Biden-Favored EV Bus Maker Proterra Goes Bust and Leaves a Trail of Broken and Irreparable Buses

Across the country, towns and cities of various sizes envisioned an electrified public transit system that could shuttle residents with vehicles that produced no carbon-filled exhaust.

Many of those communities purchased buses from Silicon Valley-based Proterra, which was able to produce 550 buses over its 19-year existence before it went bankrupt in August.

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Michigan Gov. Whitmer Plans to Give Businesses Hundreds of Millions in Subsidies, But Similar Programs’ Track Record Has Been Questioned

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

This week, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) announced plans to expand her $300-million Michigan Mainstreet Initiative, outlining further business subsidization with taxpayer money from federal COVID-relief legislation.

Originally unveiled in June, Whitmer’s initiative targeted $100 million toward restaurants and other place-based establishments, $125 million for other businesses that could not get federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds and $75 million in grants to startups.

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Commentary: Will the Future of the GOP Be Corporatism or America First?

Regardless of how this election finally turns out—and we’re still weeks away from knowing the answer with certainty—it should be noted what President Trump was able to do in the last four years regarding the conservative narrative of the past several decades.

From what really was nothing more than an appendage of corporatism and vulture capitalists, Trump took the Republican Party and helped shape it into a broad coalition of workers and patriots that really does transcend race and ethnicities; call it America First Republican Populism.

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Commentary: Amazon’s New York Reversal Shows Exactly Why Crony Capitalism Fails

by Rachel Greszler   Just months after announcing it would locate one of its headquarters in New York City, Amazon has announced that it’s pulling the plug on the Big Apple. Based on Amazon’s public statement, it seems the company couldn’t rely on the deals it had cut or the political support it had received to last beyond the next election. And businesses can’t base long-term decisions like this on shifting political sand. That’s part of the problem with crony capitalism. It may procure short-term wins for a select few politicians and for businesses that can afford to pay to play, but it’s not a strategy for long-term success. Employers want to set up shop in places where they can grow and succeed. The best environment for that is a level playing field with minimal government interference and low, broad-based taxes—not picking winners and losers through special-interest subsidies. A favorable business environment is one where local leaders work to help all businesses equally, not a select few. Employers want leaders who can listen to their needs without telling them how to run their business, and they want communities and leaders that welcome the jobs and economic growth that employers bring,…

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Commentary: Amazon’s New York Reversal Shows Exactly Why Crony Capitalism Fails

by Rachel Greszler   Just months after announcing it would locate one of its headquarters in New York City, Amazon has announced that it’s pulling the plug on the Big Apple. Based on Amazon’s public statement, it seems the company couldn’t rely on the deals it had cut or the political support it had received to last beyond the next election. And businesses can’t base long-term decisions like this on shifting political sand. That’s part of the problem with crony capitalism. It may procure short-term wins for a select few politicians and for businesses that can afford to pay to play, but it’s not a strategy for long-term success. Employers want to set up shop in places where they can grow and succeed. The best environment for that is a level playing field with minimal government interference and low, broad-based taxes—not picking winners and losers through special-interest subsidies. A favorable business environment is one where local leaders work to help all businesses equally, not a select few. Employers want leaders who can listen to their needs without telling them how to run their business, and they want communities and leaders that welcome the jobs and economic growth that employers bring,…

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New Chattanooga Tax Credits Could Invite Crony Capitalism

Hamilton County officials are handing out federal tax credits to investors and other developers so they’ll spruce up blighted areas, but some people worry politicians will only give these credits out to friends and political donors. Government bestowing preferential treatment upon certain businesses — but not others — is called crony capitalism. In this case, county officials decide who gets what for what are known as Opportunity Zone tax credits. According to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, these Opportunity Zone tax credits allow investors to avoid capital gains taxes if they invest their capital gains in zones designated as distressed or blighted. Exactly 743 low-income census tracts qualified statewide. Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger selected 17 census tracts for his area, which Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Haslam approved, according to the paper. Davidson County got 18 Opportunity Zones. Shelby County got 32. No one in Coppinger’s office returned The Tennessee Star’s requests for comment this week, but the Times Free Press said he had a tight deadline to select winners. Helen Burns Sharp of the Chattanooga-based Accountability for Taxpayer Money said the potential for cronyism is “as clear as can be.” “This enterprise zone designation, yes, when you start looking…

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