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The U.S. Senate, in a 68-32 vote, passed a $250 billion bill last Tuesday it hopes will allow Washington to counter China’s technological and military growth.
The Washington Post reported that the vote was a “rare accord” between Democrat and Republican members. The paper reported that about $50 billion in the funds are earmarked for computer chip manufacturers and space exploration.
The bill intends to “overhaul” the U.S. government’s support for sciences and research. The National Science Foundation stands to receive $190 billion.
“When all is said and done, the bill will go down as one of the most important things this chamber has done in a very long time,” Senator Chuck Schumer said in a statement.
Arvind Krishna, the CEO of IBM, told The Journal that the bill is a “visionary piece of legislation” akin to the kind of partnership that “took humanity to the moon.”
The Biden administration has voiced concern over competing with China for medicines and chip manufacturing. The Post pointed out that the White House released a recent 250-page report that said China’s “ultimate goal of cyber sovereignty and establishing first-mover advantage.”
The administration said that one of the provisions in the bill would include the banning of the TikTok app on all government phones. Despite assurances from the company, officials in the U.S. have warned that the company could share data with the Chinese government.
TREND FORECAST: Senator Ron Johnson, who opposed the bill, said it will “increase government’s influence over the private sector while weakening America and making us less competitive by increasing our debt,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
In fact, not only is he correct, the taxpayer money will further enrich the large corporations as evidenced by the joy of IBM’s CEO making the moronic statement that the cash flow that will go into his company’s pockets “took humanity to the moon.”
As we have forecast, the 20th century was the American century, the 21st will be China’s. The business of America is war while the business of China is business. Indeed, President Joe Biden seeks $753 billion for national defense, a 2 percent increase over the prior year. And as we reported, America’s defense budget is more than the next ten highest-spending countries combined.
TRENDPOST: We have reported extensively on President Joe Biden’s effort to compete with China. (See: “CHINA TASK FORCE: U.S. APPROACH TO BEIJING,” “U.S.-CHINA FACEOFF: EUROPE TAKING SIDES.”)