Stupid is as stupid does:
Welcome to the news that the Biden administration is opposing Nippon Steel’s proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel.
“It is important that we maintain strong American steel companies powered by American steel workers,” the president said on Thursday.
But the real issue is not “national security,” as has been publicly claimed. It’s politics, pure and simple.
Nippon would buy the erstwhile steel giant for nearly $15 billion. It has pledged to honor all union contracts and allow U.S. Steel to operate under its iconic name. And it certainly sounds like it would invest in updating U.S. Steel facilities, some of which are way behind the times.
Nippon already employs thousand of workers in the U.S.
Still, the United Steelworkers Union, which claims it can determine who an acceptable buyer might be, opposes the deal. It favored a marriage with Cleveland Cliffs.
As per standard procedure, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), an arm of the U.S. Department of Treasury, has been reviewing the proposed sale. It is considered unprecedented for a presidential administration to say it opposes any such deal before any CFIUS determination.
But here’s the dirty deed done dirt cheap in the president’s decision, per The Washington Post:
“Administration officials have informed the Japanese government of the president’s plans, explaining the statement in terms of the president’s need to retain political support in Pennsylvania in the November election, said one industry source, who described the matter on the condition of anonymity to comment on internal deliberations.”
That’s outrageous. The Biden administration does not have the nation’s interest at heart but his own political ambitions. It’s political pandering at its worst.
The Biden administration does not have the power to block the deal on its own. But should Nippon’s subsumption of U.S. Steel be halted, and should a “government-approved” domestic buyer be found, more than a few analysts predict U.S. Steel would be torn asunder. No Pittsburgh headquarters presence. And U.S. Steel’s older, inefficient and environmentally challenged Pittsburgh-area facilities would be mothballed.
That’s not a “strong American steel company.” And you can bet “American steelworkers” would lose their jobs.
And that’s somehow in the national interest, Mr. President?
Speaking of stupid political tricks:
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro says he’s backing a new plan to force power plants to pay for greenhouse gas emissions.
In addition, as The Associated Press reports, Shapiro says legislation he is proposing would “require utilities in the nation’s third-biggest power-producer to buy more electricity from renewable sources.”
Money generated from such “green” taxes would be channeled back to ratepayers to protect them from the higher costs associated with “green” energy.
There’s a word for this, but it’s not appropriate for a family-friendly public policy think tank website.
Shapiro says his proposal, whose chances of legislative approval are in serious doubt, would replace the commonwealth’s contested participation in the equally dubious and onerous 12-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
“We will not take direction from anyone outside of this commonwealth,” Shapiro said last week, announcing his proposed Pennsylvania Climate Emissions Reduction Act (PACER). “This initiative will be established by us, run by us.
“We will set our own cap, we will set our own price. We won’t have any other state determining what is right for us in Pennsylvania,” the governor said.
What an absolute crock. Shapiro won’t have RGGI run the show but his state government will essentially commandeer how electricity will be generated in the Keystone State and mask the unsustainable extraordinarily high cost by paying off ratepayers.
Anyone care to start making book on how long it will take PACER to bankrupt Pennsylvania’s electric utilities, crash the grid and destroy the state economy?
The PACER moniker, by the way, is apropos, reminding us of the failed AMC Pacer car of the 1970s – ill-conceived, poorly designed and collapsed under its own weight.
The AMC Pacer was pretty much dead on arrival back then, as Josh Shapiro’s PACER should be once it hits the state Legislature.
Speaking of stupid, if state government acquiesces:
The owner of Highmark Stadium, home to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds soccer club on the South Side, wants taxpayers to pick up $10 million of the eventual $75 million cost to expand the facility from 5,500 seat to 15,000 seats.
The Post-Gazette reports the Riverhounds say the project would help ensure the soccer club’s continued growth “after a record-setting year in both attendance and on-field success.”
“Expansion of Highmark Stadium would be one facet of that growth, as it would enhance the game-day experience for our fans and allow us to bring larger, non-soccer events to the venue and the City of Pittsburgh.”
And at considerable profit for Riverhounds owner Tuffy Shallenberger, no?
The Riverhounds, by the way, were approved for a $1 million state grant in a 2017 capital budget. “But it looks like it has not yet been paid,” says Eric Montarti, research director at the Allegheny Institute.
But the bottom line is if there’s such a demand for an expanded stadium, then the expected profits should be used to pay for the expansion.
Taxpayers should not be molested to be Shallenberger’s venture capitalists. And neither should they yet again be played for suckers by sucker fish.
Colin McNickle is communications and marketing director at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy (cmcnickle@alleghenyinstitute.org).
