News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Foxconn Is Reconsidering Plan for Manufacturing in Wisconsin. Parent comment

Re:Foxconn Is Reconsidering Plan for Manufacturing in Wisconsin by danans on Wednesday January 30, 2019 @03:45PM (#19039259)
> How could Walker and his cronies have ever fallen for any of this?

Maybe they didn't fall for anything? Who did Foxconn buy the land from? They presumably did OK in the deal, as did any of the parties (i.e legal/accounting/lobbying firms) who facilitated the deal. Walker lost his governership in the last election, but that was before the magnitude of Foxconn's reversal was clear, so it's not directly attributable to that.

Looks like the people duped here might just be the taxpayers who payed for it all, and the would-be manufacturing workers for whom the jobs haven't materialized. I'd guess those groups' interests weren't being represented by their elected officials when the deal was struck.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Foxconn Is Reconsidering Plan for Manufacturing in Wisconsin by mackey on Wednesday January 30, 2019 @05:23PM (#19040217)
In regard to who sold the land...

https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/business/2018/07/17/fox...

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Foxconn Is Reconsidering Plan for Manufacturing in Wisconsin by quasse on Wednesday January 30, 2019 @05:27PM (#19040263)
I was going to say, they didn't exactly buy the land on the open market...

I feel really bad for the people who lost homes so that the WI Republican party could pull this publicity stunt. It's hard to even fathom

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Foxconn Is Reconsidering Plan for Manufacturing in Wisconsin by LeftTurnSignal on Thursday January 31, 2019 @09:09AM (#19044758)
Reading the transcripts from the board meetings is a pretty bad time, but it reminds me of the board meetings in my neck of the woods. It sucks.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Foxconn Is Reconsidering Plan for Manufacturing in Wisconsin by analog31 on Wednesday January 30, 2019 @05:33PM (#19040309)
It's not just land that was given to Foxconn. They were also relieved of a variety of environmental protections -- LCD manufacturing is a dirty industry that requires an enormous amount of water. Nobody did OK on that deal.

People pretty much knew the Foxconn deal was a fraud, because Foxconn, and the state government, both have a history of similar deals. There were some mining deals in northern Wisconsin that would make your hair stand on end.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Foxconn Is Reconsidering Plan for Manufacturing in Wisconsin by peteradio on Wednesday January 30, 2019 @06:22PM (#19040694)
> There were some mining deals in northern Wisconsin that would make your hair stand on end.

Go on...

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Foxconn Is Reconsidering Plan for Manufacturing in Wisconsin by analog31 on Wednesday January 30, 2019 @07:34PM (#19041163)
This captures some of the goings-on, albeit not into much depth:

https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/gop-law...

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Foxconn Is Reconsidering Plan for Manufacturing in Wisconsin by maxerickson on Wednesday January 30, 2019 @09:25PM (#19041752)
For something situated on a Great Lake, the question is whether it has sufficient wastewater treatment, pumping the water in and out isn't a big deal, it's how dirty it is when you pump it back into the lake that matters.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Foxconn Is Reconsidering Plan for Manufacturing in Wisconsin by analog31 on Wednesday January 30, 2019 @11:33PM (#19042352)
Well, apparently they needed the existing environmental regulations to be waived. It was never revealed why, e.g., what chemicals they wanted to dump. They could simply be required to re-use their wastewater in a closed system, like nuclear power plants (for a different reason, heat generation). Then it can be as dirty or clean as it needs to be.

Also, the water doesn't belong to us. Use of Great Lakes water is governed by a treaty with Canada and administered by an international body that includes the states and provinces in the Great Lakes watershed.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Foxconn Is Reconsidering Plan for Manufacturing in Wisconsin by maxerickson on Thursday January 31, 2019 @08:29PM (#19050837)
Nuclear plants often have an open outer loop for their cooling. It's cheaper.

Like if you grab the environmental impact study from this license renewal for Point Beach Nuclear Plant near Green Bay, at maximum capacity it draws 1433 cubic feet per second from Lake Michigan and discharges it 23 degrees Fahrenheit warmer:

https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/app...

[ Parent | on HN ]