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538 lines
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<title>02 May, 2022</title>
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<title>Daily-Dose</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><style>*{overflow-x:hidden;}</style><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
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<body>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The War in Ukraine Is a Colonial War</strong> - For centuries, the country has lived in the shadow of empire. But its past also provides the key to its present. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/essay/the-war-in-ukraine-is-a-colonial-war">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Can Liberty University Be Saved?</strong> - After Jerry Falwell, Jr.,’s ouster, some students and alumni have sought a more thorough excavation of Liberty’s values. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-education/can-liberty-university-be-saved">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Worst Boyfriend on the Upper East Side</strong> - For decades, a man has romanced New York women, persuading them to invest in questionable business deals. How did he keep running the same scam? - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-local-correspondents/the-worst-boyfriend-on-the-upper-east-side">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Saïd Sayrafiezadeh Reads “Nondisclosure Agreement”</strong> - The author reads his story from the May 9, 2022, issue of the magazine. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-writers-voice/said-sayrafiezadeh-reads-nondisclosure-agreement">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Kadir Nelson’s “Hang Time</strong> - The artist discusses basketball, painting, and teamwork. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cover-story/cover-story-2022-05-09">link</a></p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><strong>How America is trying to get back in the microchip business</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-
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cdn.com/thumbor/loopvYQDM0hiymNSQpDbSo1Mujo=/248x0:3444x2397/1310x983/cdn.vox-
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cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70821494/GettyImages_1366084847.0.jpg"/>
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<figcaption>
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President Joe Biden speaks about ongoing supply chain problems, domestic semiconductor supplies, and his administration’s efforts to “make more in America” on January 21 in Washington, DC. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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A billion-dollar chip factory just opened in upstate New York. The Biden administration wants more.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="B5JG5w">
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zObDXO">
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MARCY, New York — From afar, the new Wolfspeed factory in upstate New York looks like any other large corporate office building, with an unassuming gray exterior and large glass windows. But hidden inside is a high-tech plant that’s almost entirely operated by a fleet of robots programmed to build semiconductors with a high level of precision. The scene is a far cry from the manual labor of the 20th-century Ford assembly line, and it just might be the future of American manufacturing, at least according to the politicians and executives who celebrated the plant’s <a href="https://www.timesunion.com/business/article/Wolfspeed-opens-Mohawk-Valley-fab-expected-
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to-17124884.php">grand opening in late April</a>.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ek3itO">
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To mark the occasion, a few hundred people, including Wolfspeed employees, investors, and local officials, gathered in a large tent just a short walk away from the factory’s entryway. A series of speakers, including Wolfspeed CEO Gregg Lowe, took turns <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsySVblaz_8&t=1016s">boasting</a> about the plant’s importance — for local jobs, for technology, for fighting climate change, and even for American prosperity. Also in attendance was Eric Bach, the chief engineer of Lucid Motors, an electric automaker that, just a few hours earlier, announced it would start using <a href="https://www.wolfspeed.com/company/news-events/news/lucid-motors-integrates-wolfspeeds-silicon-carbide-
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semiconductors-into-the-award-winning-lucid-air/">Wolfspeed’s chips in its vehicles</a>. The star of the show: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who claimed the new facility was part of the<strong> </strong>“greatest comeback in the history of this nation” before she took a spin in one of the luxury Lucid EVs.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XsPCBo">
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“This has to happen. No longer can the country, the United States, be brought to its knees because of supply chain issues,” Hochul told Recode. “Make them here! Make them in New York! We’ll put the money behind it.”
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</p>
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<figure class="e-image">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ujlMlv95AMEBsGQ2fPE0puifmyk=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
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cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23426582/GreggHochulFabWindow_a.jpg"/> <cite>Courtesy of Wolfspeed</cite></p>
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<figcaption>
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Wolfspeed CEO Gregg Lowe shows Gov. Kathy Hochul the manufacturing process at the company’s chip fabrication facility in Marcy, New York, on April 25.
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XHfMQQ">
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Wolfspeed’s factory is opening its doors after more than two years of a worldwide semiconductor shortage that <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/8/5/22611031/chip-shortage-cars-electronics-automakers-gm-tesla-playstation-
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xbox">left cars without parts</a> and the health care system low on <a href="https://www.fda.gov/medical-
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devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and-medical-devices/medical-device-shortages-during-covid-19-public-health-
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emergency">medical devices</a>. To produce more chips, the Biden administration, with the help of state governments, now plans to invest <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-senate-approves-52-bln-chips-bill-bid-reach-
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compromise-2022-03-28/">$52 billion</a> in the chip industry to build more factories just like the new plant outside Utica, New York. The hope is that these plants won’t just make more semiconductors; they’ll spur a tech manufacturing renaissance in the same country that invented the computer chip and produced Silicon Valley decades ago.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KFBBIf">
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This new crop of chip factories, sometimes called fabs, won’t be ready in time to solve the <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/22/22895447/intel-ohio-chip-fab-manufacturing-cpu-processor-explained">current chip</a> shortage. These facilities will take years to build, and even when they’re completed, they won’t produce as many chips as the US uses. Still, the government thinks the fabs could play a critical role in blunting the impact of a future crisis, like climate change or another pandemic. They also might help the US regain leadership in the industry it created and catch up to Taiwan, which makes <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/26/us/politics/computer-chip-
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shortage-taiwan.html">almost all of the world’s most advanced chips today</a>.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="C1TVpZ">
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What’s unclear, however, is whether funding the construction of new fabs will be enough to make that happen. Building a single fab is a huge industrial project, so building several — quickly — will be a colossal undertaking. To an extent, the US is trying to domesticate technology that, for decades, has been produced by <a href="https://cset.georgetown.edu/publication/the-
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semiconductor-supply-chain/">an international supply chain</a> made up of thousands of companies, which means the success of these new fabs may still depend on other parts of the world. And even as the White House races to claim a bigger share of the world’s total chip manufacturing, other countries, including <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-25/taiwan-dangles-incentives-to-strengthen-global-chipmaking-
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lead">Taiwan</a>, are trying to do the same thing, which means there’s no guarantee the US will end up with the upper hand that it wants.
