Right-Wing Defeatist Cliff Stearns (R-FL): "We Can't Compete With China"

China invests in the future... the way the U.S. used to before the GOP losers took over

Anyone catch the History Channel's debut of History of the World in Two Hours this weekend? Better than Cupcake Wars which is beginning to wear a little thin lately. I found it interesting that they ranked the ability of communities to participate in trade with far off places as highly in the development of civilization as the use of the larynx, the taming of fire, the development of abstract thought/art, and the domestication of horses. Take away: trade is a big deal. Today one of my friend's brothers is flying to China with two all-American quarter horses. They want 'em; he's selling 'em. Good trade. I want to get to another kind of trade in a moment-- the kind of trade corrupt and reactionary Republican {{Cliff Stearns}} has in mind for China-- but first a little tangent.

In the years leading up to World War II there were a great number of right-wing members of Congress supporting European fascism, almost all of them Republicans, of course. Even during the war, there were Republican Members of Congress conspiring with Hitler and accepting campaign cash from the Germans and their allies. The Nazi's poured vast sums of money into the Republican efforts to defeat FDR and to elect pro-Nazi Republicans to Congress, failing with the former, succeeding with the latter.

Today America's most dangerous rival is China. And, needless to say, China's biggest advocates inside the U.S. Congress are almost entirely Republicans. Monday night there was a vote on doing something-- something supported by both business and labor interests-- about Chinese currency manipulation. Keep in mind that this continued currency manipulation has driven China's export juggernaut, and boosted the U.S.-China trade deficit to a record $273 billion last year-- something that has cost the U.S. almost 3 million jobs over the last 10 years. Aside from the two Democratic senators from Washington-- the state that actually profits most from China trade (like in the mechanism of trade itself rather than in good exchanged), all the senators who filibustered S.1619, the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Act of 2011, are conservative shills for China. All the Senate Tea Party Republicans lined up against the bill: Jim DeMint (R-SC), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Mike Lee (R-UT), Rand Paul (R-KY), Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Pat Toomey (R-PA). I'm sure it isn't a coincidence that these 6 have taken large sums of dubious campaign contributions from China through the Chamber of Commerce. So what's all this got to do with Stearns, who's never going to be a senator or anything more than a glorified backbencher? The jerk has a subcommittee chair and Cantor made him the point person on the dishonest right-wing attacks on clean energy. NPR dealt with him yesterday on All Things Considered:

New revelations continue to surface about the Obama administration's handling of half a billion dollars in federal loan guarantees to the now-bankrupt solar company Solyndra.
On Monday, Democrats released a memo that showed some voices inside the White House argued against President Obama's visit to Solyndra in May 2010.

But Solyndra was just one of the clean energy projects and businesses that got loan guarantees from a Department of Energy program that ended Friday. In all, it financed 28 projects with $16 billion in loan guarantees. The Energy Department says the projects will create about 17,000 construction and permanent jobs.

Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), who chairs an energy and commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations, originally supported the program when Congress created it.

Now he says, "I think the administration is putting taxpayers' money at risk in areas that are not creating jobs."

Stearns says he is "hugely critical" of how loans in the program have been handled. He says they were rushed out the door.

"We asked them to hold up any more loan guarantees so that they could be looked at more carefully, so we don't have any more Solyndras," he says.

For its part, the Department of Energy denies rushing its processes-- or playing politics. Over the weekend, Energy Secretary Steven Chu defended the loan program, saying the United States could not afford to give up investing in new energy technologies.

Kevin Smith, a CEO of SolarReserve, which is building a 2-mile-wide solar power generator in Tonopah, Nev., calls getting an Energy Department loan guarantee the most exhaustive vetting process he's been through in 25 years of working in energy.

"It was a pretty brutal due diligence process," Smith says.

The process took two years.

"Down to the level-- I mean, I had questions [such as], 'Kevin, you went to Sacramento on the 17th of February. Was that trip related to the Tonopah project?' You know, it's a $500 issue," Smith says.

SolarReserve received its $737 million loan earlier this month. Smith says he turned to the government because banks and private lenders simply were not lending enough for a project of this scale.

But he also says that doesn't mean his project is a risky investment for the taxpayer. SolarReserve is using a proven technology and already has a 25-year contract with a utility company.

"It's like us building a hotel and we've sold out 100 percent of the rooms for 25 years when we start construction," he says.

In fact, 16 of the 28 loan guarantees the Energy Department approved are for power generation projects like SolarReserve's. They have long-term contracts with utility firms or are subsidiary projects of utility companies.

That's why Rhone Resch, who heads the Solar Energy Industries Association, says the debate over what happened at Solyndra cannot inform the debate about clean energy investment overall.

