If a group invited a guest speaker who said the world was flat, then that group would be rightly discarded as a credible policy advocate. In Whitewater and other towns, crony-capitalist groups of different sizes proudly declared the Foxconn project a boon for Wisconsin. (Trump, himself, declared it a boon for the whole planet: “the eighth wonder of the world.”)
These gentlemen might ask UW-Madison how Foxconn’s promises have turned out for that school. Kelly Meyerhofer reports Foxconn pledged $100 million to UW-Madison. The school has so far received $700,000:
Roughly a year since Foxconn Technology Group pledged $100 million to help fund a new UW-Madison engineering building and company-related research, the university said it has received $700,000, less than 1% of the original commitment.
….
Foxconn’s master agreement with UW-Madison does not say how much it plans to provide the university or when, although the agreement is for five years. In fact, the 12-page document does not even mention a dollar figure and instead notes the company “intends to make a substantial investment in research and other activities” with UW-Madison, despite public statements in August 2018 referencing $100 million.
(Emphasis added.)
Be patient, Badgers – you’ve only $99,300,000.00 to go. Hey, Greater Whitewater Committee and Whitewater Community Development Authority – how about a bake sale to speed this process along?
I’d happily spring for a dozen croissants…
Previously: 10 Key Articles About Foxconn, Foxconn as Alchemy: Magic Multipliers, Foxconn Destroys Single-Family Homes, Foxconn Devours Tens of Millions from State’s Road Repair Budget, The Man Behind the Foxconn Project, A Sham News Story on Foxconn, Another Pig at the Trough, Even Foxconn’s Projections Show a Vulnerable (Replaceable) Workforce, Foxconn in Wisconsin: Not So High Tech After All, Foxconn’s Ambition is Automation, While Appeasing the Politically Ambitious, Foxconn’s Shabby Workplace Conditions, Foxconn’s Bait & Switch, Foxconn’s (Overwhelmingly) Low-Paying Jobs, The Next Guest Speaker, Trump, Ryan, and Walker Want to Seize Wisconsin Homes to Build Foxconn Plant, Foxconn Deal Melts Away, “Later This Year,” Foxconn’s Secret Deal with UW-Madison, Foxconn’s Predatory Reliance on Eminent Domain, Foxconn: Failure & Fraud, Foxconn Roundup: Desperately Ill Edition, Foxconn Roundup: Indiana Layoffs & Automation Everywhere, Foxconn Roundup: Outside Work and Local Land, Foxconn Couldn’t Even Meet Its Low First-Year Goal, Foxconn Talks of Folding Wisconsin Manufacturing Plans, WISGOP Assembly Speaker Vos Hopes You’re Stupid, Lost Homes and Land, All Over a Foxconn Fantasy, Laughable Spin as Industrial Policy, Foxconn: The ‘State Visit Project,’ ‘Inside Wisconsin’s Disastrous $4.5 Billion Deal With Foxconn,’ Foxconn: When the Going Gets Tough…, The Amazon-New York Deal, Like the Foxconn Deal, Was Bad Policy, Foxconn Roundup, Foxconn: The Roads to Nowhere, Foxconn: Evidence of Bad Policy Judgment, Foxconn: Behind Those Headlines, Foxconn: On Shaky Ground, Literally, Foxconn: Heckuva Supply Chain They Have There…, Foxconn: Still Empty, and the Chairman of the Board Needs a Nap, Foxconn: Cleanup on Aisle 4, Foxconn: The Closer One Gets, The Worse It Is, Foxconn Confirm Gov. Evers’s Claim of a Renegotiation Discussion, America’s Best Know Better, Despite Denials, Foxconn’s Empty Buildings Are Still Empty, Right on Schedule – A Foxconn Delay, Foxconn: Reality as a (Predictable) Disappointment, Town Residents Claim Trump’s Foxconn Factory Deal Failed Them, Foxconn: Independent Study Confirms Project is Beyond Repair, It Shouldn’t, and Foxconn: Wrecking Ordinary Lives for Nothing, and Hey, Wisconsin, How About an Airport-Coffee Robot?
Anyone paying attention pretty much knew the $100,000,000 press release was a gentle zephyr exiting from the collective nether regions of Walker and Gao.
How long before they start peddling their state-wide empire of “Innovation Centers”? I’ve not heard much about the MSN capital square bank building that they bought, lately. I’ve been of the opinion for some time that most of the innovation going on there is to find new and creative ways to transfer money from the bank downstairs to the big domed building across the street. Now that Terry lost his big bet on Walker, my guess is that there will be a circling of innovation center wagons at the Pleasant Prairie mothership, or more likely, somewhere in downtown Taipei.
That empire of innovation must be under construction even now. Your theory would make the Madison building a kind of private mint, which sounds right. Buildings – especially existing ones – are an easy investment as they can be unloaded when even the pretense of a project fades. If they gave genuine, Grade A money to UW or anyone else, they’d be out that amount. They’d only lose money on a building if they were unable to sell it later.
those croissants look delicious mr john adams. but not a single tear for the cronies of alabama-on-cravath? i didn’t think so. me neither.
My eyes are clear and dry. Whitewater has always deserved better than this generation’s clique of self-promoters.
That overflowing sink picture explains (it seems to me) something about how WEDC-type deals look different today. For most people it has gone too far. These GOPers can’t stop talking the same way as Walker’s first term. It takes a strong delusion to believe in that today. Partisan loyalty is a terrible drug.