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</p>
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<h3 id="7wlfEN">
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How America lost its homemade chips
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IoSV01">
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The US once dominated chip manufacturing. In 1947, scientists at Bell Labs created the world’s first <a href="https://computerhistory.org/blog/who-invented-the-transistor/">transistor</a>, a basic electronic switch, that can turn a signal on and off. This component became the foundation for the integrated circuit, also known as a computer chip, which packed multiple transistors into a single device. As the technology developed, new companies began competing not only to design chips with more transistors, but also to produce these chips at scale. High-tech manufacturing corridors emerged in Texas and what became Silicon Valley, paving the way for advanced consumer devices and appliances, often built with chips made in America.
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</p>
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-
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cdn.com/thumbor/lvQlrBik65DI7IKgtCVJe2PRnug=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
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cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23426601/GettyImages_528775306.jpg"/> <cite>James Leynse/Corbis via Getty Images</cite>
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<figcaption>
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The world’s first transistor on display at Alcatel-Lucent’s Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey.
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mAiVQI">
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The government played a pivotal role in making sure the US led the charge on this technology. The Defense Department was <a href="https://employamerica.medium.com/a-brief-history-of-
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semiconductors-how-the-us-cut-costs-and-lost-the-leading-edge-c21b96707cd2">often the first customer</a> for early semiconductor startups, and government officials sometimes<strong> </strong>required companies to share their designs so that other firms could use them, too. This support funded <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/09/briefing/federal-
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scientific-research-democrats-stalled.html">initial research</a> that these chip companies otherwise couldn’t afford and laid the foundation for the tech industry we have today. The US used this funding strategy — sometimes called industrial policy — again in the late 1980s when it spent <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-
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avenue/2022/02/01/the-chip-shortage-wont-be-fixed-without-major-federal-investment/">$900 million on a partnership</a> called Sematech, in which American chip companies tried to ensure that they wouldn’t be overtaken by emerging competitors in Japan. For a time, the <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2011/07/25/192832/lessons-from-
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sematech/">program succeeded</a>.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="H9ccVk">
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But in recent decades, the US government has <a href="https://employamerica.medium.com/a-brief-history-of-semiconductors-how-the-us-cut-costs-and-lost-the-leading-
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edge-c21b96707cd2">invested less and less</a> in its homegrown chip industry, while other governments including Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and, more recently, the European Union and China, have invested more. These massive subsidies — along with lower labor costs — have made it much cheaper for American companies to manufacture semiconductors abroad. Some even have taken a “fabless” approach, and focused their entire business on researching and designing chips rather than making them. As a result, just <a href="https://www.semiconductors.org/sia-commends-house-passage-of-critical-
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semiconductor-manufacturing-and-research-investments/">12 percent</a><strong> </strong>of the world’s chip manufacturing takes place in the US today, compared to 37 percent in 1990.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9NQwza">
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This shift has benefited one company in particular: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC, a Taiwanese chipmaker that manufactures chips on behalf of other firms. There’s a race to make smaller transistors — so more of them can fit onto a single chip — and TSMC is currently winning. Because of all of its manufacturing experience, Taiwan now makes <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/comment/BIS-2021-0011-0027">92 percent</a> of chips, including the most advanced semiconductors on the market today, which have transistors that are less than 10<strong> </strong>nanometers wide. None of these advanced chips are currently made in the US, which makes officials very worried.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7Qc0wo">
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“It’s a highly concentrated supply chain in certain parts of the world like Korea and Taiwan, and that has made our economy really vulnerable to disruptions because small events in countries can lead to large cost increases for American consumers and large shocks to US GDP,” Sameera Fazili, the deputy director of the Biden administration’s National Economic Council, told Recode. “They have the most advanced leading-edge chips, whereas we consume over 30 percent of those chips.”
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</p>
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-
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cdn.com/thumbor/BOXDxlFAjA8ViCc6jzslStjJ1sM=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
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cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23426636/GettyImages_536193612.jpg"/> <cite>In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images</cite>
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<figcaption>
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Employees work in the wafer fab of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. in Shanghai, China, in February 2011. The China-based manufacturer is one of the largest chip foundries in the world.
