delivers Remarks At Kansas City Area Transportation Authority

Husband Of Biden Cabinet Secretary Is Top Executive At Company Backed By China’s Communist Government: Report

Although President Joe Biden issued a new mandate requiring millions of federal workers and contractors to get vaccinated — and exerting strong pressure on private employers — Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo denied that the administration is forcing anyone to receive the COVID-19 vaccination.
“Nobody is being forced” to be vaccinated, claimed Raimondo on MSNBC on Tuesday morning.
The secretary was responding to MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle, who announced she was “puzzled by people that continue to say they’re forced to get vaccinated here.”
Workers in the private sector who do not wish to receive a vaccination can always sequester themselves at home, Ruhle said.
“There&#8217;s always been a choice: If you do not want to get vaccinated, you can work from home. You can homeschool your children. You can shop online,” Ruhle said. “If you didn&#8217;t want to vaccinate your kids, you can homeschool, and people have done it for years.”
Raimondo agreed. “We are not being forced,” she repeated. “You can work from home, get tested on a weekly basis.”
“I think this is smart public policy and great leadership by the president,” Secretary Raimondo said.
Raimondo’s assertion contradicts numerous planks of President Biden’s six-point plan to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus, which he unveiled last Thursday evening.
The White House website <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/covidplan/">notes</a> that President Biden signed an executive order to “require all federal executive branch workers to be vaccinated” — a number it places in the “millions.”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="&#039;I&#039;m puzzled by these people who continue to say they’re forced to get vaccinated here,&#039; Ruhle said" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yepkjQBEYY8?start=71&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The president’s executive actions also “require COVID-19 vaccinations for workers in most health care settings that receive Medicare or Medicaid reimbursement, including but not limited to hospitals, dialysis facilities, ambulatory surgical settings, and home health agencies.”
“These requirements will apply to approximately 50,000 providers and cover a majority of health care workers across the country,” the website adds.
The most controversial part of the Biden administration’s plan demands that private businesses with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-biden-to-force-private-companies-to-mandate-vaccinations-weekly-covid-tests-report">at least 100 workers</a> get their employees vaccinated or have them subjected to weekly testing.
The mandate, which would be overseen by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, fines employers $13,600 for each violation. In all, the president’s executive action impacts <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bidens-six-pronged-covid-19-action-plan-impacts-100-million-americans-includes-vax-mandates">100 million</a> American citizens.
While the private employer portion of the mandate does not strictly require employees to be inoculated, the cost of COVID-19 tests may prove burdensome when compared to the “free” COVID-19 vaccination. “At $10 or $15 a test, the price is still far too high for regular use by anyone but the wealthy,” <a href="https://khn.org/news/article/home-rapid-covid-tests-cost-biden-push-to-lower-prices/">wrote</a> Hannah Norman of Kaiser Health News. “A family with two school-age children might need to spend $500 or more a month to try to keep their family — and others — safe.” President Biden has promised to expand “free” testing at food banks, community health centers, and retail pharmacies.
Republican governors have promised a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/tuesday-september-14-2021">vigorous court battle</a>.
Raimondo called lack of vaccination “the single biggest thing that&#8217;s holding back the economy right now” — although economists say rampant inflation, reduced consumer confidence, and a hiring crisis caused in part by additional supplemental unemployment benefits place the economy in jeopardy.
Inflation rose by 5.4% in July, the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/july-inflation-remains-at-last-months-record-high-levels">largest increase since 2008</a>, and by <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/us-inflation-consumer-price-index-august-2021-11631564849">5.3%</a> year-on-year in August. The Consumer Confidence Index, which measures consumers’ optimism about their economic future, <a href="https://data.oecd.org/leadind/consumer-confidence-index-cci.htm">fell</a> to a <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/us-consumer-confidence-falls-august-month-low-79744361">six-month low</a> last month. and there are currently <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm">10.9 million</a> unfilled jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Job openings increased in several industries, with the largest increases in health care and social assistance,” according to the BLS.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Doctor injecting covid-19 vaccine to senior man at his home.

