Live data from Hacker News

Senate passes bipartisan bill to subsidize U.S.-made semiconductor chips

washingtonpost.com

201–210 of 489 posts

Re: Senate passes bipartisan bill to subsidize U.S.-made semiconductor chips

#201
post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, perhaps feel that state governments are better suited to those kinds of assistance programs.

Unlikely, because many states then cut those assistance programs when given the opportunity. It's more likely that the 'state' argument is a way to achieve their ideological ends (cutting the program.) That said, this bill is a very positive development. Investing in local manufacturing and R&D is a great idea, and it will help the economy. Hopefully it will efficient and money will not be captured by rent-seekers or…

Isn't that how it's supposed to work? The state is supposed to pass laws that represent the will of its constituents. If the majority of the people living in the state are opposed to such a program, then they shouldn't have such a program. The scope of the federal government is supposed to be for coordinating cross-state stuff that states alone can't decide for themselves.

Re: Senate passes bipartisan bill to subsidize U.S.-made semiconductor chips

#202
post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

51 senators could change that rule any time though, it’s just an accidental convention that hasn’t had the best track record imo

History won't look fondly on us for the absolute laughingstock of a policy it is at the highest levels of power. "Look even back in 2025, people were a bunch of monkeys with nuclear weapons. Look how they would decide on policy."

Re: Senate passes bipartisan bill to subsidize U.S.-made semiconductor chips

#203
post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A substantial number of those 52 senators oppose free school meals not because they're "too expensive" but because the policy itself (the government giving free food to children) is something they object to on ideological grounds. A much smaller subset of that group also oppose the government giving free stuff to industry, but in either case the cost is not what they're concerned about.

I’m all for healthy free lunches for poor kids. Is it really necessary to give free meals to all Palo Alto kids independent of financial status? https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2022/06/19/palo-alto-uni...

Doing it for everyone makes management simpler. I suspect it leads to better academic performance, too.

Re: Senate passes bipartisan bill to subsidize U.S.-made semiconductor chips

#204

It'll be money wasted. They should be paying out a large sum ONLY on completion, defined as when the first 10 million semiconductors are delivered to commercial customers.

As a side note, that's like a couple of days of production for one fab. A billion chips would be more meaningful in your example.

[deleted]

Re: Senate passes bipartisan bill to subsidize U.S.-made semiconductor chips

#205

It should be noted that the US decided not to extend the universal free school meals program, because it was "too expensive" at $11B. They also stopped the expanded and early payment of family tax credits, causing a double-whammy hit to poor families (then pile on inflation/food prices, and gas prices). But $50B to large monopolistic companies isn't "too expensive," and we can afford that . Unfortunately 52 senators…

This is a shallow analysis. You can’t just look at the price tag, you need to think about the value too (more generally, the ROI).

A $10 coffee can be too expensive while a $1000 MacBook is really cheap.

I’m not making any particular claims about the free school meals program, just noting that this argument doesn’t hold water as it stands.

Semiconductor manufacturing is of military and geopolitical significance so it makes a lot of sense that the government is willing to spend big here.

Re: Senate passes bipartisan bill to subsidize U.S.-made semiconductor chips

#206
post #163

It should be noted that the US decided not to extend the universal free school meals program, because it was "too expensive" at $11B. They also stopped the expanded and early payment of family tax credits, causing a double-whammy hit to poor families (then pile on inflation/food prices, and gas prices). But $50B to large monopolistic companies isn't "too expensive," and we can afford that . Unfortunately 52 senators…

A substantial number of those 52 senators oppose free school meals not because they're "too expensive" but because the policy itself (the government giving free food to children) is something they object to on ideological grounds. A much smaller subset of that group also oppose the government giving free stuff to industry, but in either case the cost is not what they're concerned about.

No post body was provided.

Re: Senate passes bipartisan bill to subsidize U.S.-made semiconductor chips

#207
post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A substantial number of those 52 senators oppose free school meals not because they're "too expensive" but because the policy itself (the government giving free food to children) is something they object to on ideological grounds. A much smaller subset of that group also oppose the government giving free stuff to industry, but in either case the cost is not what they're concerned about.

I’m all for healthy free lunches for poor kids. Is it really necessary to give free meals to all Palo Alto kids independent of financial status? https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2022/06/19/palo-alto-uni...

Necessary is a bad way to evaluate because it often devolves into whether or not it is "absolutely necessary". Of course the answer is often times no.

Rather than embrace minimalism, the better question is if it is more efficient to run the program that way and often times, universal programs are indeed more efficient.

Re: Senate passes bipartisan bill to subsidize U.S.-made semiconductor chips

#209

It should be noted that the US decided not to extend the universal free school meals program, because it was "too expensive" at $11B. They also stopped the expanded and early payment of family tax credits, causing a double-whammy hit to poor families (then pile on inflation/food prices, and gas prices). But $50B to large monopolistic companies isn't "too expensive," and we can afford that . Unfortunately 52 senators…

It is despicable that we don't do enough for the poor, but the government can do two things at once. It does not need to be either or.

For the US this is a chip manufacturing is a key strategic asset. South Korea, China, and Taiwan governments are essentially funding their chip manufacturing. It is not a fair playing field. The fact that they are only spending $52B on grants and incentives out of $280B is actually too little. South Korea is spending $450B for local chip manufacturing over 10 years and that started last year.

Re: Senate passes bipartisan bill to subsidize U.S.-made semiconductor chips

#210
post #206
post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A substantial number of those 52 senators oppose free school meals not because they're "too expensive" but because the policy itself (the government giving free food to children) is something they object to on ideological grounds. A much smaller subset of that group also oppose the government giving free stuff to industry, but in either case the cost is not what they're concerned about.

Quoted post unavailable.

It’s almost as if that’s not the ideology at all!
Post reply on HN