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3q2EFp">
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This concern is based, in part, on fears that China <a href="https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/taiwan-china-chips/">may invade Taiwan</a> at some point and attempt to<strong> </strong>take control of its chip-manufacturing capacity. But there are other reasons to be worried about the state of US semiconductors. The US doesn’t currently make very many of the most basic, or <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/why-china-has-us-congress-focused-on-computer-
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chips/2022/03/17/94ca635a-a608-11ec-8628-3da4fa8f8714_story.html">legacy</a>, chips, which are typically produced <a href="https://cset.georgetown.edu/publication/sustaining-u-s-competitiveness-in-semiconductor-manufacturing/">where</a> they can be made for less. These are the chips that became unavailable during the pandemic, and that made lots of technology hard to find and drove up car prices. The US will also need to manufacture more <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/chip-shortage-threatens-bidens-electric-vehicle-plans-commerce-
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secretary-says/">chips to maintain its hold on the auto industry</a>, since EVs will likely need at least twice as many chips as their gas-powered counterparts do.
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</p>
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<h3 id="hk3YmA">
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How to build a chip factory
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="l59f0L">
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To make its chips, Wolfspeed uses silicon carbide, a semiconducting material that’s especially useful for chips that power motors, like those in EVs. This silicon carbide comes in the form of translucent discs called wafers, which are delivered from <a href="https://investor.wolfspeed.com/news/news-details/2020/Yutong-Group-to-Deliver-Its-First-
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Electric-Bus-in-China-to-Use-Silicon-Carbide-in-Powertrain/default.aspx">another Wolfspeed plant</a> in North Carolina. That facility has a special furnace that gets <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/willyshih/2021/10/04/cree-becomes-
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wolfspeed-gm-deal-signals-the-coming-end-of-the-ice-age/?sh=3675bf7ce28f">half as hot as the surface of the sun</a>, which is needed to refine the material. Once these <a href="https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-
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transcripts/2021/01/28/cree-cree-q2-2021-earnings-call-transcript/">silicon carbide wafers</a> are delivered to Wolfspeed’s facility in Marcy, they’re sent to a manufacturing floor, where a small army of robots slowly transforms them into sheets of chips.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aIV5R5">
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Chipmaking is extremely delicate — the tiniest speck of dust or human hair can taint an entire batch — so Wolfspeed refines its wafers in a cleanroom, a highly monitored manufacturing floor with powerful air filtration systems. Inside this cleanroom, robots shuttle wafers between manufacturing steps while technicians monitor their activity from a nearby control room. This process includes lithography, when tiny patterns are <strong>printed</strong> into the wafer, and something called <a href="https://www.wolfspeed.com/knowledge-
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center/article/silicon-carbide-makes-for-smarter-semi-fab-process-power-supplies/">deposition</a>, which involves adding layers of metals onto the silicon carbide. Once those steps are completed, the wafers are sent to another facility where they’re diced into individual chips. The entire operation is automated, and on the rare occasion that workers do need to enter the cleanroom, they have to wear astronaut-like protective gear, including a full bodysuit, a face shield, and boots.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hh8SS2">
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Making chips is an intricate process, but building a factory that can do this type of manufacturing is even more complicated. For one thing, fabs can’t go just anywhere. They need to be close to a reliable source of electricity, since they can use as much energy as <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/dotcom/client_service/operations/pdfs/bringing_fabenergyefficiency.ashx">50,000 homes in a single year</a> (they release a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-08/the-chip-
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industry-has-a-problem-with-its-giant-carbon-footprint">lot of carbon emissions</a>, too). These factories also need to be near a large body of water, which they use to clean and cool down their equipment, which, in turn, produces wastewater that <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/fabs-cut-back-water-use">needs to be treated</a>. And it’s better if they’re not particularly close to any airports or <a href="https://semiengineering.com/recent-earthquakes-highlight-
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risk-to-semiconductor-manufacturing-sites/">geological fault lines</a>; <a href="https://cset.georgetown.edu/wp-
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content/uploads/CSET-No-Permits-No-Fabs.pdf">seismic activity</a> can disrupt the incredibly precise machinery they use.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XJh9n8">
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Then there’s the matter of the supply chain. Beyond the fab, making a chip can involve <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/bidens-chip-dreams-face-reality-check-supply-chain-complexity-2021-04-13/">70 different border crossings and more than 1,000 steps</a>, and a single disruption in one country or during a particular step can throw the entire process off course. That’s because there are usually very few, if any, other options for supplies when something goes wrong. For example, just one company in the Netherlands, ASML, makes the specialized, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/23/inside-asml-the-company-advanced-chipmakers-use-for-euv-lithography.html">$200 million</a> lithography tools that many advanced chip fabs rely on. And just two firms, both based in Ukraine, supply about half of the <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22983468/neon-shortage-chips-semiconductors-russia-
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ukraine">specialized neon gas</a> that fabs throughout the world use to control these lasers. Of course, securing all this equipment has gotten even more difficult during the pandemic.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mr4oTY">
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“We couldn’t get this. We couldn’t get that,” John Palmour, Wolfspeed’s chief technology officer, told Recode. “It was just a constant supply chain scramble.”