"It's improper to view the entire industry through the lens of one failed company," he says.
Resch adds that in the past two years, solar companies have doubled their employment to 100,000 people.

"We're putting electricians, roofers and plumbers back to work in the solar industry after they've been let go by the housing industries," he says.

When Stearns, the Republican hosting the hearings on Solyndra, was asked about the seemingly low-risk revenue models of many of the loan guarantee recipients, he acknowledged those might be safer bets. But he still doesn't like the idea of government putting taxpayers on the line for other ventures.

"We can't compete with China to make solar panels and wind turbines," Stearns says.

He says he doesn't believe in any type of subsidy for industry. And, he says, where solar is concerned, it makes more sense to invest in research and development on a technology where the U.S. still has a chance of winning.

I don't know of any great new endeavors-- from the discovery of America to the development of the Internet, that weren't subsidized, at least in the initial phases, by the government. That's how big things get done. That's what Republicans don't understand about the role of government and why people like Cliff Stearns shouldn't be part of it. If we can't compete with China, it's because of degenerate right-wing ideology and degenerate right-wing ideologues... like Cliff Stearns. Steve Benen tore him a new asshole yesterday, although didn't mention any of the Chamber of Commerce contributions of Chinese cash into Stearns bulging warchest.

For nearly a year now, President Obama has pushed the line that the United States has to be prepared to “out-innovate, out-build, and out-compete” the rest of the world in the 21st century. Republicans have generally been hostile to such a proposition, largely because innovation and building requires investments they’re unwilling to make.

GOP officials are loath to admit it, but keeping the United States in a global leadership position in areas of technology and innovation simply isn’t a high priority. If Americans fall behind in global competition, for much of the right, it doesn’t much matter-- so long as the wealthy aren’t paying more in taxes.

...[O]n the one hand we see a White House committed to out-competing our international rivals, and on the other, we see leading congressional Republicans who believe the United States simply can’t keep up anymore, and is content to let China take the lead.

GOP officials, apparently, see this as a global competition, and are throwing in the towel.

Despite having a whopping 218 cosponsors-- including 60 Republicans-- Boehner and Cantor are refusing to allow the bill to be voted on in the House. Yesterday White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer voiced outrage over Stearns' defeatism.

A study released last month showed that, in spite of the intense global competition, the U.S. remains a net global exporter of solar technology-– with $5.6 billion in exports and an overall positive trade balance of $1.8 billion.

It is certainly true that China is playing to win. Last year alone, China offered its solar manufacturers $30 billion in government financing, vastly exceeding the U.S. investment. And China has overtaken the United States market share in solar power-– a technology we invented.

Chairman Stearns and other members of his party in Congress believe that America cannot, or should not, try to compete for jobs in a cutting edge and rapidly growing industry. We simply disagree: the answer to this challenge is not to wave the white flag and give up on American workers. America has never declared defeat after a single setback-– and we shouldn’t start now.

America’s entrepreneurs and innovators are still the very best in the world. Our workers are second to none-– and we have never been afraid of a challenge. It’s time to do what we’ve always done in the face of a tough competitor: roll up our sleeves and recapture the lead.

UPDATE: Final Vote Goes Badly For China Currency Manipulation

The final vote to end the Chamber of Commerce-sponsored filibuster on the currency manipulation bill succeeded, 62-38, winning with the 3/5 majority required to end filibisters. All the senators who took illegalk campaign contributions-- laundered through the Chamber of Commerce-- voted against American workers, particularly Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Roy Blunt (R-MO), John Boozman (R-AR), John Cornyn (R-TX), Jim DeMint (R-SC), Dean Heller (R-NV), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Mike Lee (R-UT), John McCain (R-AZ), Miss McConnell (R-KY), Rand Paul (R-KY), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Pat Toomey (R-PA) and, of course, David Diapers Vitter (R-LA). Corporate shill Claire McCaskill voted with the Republicans. A full dozen Republicans were willing to forego the bribes China was offering and voted instead for American interests. Scott Paul, who runs the Alliance for American Manufacturing:

“This is a major victory for American workers and manufacturers, and represents a new direction for our trade policy with China.

“Today’s cloture vote sends a clear message that the U.S. Senate intends to hold China accountable for its deliberate currency undervaluation.

“We congratulate the large, bipartisan team of Senators that have steadfastly pushed for China currency legislation. This bill will have a positive, lasting effect on American job creation, economic growth, and our manufacturing sector, at no cost to taxpayers. 
 
“As the Senate moves to a final vote, we hope the White House and House Republicans are paying clear attention. Voters are demanding action to defend American jobs and to create a level playing field for U.S. businesses. There is absolutely no excuse for further delay.”