Last September, solar panel manufacturer Solyndra filed for bankruptcy and laid off 1,100 workers. The moves came just two years after the company received a $535 million loan guarantee from the Obama administration. Republicans have rightly criticized the administration over the loan, alleging that the Energy Department overlooked warning signs of Solyndra’s pending collapse.
In October, three class-action lawsuits were filed against several major automotive suppliers, alleging the companies engaged in a “massive, decade-long conspiracy to unlawfully fix and artificially raise the price” of wire harnesses. As shocking and disappointing as the allegations are, I can’t say I’m surprised.
Although Memphis ranks third in the
United States in violent crime and second in property crime, the federal
government is seemingly more worried about the wood Gibson guitars uses in its
products.
In a recent editorial, I decried the unsafe conditions at some Chinese assembly plants. I had thought everyone could get behind such a stand, but I was wrong.
Rather than file a pointless lawsuit against Boeing, the Obama Administration should be doing everything possible to encourage the company to build more U.S. facilities.
If the United States is to remain a world leader in innovation, we must expand the federal R&D tax credit to encourage more research and development. In March, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced legislation to do just that.
Last fall, the Senate failed to pass a that would have ended tax breaks for U.S. companies that move jobs and manufacturing plants overseas. Now, our legislators have a chance to redeem themselves.