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</p>
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<figure class="e-image">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-
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cdn.com/thumbor/aneApxXi1z6OR11yZX8udZnC_Lg=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
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cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23426657/Wafer_a.jpg"/> <cite>Courtesy of Wolfspeed</cite></p></figure></li>
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</ul>
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<figcaption>
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Wolfspeed’s silicon carbide 200mm semiconductor wafer.
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</figcaption>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="F6uC4F">
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All of this means the cost of building a fab can range from $1 billion to $20 billion, depending on the complexity of the chips that are being manufactured. This is the primary reason that the recent surge in demand for chips — fueled in part by the demand for more laptops and more cars — did not immediately result in more chip fabs. Because these plants take years to greenlight and construct, chip companies aren’t eager to spend billions on building more factories, since demand could always subside. This is partially why governments often intervene and provide incentives to build more chip factories.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7tyZwj">
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Case in point: New York officials spent <a href="https://romesentinel.com/stories/officials-
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wolfspeed-decades-in-the-making,133387">decades</a> trying to attract a semiconductor company to Marcy, where New York state has funded a nanocenter associated with the SUNY Polytechnic Institute. Wolfspeed only agreed to take over the site after another company backed out and New York offered to subsidize the fab with a $500 million grant — about half of its total construction costs. Now, even more money is on the horizon, not just for another <a href="https://www.wktv.com/news/local/schumer-pushing-to-secure-2nd-semiconductor-plant-at-marcy-
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nanocenter/article_f739d732-bf62-11ec-a3e2-87536aef011d.html">Wolfspeed</a> factory, but for possibly even bigger fabs, including a <a href="https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/intels-100b-ohio-megafab-could-become-worlds-largest-chip-
|
||
plant/">new $100 billion megafab in Ohio</a> built by Intel, which the administration is hoping will regain “the leading edge” and start building the same kind of advanced chips that TSMC makes. President Joe Biden, in his most recent State of the Union address, said that this facility, once it’s built, could provide as many as “<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/03/01/remarks-of-president-joe-biden-state-of-the-
|
||
union-address-as-delivered/">10,000 new good-paying jobs.</a>”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="7wShlA">
|
||
The big chip bet
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ekNM5f">
|
||
Before any of that can happen, officials say the US needs to pass a $52 billion package called the Chips Act, which would subsidize the construction of several new fabs. Currently, the bill is packaged within a broader proposal called the United States Innovation and Competition Act, legislation focused on competitiveness with China. While the House and the Senate version of this plan aren’t exactly the same, the initiative has the support of Republicans, Democrats, the White House, and the major chip companies. The support from the industry isn’t surprising; each of these companies could theoretically receive <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/politics/biden-to-congress-pass-
|
||
that-bill-to-fund-us-chip-manufacturing/">up to $3 billion</a> to build a new factory, and another <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/2022/02/04/house-passes-bill-boost-us-computer-chip-
|
||
production/6664474001/">$2 billion may be earmarked</a> specifically to build a fab that would exclusively focus on more basic chips used in cars.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="n4LoZE">
|
||
Proponents of the massive bill argue that it’s the bare minimum because other countries are still subsidizing chip manufacturing, too. Back in 2014, China launched a <a href="https://www.semiconductors.org/taking-stock-of-chinas-semiconductor-industry/">$150 billion effort</a> to boost its own semiconductor industry over the next decade, and the country has imported <a href="https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3169723/semiconductor-imports-china-shrink-first-time-two-years-value-
|
||
jumps">fewer and fewer chips</a> in recent years. South Korea plans to spend as much as $65 billion on its <a href="https://www.semiconductors.org/global-governments-ramp-up-pace-of-chip-investments/">own national chip initiative</a>. The European Union also has its <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/9/22925010/eu-chips-act-
|
||
plan-43-billion-funding-shortage-supply-chain">own $49 billion Chips Act</a>, and its member countries, including <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/spain-spend-11-bln-euros-semi-conductor-micro-chip-industry-pm-
|
||
says-2022-04-04/">Spain</a> and <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-16/intel-set-to-
|
||
get-5-5-billion-in-german-subsidies-for-mega-
|
||
plant#:~:text=Germany%20is%20looking%20to%20grant,familiar%20with%20the%20negotiations%20said.">Germany</a>, will soon launch their own incentive programs.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OoYDnK">
|
||
“The clock is ticking,” John Neuffer, the CEO of the Semiconductor Industry Association, a trade organization that represents American chip companies, told Recode. “Decisions are being made today as to where to site those fabs.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<figure class="e-image">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3oVeS3_rjaVWqYUjZBycsYEtLjo=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23426699/LucidRibbonCutting_o_a.jpg"/> <cite>Courtesy of Wolfspeed</cite></p>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
A Lucid electric vehicle cuts the ribbon at the new Wolfspeed chip fab in Marcy, New York, on April 25.