‘Nobody Is Being Forced’ To Be Vaccinated: Biden Commerce Secretary

COVID-19 Vaccine

MSNBC

Vaccine Mandate

On Wednesday, Biden Administration Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo stated, &#8220;There is not a shred of evidence to show that the [Trump tax] cuts in 2017 increased growth or productivity.&#8221;
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Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo says &quot;there is not a shred of evidence to show the [Trump] tax cuts in 2017 increased growth and productivity.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/SHIwrb60Mr">pic.twitter.com/SHIwrb60Mr</a>
&mdash; Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) <a href="https://twitter.com/DailyCaller/status/1379836076571955200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 7, 2021</a></blockquote>
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The <a href="https://www.heritage.org/taxes/report/economic-history-the-tax-cuts-and-jobs-act-higher-wages-more-jobs-new-investment">Heritage Foundation</a> explained, “In December 2017, Congress passed a $1.5 trillion tax cut to spur business investment, support the long-running post-financial-crisis economic expansion, and simplify taxpaying. The primary permanent component of the TCJA is the 21 percent corporate income tax rate. The law lowered the federal rate from 35 percent, which had made America one of the highest corporate-income-tax countries in the world. The lower rate was paired with business expensing, allowing businesses to write off the full cost of investments through the end of 2022. These two provisions were the primary driving force behind projections of increased economic growth.&#8221;
There may be disagreements about whether the tax cuts increased growth and productivity, but it is a wild statement to aver that there is “not a shred of evidence.” The Heritage Foundation noted last month:
<blockquote>A new <a href="https://www.heritage.org/taxes/report/economic-history-the-tax-cuts-and-jobs-act-higher-wages-more-jobs-new-investment">Heritage Foundation report</a> chronicles how the tax cuts were a success on each of these margins. Following the tax cuts, the Congressional Budget Office projected a sustained increase in business investment. Through 2019, actual investment outpaced the government scorekeeper’s projections. Tax cut-driven turnaround in investment also showed up as a spike in new manufacturing orders, small-business optimism, and new-business applications. Those forces helped boost gains for workers.
New job openings surged in 2018, the year following the tax cuts, and about 83,000 more people voluntarily left their jobs for better opportunities at the end of 2019, compared with the pre-reform trend. The beginning of 2018 also marked a significant increase in wage growth. The accompanying chart shows that for production and nonsupervisory workers, nominal wage growth was 2.4% and declining in the years leading up to the tax cuts.
Following the tax cuts, wage growth for those workers increased to 3.8% by October 2019, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.</blockquote>
The House Ways and Means Committee <a href="https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/trump-tax-cuts-results-full-review/">stated</a> last October that the tax cuts had been successful:
<blockquote>In the third quarter of 2018, small businesses recorded their highest level of optimism to date. The unemployment rate reached a generational low, with record low unemployment for women, people of color, and workers without high school degrees. Since the enactment of TCJA, the economy gained nearly 5 million jobs before the pandemic. Under TCJA, job openings were at a record high of 7.5 million jobs.</blockquote>
Conversely, <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/7-charts-showing-trump-tax-cuts-not-economic-rocket-fuel-2019-12-1028780773">Business Insider</a> argued the tax cuts were not very successful, “There were short-term bumps in GDP growth and business investment that faded relatively quickly. Wages increased, but not to the extent Republicans promised. US GDP ticked upward in the early months of 2018, helping the economy achieve 3% growth during the first year of the law, an early success for it. However, that momentum slowed in 2019, the product of anxiety among business leaders on Trump&#8217;s trade wars and weak demand overseas.”

Biden’s Commerce Secretary Claims No ‘Shred Of Evidence’ That Trump Tax Cuts ‘Increased Growth Or Productivity’

Tax Cuts

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