Gina Raimondo’s stock on the rise
Commerce Secretary sounds downright presidential with CHIPS Act announcement
Were Joe Biden to dump Kamala Harris —as some Democrats are quietly hoping— he would find a perfect replacement in Gina Raimondo,
51, his secretary of commerce. She is smart, articulate and a fighter.
This not to say that Biden will replace Harris as his 2024 vice presidential running mate, or that Raimondo, the former governor of Rhode Island, is looking for the job.
It is only to point out that should an anti-Harris faction among Democrats convince Biden to make a switch, he could bolster his prospects for re-election by running with Raimondo.
That would make room for Biden to name outgoing Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who is looking for a job, as Raimondo’s replacement. Under Biden’s leadership, Lightfoot could do for the country what she did for Chicago.
Do not laugh. After all, here is a president who appointed total incompetents Alejandro Mayorkas, Pete Buttigieg and Merrick Garland to their cabinet positions. In addition, he named John Kerry, the Dr. Anthony Fauci of the apocalypse, as his climate czar.
Biden’s cabinet is not exactly a collection of the best and the brightest. And as things stand now Biden could use some help.
While the role of the vice president is to bolster the president, Harris has been a drag on Biden. She even runs lower than him in the polls. The only thing they seem to have in common is their shared ability to fracture the English language.
A leaked recorded conversation between the two would be priceless.
In this context—and maybe even without it— Raimondo has emerged a star, particularly as she launched the Biden’s administration’s $53 billion CHIPS Act to compete with China over the production of semiconductor chips.
She said the program, which would subsidize U.S. chip manufacturers, was “a national security issue.”
Currently the U.S. buys 90% of its advanced chips from Taiwan which Raimondo said was “a national security vulnerability that is untenable.” The chips are used in everything from smart phones to fighter jets.
“It is no secret that we are in a very heated global competition with China. And technology is the crux of that competition. Right now, we are much too reliant upon Taiwan for leading edge chips. So, a big part of our strategy around being a global leader is investing in America: in our people, in our capacity to out innovate China and the rest of the world.”
Sounding more presidential than Biden, or more vice presidential than Harris, Raimondo, on starting the program last week, said, “For decades we have taken our eye off the ball with manufacturing, which means the worker supply of people with the skills to do super technical manufacturing has withered. And so, we need to be honest about that, but also embrace it as an opportunity to come with creative solutions.”
While the program will no doubt provide a needed boost in the U..S manufacturing of chips, companies that apply successfully for billions in federal subsidizes will have to comply with a host of regulations, some of which are straight out of the progressive woke handbook.
For instance, companies seeking over $150 million in funding will have to come up with plans for recruiting and training a diverse work force, including women, as well as working with local high schools and community colleges.
It will also require the companies to provide childcare for the workers as well a “paid leave and caregiving support.” It is estimated s that some 140,000 new construction jobs will be created. All would be union jobs.
It is a big program, but Raimondo appears up to the job of running it. Born and raised in working class Rhode Island, Raimondo became a successful venture capitalist before she entered politics.
A moderate Democrat, Raimondo was elected treasurer in 2010 and reformed and saved the state’s public employee pension system that was on the verge of going bust..
She was elected governor in 2014 and re-elected four years later. In 2020 she supported billionaire Mike Bloomberg for president over Biden. But Biden appointed her anyway.
Biden should have put her in charge of the border.