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5XLuMV">
|
||
Not everyone loves this approach; it’s effectively <a href="https://boondoggle.substack.com/p/the-chip-wars-heat-up?s=r">a corporate subsidy</a> for companies that are already extremely profitable. Sen. Bernie Sanders has been highly critical of the Chips Act, and has said that chip companies should have to give up <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-24/sanders-proposes-forcing-
|
||
chipmakers-to-give-u-s-equity-for-aid">equity in exchange</a> for massive grants. Others have argued that these companies would build new factories in the US regardless of federal incentives, since they also have reasons to steer clear of <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/should-the-us-government-subsidize-domestic-chip-
|
||
production-11645827450">potential geopolitical conflict</a>. And critics point out that chipmaking is not quite the jobs-creator that it’s sometimes advertised as, with most actual chip manufacturing being <a href="https://www.nysfocus.com/2021/07/26/schumer-globalfoundries-semiconductor-subsidies/">done via automation</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="k4wU3p">
|
||
There’s no guarantee the funding will work. The US may not have enough of the specialized workers that chip manufacturing requires to support the number of fabs that officials want. Will Hunt, an analyst at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), estimates that eight new fabs may require at least a few thousand <a href="https://cset.georgetown.edu/publication/reshoring-chipmaking-capacity-requires-high-skilled-
|
||
foreign-talent/">foreign workers</a>, since many of these facilities need to hire people with previous experience working in semiconductor manufacturing. Another concern is that the US’s <a href="https://cset.georgetown.edu/publication/no-permits-no-fabs/">lengthy regulatory and permitting process</a> could slow down the construction of new factories, and the US already builds new fabs at a slower rate than countries in East Asia. Even after these facilities are constructed, they may not produce the number of chips or <a href="https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/2018/06/14/globalfoundries-jobs-cuts-coming-east-fishkill-
|
||
plant/702191002/">jobs</a> that <a href="https://www.nysfocus.com/2021/07/26/schumer-globalfoundries-semiconductor-
|
||
subsidies/">companies promise</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PUP0Jz">
|
||
A senior economic official at the White House told Recode that while the $52 billion will boost American chip manufacturing, it won’t be enough to produce the number of chips the US consumes.<strong> </strong>Still, the government thinks that gaining this manufacturing expertise could be critical during a future emergency. After all, the pandemic has illustrated time and time again that when supplies are short, countries will try to secure the world’s most sought-after products — whether it’s chips, masks, or vaccines — and can even use them as a way to influence international relations. Governments would rather other governments be dependent on them than the other way around. In other words, they want bargaining chips.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PB2mJ4">
|
||
So it’s not surprising that semiconductors have become that leverage. These tiny little chips are ubiquitous and have become a necessity in most people’s everyday lives. There’s no indication that’s changing anytime soon, especially since more powerful devices — which use even more powerful semiconductors — are always being rolled out. As long as the world depends on this technology, countries will want as much control over chips as they can get. That means that even with Wolfspeed’s factory now open for business, the US still has a long road ahead.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><strong>Have we been thinking about economic growth all wrong?</strong> -
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img alt="A tractor and plant on a farm." src="https://cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/thumbor/-HtmA9Bjkrwzd8GsyDWIP63cyYI=/138x0:5098x3720/1310x983/cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70821428/GettyImages_960478834.0.jpg"/>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Agriculture is one of the most important places for productivity to grow. | Getty Images/narvikk
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
An economist’s daring theory: Our progress has always been more gradual, and less impressive, than we hoped.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ET77lJ">
|
||
Yesterday, the Bureau of Economic Analysis announced that the US economy <a href="https://link.vox.com/click/27544083.233/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vbGl2ZS8yMDIyLzA0LzI4L2J1c2luZXNzL2dkcC1pbmZsYXRpb24tbmV3cw/608adc2d91954c3cef0303efB14252a3d">contracted by 1.4 percent in the first quarter of 2022</a>, the first quarterly drop in GDP since the pandemic hit in 2020.
|
||
</p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tXFFXn">
|
||
That’s an alarming-seeming but ultimately misleading number; most of it is accounted for by changes in international trade (imports, which reduce GDP numbers, rose as businesses knew war in Ukraine was coming) and the shrinking of inventories held by businesses as consumers bought them up. “Final sales to domestic purchasers,” which <a href="https://link.vox.com/click/27544083.233/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudm94LmNvbS8yMDE0LzcvMzAvNTk1MTQ5NS90aGUtbWVhc3VyZS15b3Utc2hvdWxkLWJlLXdhdGNoaW5nLWluc3RlYWQtb2YtZ2Rw/608adc2d91954c3cef0303efBabc08c89">strips out those factors</a>, was up 0.6 percent for the quarter, or <a href="https://link.vox.com/click/27544083.233/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmVhLmdvdi9zaXRlcy9kZWZhdWx0L2ZpbGVzLzIwMjItMDQvZ2RwMXEyMl9hZHYucGRm/608adc2d91954c3cef0303efB85e88414">2.6 percent annually</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PfngdM">
|
||
However you parse the release, though, this seemed as good a time as any to discuss the long-run future of growth in the US and the rest of the world. I’m getting pretty worried about it, to be honest! And I’m worried because of an economics paper by NYU’s Thomas Philippon with the unassuming name <a href="https://link.vox.com/click/27544083.233/aHR0cDovL3BhZ2VzLnN0ZXJuLm55dS5lZHUvfnRwaGlsaXBwL3BhcGVycy9BZGRHcm93dGhfbWFjcm8ucGRm/608adc2d91954c3cef0303efBa616836b">“Additive Growth.”</a>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aOH2o5">
|
||
The implication of Philippon’s paper is as simple as it is disturbing: We should expect economic growth to slow down in the long run, and the big leaps forward of the last couple centuries may be an aberration.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0QxWnr">
|
||
This conclusion is far from certain, and it goes against decades of assumptions on how to model economic growth. But Philippon brings a lot of data to bear on his thesis, which makes some intuitive sense, and even the possibility of it being true should alarm us.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="v45dLq">
|
||
The big pile of stuff we know how to do
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="X4aeYS">
|
||
Philippon’s paper is not concerned with economic growth per se, but with a variable that is central to explaining long-run growth: total factor productivity, or TFP.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fYoM3A">
|
||
Defining or getting a handle on the idea of TFP can be tricky. Technically, it’s just a <a href="https://link.vox.com/click/27544083.233/aHR0cHM6Ly9lbi53aWtpcGVkaWEub3JnL3dpa2kvU29sb3dfcmVzaWR1YWw/608adc2d91954c3cef0303efBa4bfa303">residual</a>: the annual growth rate of TFP is what you get when you look at annual economic growth, and remove the growth attributable to an increase in labor (more hours worked) or capital accumulation (more factories built, labor-saving machines purchased, etc).
