Topline: Michigan’s plan to rely on a Chinese company to create American jobs is dead in the water. The state pulled out of an agreement to give Gotion, Inc., $715 million in subsidies for an electric vehicle battery plant, but there’s no guarantee Michigan will recoup the $23.6 million that was already paid.
Key facts: Michigan agreed in 2022 to give Gotion up to $175 million in grants and $540 million in tax breaks to help fund the $2.4 billion plant. It was projected to create 2,350 jobs.
Progress was slow and opposition came quickly. Then-Senator Marco Rubio and other top congressional Republicans raised concerns, claiming that the company’s founder and top shareholders had ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Local voters in Green Charter Township recalled the officials who approved the plan and replaced them with new ones who sued Gotion to try and stop the plant.
Open the Books
On Sept. 17 this year, the state privately told Gotion that it was in violation of the grant agreement because Gotion had made no construction progress in 120 days. The state claimed Gotion “abandoned” the project and had 30 days to resume its work. A response letter from the company’s attorneys said that was “utterly false” and local opposition “due solely to racist and ethnically charged stereotypes” was causing the delays.
Local media did not yet know about the dispute, and in early October, the state told the news outlet Bridge Michigan that the battery plant was still on track to be successful — a claim that now seems to be a lie. Michigan publicly announced on Oct. 23 that it was pulling out of the deal.
The Michigan Economic Development Corporation said it will try to claw back the $23.6 million it gave Gotion to buy land, but no specific plan has been released. No other public money was dispersed.
Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com.
Critical quotes: Rich Studley, former president of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, told Bridge Michigan he has “zero confidence” the $23.6 million will be returned to taxpayers. State Rep. Tom Kunse, who represents Green Charter Township, said, “This is yet another example of why corporate welfare doesn’t work. Taxpayer funded incentive deals often fail to deliver on promises, leaving our communities with broken commitments and wasted public dollars.”
Summary: Even well-planned corporate tax breaks are of questionable benefit to taxpayers, but public funds should not be handed out to companies that cannot deliver on their promises.
The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com
This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.
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“agreement to give Gotion, Inc., $715 million in subsidies”
“to create 2,350 jobs”
That’s $304,255 per job !!!
So who gets the 10% now that the big guy was getting? The witch running the show?
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain
Well, a company’s got to get the money upfront if it’s going into a non-profitable venture.
Did they file their 501C paperwork?
Its worse than that…its $23M to create Zero Jobs
There’s no money in solar farming either so plough them in-
Shock and dismay as one of Australia’s biggest solar recycling hopes put into administration
or stick your hand out for more Big Gubmint as usual.
Nope, all the M¢N€¥ is in Subsidy Farming
That Chinese flag at the top is racist.
Huh? WTF are you talking about? Or is this sarc?
Chinese are racist, therefore the Chinese flag is racist too,
is what he meant to say.
Everything else depends on the current narrative we are being told.
Calling the Chinavirus Chinavirus is racist.
Going to war with China because Taiwan – is not.
Cutting China off of chipproduction is neither.
The definition of racism is a bit climate sciency, therefore noone really knows what’s racist and what is not before MSM tells us.
OK, got it…sometimes I’m a bit slow in the wee dark hours. Thanks.
He might be referring to the racism of the climate changers-
Fearing vulnerability to China, Europe has a new worry: Electric buses
Only commies can criticise commies dontcha know-
Chinese wonder why their tourists behave so badly | Reuters
Yeah I know the feeling it’s all Greek to me too.
I thought Race-ism was the belief in being first to cross the Finnish line
Another daisy chain of subsidies with no real market?
“The Michigan Economic Development Corporation said it will try to claw back the $23.6 million it gave Gotion to buy land”
Did Gotion actually buy land?
Do they still own it?
If so seize it and sell it.
Sell it to an American Interest. Foreign Countries shouldn’t be allowed to buy American Soil. Except for a single Embassy…on Embassy Row
It is against Chinese law for any foreigner to own property, and yet China is buying land and buildings all over America. Funny how that is.
Similar in Mexico. You Can buy a house/time share in Mexico if you are a foreigner but you can’t pass it on to your heirs after you pass on. It reverts back to the State.
The people of Michigan didn’t want this in the first place, and yet the Governor forced it forward anyway. Need to investigate and see how much she profited from this scam.
Green politics is strange. Voters can be against a specific project, yet support the movement. Whitmer was thinking she was garnering liberal support.
Was it approved by the state legislature?
Who controls the Michigan Legislature? Democrat Party. Who is the leader of Democrat Party in Michigan? Gretchen Witchmer. Cause? Meet effect.
Actually, the Michigan legislature is currently split, with Republicans leading the House and Democrats holding the Senate. In 2022, both houses were Republican majority, so it’s a valid question whether they agreed to this
When this battery plant deal was pushed it wasn’t, this was one of the issues Witchmer was pushing in her campaign to become Governor in 2018. Rural Michigan is red, cities blue, as it is in so many other states. Add to that many of the “republicans” are RINOS who vote with the Democrats on most issues. Lobbying for this plant began during Obama’s second term, really only got national attention in 2020-21.
Sounds almost like Northvolt…except they managed to build (/run?) the facility, before it went BUST!
“Rich Studley, former president of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce”
They really made a pron actor the president of the chamber of commerce?
My, my, my what a fiasco. If you have that much spare money spend it on something that is useful, build a fossil fuel or nuclear power plant there should be no problem selling the power, you might even attract an AI facility.
Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) has been wasting taxpayer money with big ideas and minuscule delivery. Lawmakers have cut its funding and are now pressuring to dismantle it completely. Whitmer says she will veto “to protect Michigan’s economy”.
Whitmer is considerably less stupid than Granholm, but still an embarrassment. She goes to other countries hoping to make big deals for Michigan and fails worse than the MEDC.
Why is it a problem that Gotion’s “company’s founder and top shareholders had ties to the Chinese Communist Party” while it’s no problem for Tesla’s founder and CEO Elon Musk to have more than close ties with the USA government?
Of course dang! I forgot. White skin good, yellow skin evil.
Socialists are such simple creatures. The idea that an American having ties with the American government is different from having ties to a government that is our enemy and is actively opposing our interests everywhere in the world is too complicated for their tiny little brains.
Instead everyone who isn’t a socialist is a racist, and that’s all you need to know.
Zeekr 007GT high-performance AWD electric wagon capable of 0–60 mp/h in just 2.9 seconds.
30,000 USD.
https://youtu.be/kmvXB8OSlqw?si=VO3QbYn22jwaGyyZ
What are you waiting for – head down to your state’s Zeekr showroom … o wait …