The pandemic revealed that America has supply chain problems. As China locked down over COVID and shipping lanes were disrupted by war, inflation has remained persistent. As part of his “build back better” strategy to strengthen America’s supply chain, Biden asked Congress to pass the CHIPS Act, a bill to promote the building of semiconductors in the United States.
It made sense. These chips are used in almost every aspect of modern lives, whether its AI or automobiles, rockets or smart coffee machines, Americans rely on them every day.
The White House has been great at spending American money, but the administration has struggled to get semiconductor plants running, much like it spent billions to not build a single EV charging station.
Once again, Biden has put DEI and liberal social engineering ahead of making our lives better.
The Biden administration recently promised it will finally loosen the purse strings on $39 billion of CHIPS Act grants to encourage semiconductor fabrication in the U.S. But less than a week later, Intel announced that it’s putting the brakes on its Columbus factory. The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has pushed back production at its second Arizona foundry. The remaining major chipmaker, Samsung, just delayed its first Texas fab, writes The Hill.
Commentators have noted that CHIPS and Science Act money has been sluggish. What they haven’t noticed is that it’s because the CHIPS Act is so loaded with DEI pork that it can’t move.
The law contains 19 sections aimed at helping minority groups, including one creating a Chief Diversity Officer at the National Science Foundation, and several prioritizing scientific cooperation with what it calls “minority-serving institutions.” A section called “Opportunity and Inclusion” instructs the Department of Commerce to work with minority-owned businesses and make sure chipmakers “increase the participation of economically disadvantaged individuals in the semiconductor workforce.”
The department interprets that as license to diversify. Its factsheet asserts that diversity is “critical to strengthening the U.S. semiconductor ecosystem,” adding, “Critically, this must include significant investments to create opportunities for Americans from historically underserved communities.”
Bogged down with DEI strings attached to the funding, Samsung, another major chip maker, announced it would be delaying the building of a plant in Texas.
Tom’s Hardware reports, “The new fabbing plant, which was originally set to begin mass production in the second half of 2024, is now expected to have only limited production by that time. Samsung is apparently scaling back its Texas operation due to uncertain financial factors, including CHIPS Act subsidies and the global economy.
The Korean conglomerate will invest $200 billion in Texas alone, with 11 total foundries to produce 4nm chips, the first one being built at Taylor, Texas. The Taylor fab has been delayed, much like TSMC’s Fab 21 in Arizona. But the delay at Samsung’s first fab is apparently intentional, with the corporation deciding to postpone mass production in favor of a smaller output levels until 2025. In contrast, TSMC’s foundry hit conflicts with local workers and unions.”
As Biden begins his reelection campaign, he’s going to talk about spending money, but it would be good to look for results too.
[Read More: Biden Uses State of the Union To Talk About His Obsessions]
Scrap DEI & Boost the CHIPS ACT NOW