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4GbknS">
|
||
For now, think of TFP as measuring something like “how well humans are able to use labor and tools to do stuff.” If TFP grows, that means we can get more economic output out of the same people and stuff we already have.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9vXPTt">
|
||
That makes TFP the “secret sauce” behind economic growth more generally. Labor inputs can increase, of course — but people can only work so many hours, and don’t really want to work <em>too</em> many hours. Population growth helps there, but less so when it comes to per capita economic growth, which arguably is what matters most.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5gpHJO">
|
||
Capital accumulation — using more labor-saving equipment and tools — helps too, but there’s only so much money to invest. The key is using the resources you have more effectively — and TFP measures, roughly, how effectively we’re using our resources. We can get more effective at using our resources through advancements in science, business management, and other changes.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="i7nvqG">
|
||
Economic growth is generally modeled exponentially: our economic output grows by a set percentage every year, and while that percentage varies, it also compounds on itself. TFP is usually modeled the same way. If you have $100 growing 2 percent each year, that’s exponential. If it instead just gains $2 every year, that’s linear.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xAmU6n">
|
||
What Philippon does is attempt to assess whether TFP actually <em>does</em>, in practice, grow exponentially. He first looks at <a href="https://link.vox.com/click/27544083.233/aHR0cHM6Ly9vbmxpbmVsaWJyYXJ5LndpbGV5LmNvbS9kb2kvYWJzLzEwLjExMTEvcm9pdy4xMjE4NQ/608adc2d91954c3cef0303efB7eccf976">two</a> <a href="https://link.vox.com/click/27544083.233/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZnJic2Yub3JnL2Vjb25vbWljLXJlc2VhcmNoL3dwLWNvbnRlbnQvdXBsb2Fkcy9zaXRlcy80L3dwMTItMTliay5wZGY/608adc2d91954c3cef0303efB475f2ac9">datasets</a> covering TFP in the US and finds, instead, linear growth since World War II: TFP does not increase by a set percentage each year, but a set <em>amount</em> (0.0245 points, if you’re curious) each year. It doesn’t compound; it just gradually, steadily grows. You’re getting $2 a year, not 2 percent of an ever-increasing pile.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="opzbXd">
|
||
Extending the data back to 1890, he finds linear growth, but with a break: slower growth from 1890 to 1933, and faster after 1933, but steady and non-exponential in each period. He then extends the analysis to 23 relatively wealthy countries, from Japan to Germany to Spain. A linear model fits better here, too.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="elQxsT">
|
||
Linear growth implies, as Philippon writes, that “new ideas add to our stock of knowledge; they do not multiply it.” It also implies a slowing of economic growth over the long run. Or, as <a href="https://link.vox.com/click/27544083.233/aHR0cHM6Ly9yb290c29mcHJvZ3Jlc3Mub3JnL2lzLWdyb3d0aC1saW5lYXItbm90LWV4cG9uZW50aWFs/608adc2d91954c3cef0303efB81450673">Jason Crawford</a>, who writes about the history of science and technology at the Roots of Progress, put it, “GDP per capita can continue to grow without bound, but that growth will slow over time.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="3BCvU4">
|
||
How doomed are we, exactly?
