I have freely admitted for a while now that Wisconsin is a fairly corrupt place. (And WEDC, the guys who came up with this, has been among the organizations I've pointed out the most.) That said, the more this Foxconn thing goes on, the more I realize how much we've been screwed over in Wisconsin by Walker and his cronies.<p>The Foxconn thing never even <i>sounded</i> right from the outset. Four to five billion? To manufacture LCDs?<p>I mean, I know I'm a bit more technically inclined than most people in Wisconsin, but didn't anyone stop and think for a second, "Hmmm... Wait? Isn't the future supposed to be OLED? This doesn't make any business sense for them????"<p>Now these Foxconn guys come back with a story about "R&D"??????<p>I'm just saying, isn't their entire <i>business model</i> manufacturing <i>other people's</i> R&D? So the best you'd get is R&D to enhance their manufacturing processes maybe? Throw in a small chance at some business process R&D???? (I know, it's a stretch, but I'm trying to be generous.)<p>Now again, I realize I'm a bit more technically inclined than most Wisconsinites, but does anyone else find it more reasonable to do that sort of R&D in places closer to your actual manufacturing? Even suspending that disbelief for a moment, you have to ask yourself why you'd need 13,000 people to do that? You don't. You'd just never do that if you owned Foxconn.<p>This whole story just doesn't add up. Even from the start, it never did. How could Walker and his cronies have ever fallen for any of this?
This is a fantastic Podcast on the situation and what went down in Wisconsin. The NDA Foxconn made council members sign to where the council couldn't even talk to their citizens about it will really rub you the wrong way;<p><a href="https://www.gimletmedia.com/reply-all/132-negative-mount-pleasant#episode-player" rel="nofollow">https://www.gimletmedia.com/reply-all/132-negative-mount-ple...</a>
See this news release by Mount Pleasant:<p>"...The local development agreement stipulates that, if, for any reason, Foxconn’s investment on the campus falls short, the company remains obligated to support a minimum valuation for the project of $1.4 billion, which will more than pay for all public improvements and development costs for the project."<p><a href="https://www.mtpleasantwi.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=219" rel="nofollow">https://www.mtpleasantwi.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=219</a>
I will never get over how "reporting" seems to amount to publishing a bunch of quotes by people without assessing their credibility. Why give Wisconsin Republicans, noted bad actors, a free mouthpiece in this article at all, let alone without context for whether their comments about "economic uncertainty" under the Dem governor hold any water?
So a lot of people seem to be saying something along the lines of "Wisconsin spent 4+ billion and now they're getting nothing in return."<p>But WI didn't write a 4 billion dollar check or anything. It was a promise of tax credits. If it turns out that Foxconn basically doesn't do anything in WI, then they won't make any money there so they won't owe any taxes so they won't use any of the credits.<p>So the whole thing becomes a much ado about nothing sort of situation (aside, I suppose, from the big waste of time spent negotiating everything).<p>Is this basically right, or am I misunderstanding something?
They got their $4billion handout from Scott Walker and are predictably walking back on it.<p>Corruption from the so-called party of "fiscal responsibility"
There was a good Reply All podcast episode about this story in early December:
<a href="https://www.gimletmedia.com/reply-all/132-negative-mount-pleasant" rel="nofollow">https://www.gimletmedia.com/reply-all/132-negative-mount-ple...</a><p>The inevitably was sadly clear to all but those who had the power to make it happen.
This whole sordid affair is so reminiscent of how wealthy sports team owners play cities against one another to see which of them is willing to finance the most of their billion dollar wet dreams. Las Vegas, I'm looking at you! And Phoenix, you're next. Seattle, well, it's too late. You've already be scammed. Invariably, its a classic case of socializing the costs and privatizing the profits.
Corruption started its latest incarnation in Wisconsin with Tommy Thompson. Approved the state lottery which led to casinos ( Chicago mafia controlled). Now, almost every month their is a fiduciary in some county or city government that gets caught with their hands in the till because of their casino losses. As for Foxconn...
I keep saying this. We have almost all of the tech you need here in Wisconsin (or the upper midwest) for making our own lcd industry. 3M in Menomone Wi makes the Vikuity backlight material. We have pc board manufacturing (TTMI) in Chippewa Falls. Lots of electronic design talent at companies like Cray and HPE. So. Get in line and order the LCD production equipment from Nikon in Japan and start making some. What exactly do you need a contract manufacturer like Foxconn for?
The numbers here are staggering. The state of Wisconsin under Scott Walker subsidized this project at a rate of $14,000-$19,000 per citizen, not including the environmental and infrastructural impacts.<p>I wonder how much economic stimulus to existing businesses would be created by dropping $15k into everyone’s pocket.
Not reconsidering anymore, Foxconn will be building Gen 6 LCD plant.<p>Feb 1st, 2019
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Foxconn Technology Group said Friday it will indeed build a liquid crystal display manufacturing plant in Wisconsin, following talks between President Donald Trump and company CEO and Chairman Terry Gou.<p>The Taiwan-based electronics manufacturer said it will move forward with construction of a so-called Generation 6 factory, or "fab," which typically produces screens for cellphones, tablets and small televisions.
"<p>---<p><a href="https://eu.jsonline.com/story/money/business/2019/02/01/foxconn-now-says-indeed-build-lcd-factory-wisconsin/2744111002/" rel="nofollow">https://eu.jsonline.com/story/money/business/2019/02/01/foxc...</a>
I wonder if this is Foxconn's way of signaling to Trump that Foxconn wants the Wisconsin factory to be exempted from paying the new tariffs on imports of Chinese parts.