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EkCyB8">
|
||
The US and other rich countries have experienced a <a href="https://link.vox.com/click/27544083.233/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZnJic2Yub3JnL2Vjb25vbWljLXJlc2VhcmNoL3dwLWNvbnRlbnQvdXBsb2Fkcy9zaXRlcy80L3dwMjAyMS0yMS5wZGY/608adc2d91954c3cef0303efB9ecea52a">well- documented decline in productivity growth</a>, especially TFP growth, since 2004 or so. Philippon’s findings could help explain why that is. The slowdown is only there if you assume TFP <em>should</em> be growing exponentially. If you assume mere linear growth, it’s not that things have gotten worse in recent decades. It’s just that they were never that good.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tOL4s1">
|
||
That’s an alarming conclusion, mostly because from the standpoint of human history, the past few centuries have been <em>very</em> good. Before the 17th to 18th century or so, human economies grew extremely slowly. Agriculture showed little productivity growth, meaning there was a fixed population that farming societies could support. Living standards varied mostly based on how many people were around; when the population suddenly shrank (as in the Black Death in Europe) people grew richer on a per capita basis, and when the population swelled the opposite occurred. This is known as the <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/breaking-the-malthusian-trap">“Malthusian trap.”</a>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rqyd1p">
|
||
“Until about 1800, the vast bulk of people on this planet were poor,” Joel Mokyr, an economic historian at Northwestern, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/10/28/why-the-industrial-
|
||
revolution-didnt-happen-in-china/?noredirect=on">once noted</a>. “And when I say poor, I mean they were on the brink of physical starvation for most of their lives.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wCBhln">
|
||
That pattern started to break down in the 17th through 19th centuries, <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/11/8/18052076/human-history-in-one-chart-industrial-
|
||
revolution">a process sometimes shorthanded</a> as the “Industrial Revolution,” but including a wide variety of cultural, scientific, technological, and economic changes. Long story short: productivity sustainably grew for the first time in human history. And it grew, by historical standards, quite rapidly, such that a far lower share of people alive in 2022 are on the brink of starvation than were in 1800, even though the population needing food has never been greater.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6U72dy">
|
||
Philippon identifies this break in human history in his paper, looking at TFP data about England. TFP growth is linear throughout English history, he emphasizes, but the <em>rate</em> of linear growth became suddenly higher around 1650 and 1830. These “break points,” he argues, correspond to the so-called first and <a href="https://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/jmokyr/castronovo.pdf">second</a> industrial revolutions (the first characterized by textile work and the discovery of steam power, the latter by mass production, industrial steel/plastic, electricity, etc.) beginning in England. I’m less persuaded of this than Philippon — the precise timing of the industrial revolution(s) is among the most hotly debated topics in all of history, and 1650 in particular feels a bit early to date the start of it.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="K5N6ID">
|
||
But if he’s right, that means that humanity would need another, similarly important break to prevent economic growth from slowing long-term.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bHNm4A">
|
||
Philippon’s paper is bracing, but I’m not 100 percent sold. I share <a href="https://link.vox.com/click/27544083.233/aHR0cHM6Ly9tYXJnaW5hbHJldm9sdXRpb24uY29tL21hcmdpbmFscmV2b2x1dGlvbi8yMDIyLzA0L2FkZGl0aXZlLWdyb3d0aC5odG1s/608adc2d91954c3cef0303efB9b0f4c96">Tyler Cowen’s question</a> about the usefulness of treating TFP as a real, observable attribute of the economy.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tHZhKU">
|
||
What <em>is</em> TFP, anyway? It’s sometimes shorthanded as a measure of “technological progress,” but <a href="https://link.vox.com/click/27544083.233/aHR0cDovL3hjc2MueG9jLnVhbS5teC9hcHltZXMvd2ViZnRwL2RvY3VtZW50b3MvYmlibGlvdGVjYS9Ub3RhbCUyMGZhY3RvciUyMHByb2R1Y3Rpdml0eSUyMGFuZCUyMHRoZSUyMG1lYXN1cmVtZW50JTIwb2YlMjB0ZWNobm9sb2dpY2FsJTIwY2hhbmdlLnBkZg/608adc2d91954c3cef0303efBd6a56858">it doesn’t really</a> measure technological change; TFP can grow or shrink without changes in technology, and technological changes can occur without affecting TFP. The late economist Moses Abramovitz famously dubbed it a ”measure of our ignorance about the causes of economic growth” in a <a href="https://link.vox.com/click/27544083.233/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubmJlci5vcmcvc3lzdGVtL2ZpbGVzL2NoYXB0ZXJzL2M1NjUwL2M1NjUwLnBkZg/608adc2d91954c3cef0303efBbc7457a0">1956 paper</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8RsGeU">
|
||
We should try to shrink that ignorance — but how meaningful are changes in the unexplainable share of economic growth? They probably mean <em>something</em>, but it’s hard to say what. TFP has been incredibly useful for comparing productivity between, for instance, firms, to identify which are more effective and efficient; here, for example, is a <a href="https://link.vox.com/click/27544083.233/aHR0cHM6Ly92b3hkZXYub3JnL3RvcGljL2FncmljdWx0dXJlL21lYXN1cmluZy1wcm9kdWN0aXZpdHktc21hbGxob2xkZXItZmFybXMtc3ViLXNhaGFyYW4tYWZyaWNh/608adc2d91954c3cef0303efB1ba4201f">great paper on productivity of smallholder African farms</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qG0EfF">
|
||
But I’m not sure TFP holds the same explanatory weight in explaining the growth of <em>countries</em> over a long period of time.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wUoAKE">
|
||
All the same, Philippon’s paper should at the very least open up an important new direction for research. One observer I respect concluded, after reading the paper, that <a href="https://link.vox.com/click/27544083.233/aHR0cHM6Ly90d2l0dGVyLmNvbS9KZXJlbXlMTmV1ZmVsZC9zdGF0dXMvMTUxODY4MDAwNzE3ODE3NDQ2Nw/608adc2d91954c3cef0303efB3af8c141">if true, it means “Human extinction looks much likelier.”</a> I wouldn’t go that far. But it asks an important question, and answering that question correctly matters a lot.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jWtNXX">
|
||
</p>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><strong>Why a Democratic Senate majority still matters — even if they lose the House</strong> -
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/thumbor/UFRbWzedwZg3YAicvvk7iMV65po=/316x0:5681x4024/1310x983/cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70821352/1240255118.0.jpg"/>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks during his weekly press conference on Capitol Hill on April 26. | Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
There’s one big reason Democrats need to hold the Senate.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VJxfoW">
|
||
<a href="https://www.vox.com/midterm-elections-2022">If Democrats lose the House this fall</a>, as they’re widely expected to, their ability to do ambitious bills will be all but moot. Given Republican opposition, it’s likely most legislation, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/11/30/22807627/congress-government-shutdown-funding-fight">barring must-pass measures</a> like appropriations, will be dead on arrival.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rYSDLy">
|
||
That prompts the question: Does it matter <a href="https://www.vox.com/23030164/senate-2022-midterm-elections-battlegrounds">if they lose the Senate</a>, too?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XFx2cY">
|
||
In fact, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/10/18/22724808/democrats-senate-disadvantage-shor-
|
||
klein">holding their majority in the upper chamber</a> is still extremely important for a number of reasons, <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/12/9/20962980/trump-supreme-court-federal-judges">perhaps none more so than the courts</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tjxJYf">
|
||
If elected, a Democratic Senate would be able to confirm more of <a href="https://www.vox.com/22846344/democrats-build-back-better-voting-rights-immigration-manchin">President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees</a>, including any upcoming theoretical Supreme Court pick. Even without the House, they could approve judges for district courts, circuit courts, and the high court with a <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-
|
||
politics/2019/12/9/20962980/trump-supreme-court-federal-judges">simple Senate majority</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="43Rm62">
|
||
And that’s not the only benefit: Keeping this majority would also mean that lawmakers could set their own floor agenda and reject bills approved by a GOP-led House. Senate Democrats could ensure, too, that hearings and committee time aren’t used on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-white-house-preparing-republican-investigations-midterms-
|
||
afghanistan-coronavirus-2022-4">investigations of Biden and other members of his administration</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kkOZSZ">
|
||
“Given that it will be investigations on steroids over in the House, the question is how the Senate could serve as a buffer,” says Democratic strategist Jim Manley, a former staffer for former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ud8A4F">
|
||
Securing that buffer won’t be easy as the prospects for Democrats this fall are looking increasingly grim. Due to <a href="https://www.vox.com/22899204/midterm-elections-president-biden-thermostatic-
|
||
opinion">the backlash the president’s party typically faces</a>, and other factors like <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22994731/inflation-rate-russia-gas-prices-jerome-powell">the country’s ongoing struggles with inflation</a>, Democrats are likely to see <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/2/21/22936218/inflation-
|
||
biden-midterms-democrats">some major losses in the House</a> and have no room for error in the Senate. Because of <a href="https://www.vox.com/23030164/senate-2022-midterm-elections-battlegrounds">the 2022 Senate map</a> and candidates’ <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Comparison_of_2020_presidential_candidates_to_congressional_and_gubernatorial_candidates_by_state">past patterns of bucking national trends</a>, however, Democrats have a slightly better chance of sustaining their narrow hold on the upper chamber.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="PZuNmk">
|
||
Three reasons Senate control matters
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fLe1Ql">
|
||
Democrats would be pretty limited legislatively under divided government — but there are still three key areas where Senate control matters.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="mcJsAx">
|
||
Judges
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Xme9rM">
|
||
“The main difference between a split Congress and one controlled by Republicans completely would be Biden’s ability to fill judicial and other vacancies,” says Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QqA1tm">
|
||
A GOP Senate majority would be able to vote down Biden’s judicial nominees (including any that come up on the Supreme Court), block them wholesale from consideration, and pressure the White House to pick what they perceive as more moderate options.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VBpLhp">
|
||
Republican lawmakers have already signaled that they may not consider Biden’s nominees. In April, <a href="https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2022/04/08/mcconnell-supreme-court-biden-democrats-republicans-
|
||
senate">Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell wouldn’t commit</a> to giving a Supreme Court pick a hearing in 2023 if the Republicans retook their majority. It’s something he’s done before: During the Obama administration, McConnell notably blocked Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland from ever getting a hearing by arguing that his nomination was in an election year.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="H9ny80">
|
||
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/26/lindsey-graham-supreme-court/">said that the “Garland rule” could be used</a> if a high court vacancy comes up in 2024.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5Fs6L5">
|
||
Such opposition could seriously stymie Biden’s efforts on the courts: In his first year, Biden appointed the most federal judges of any president <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/biden-finishes-2021-with-most-confirmed-judicial-picks-since-
|
||
reagan-2021-12-28/">since Ronald Reagan</a>, including more women, more people of color, and more public defenders than his predecessors. His attempts to continue doing so would be severely constrained without a Democratic Senate majority.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="v96RVd">
|
||
Since these judges have lifetime appointments, their appointments have long-term impacts that extend far beyond the administration that nominated them. Trump and a Republican-controlled Senate confirmed more than 200 judges during his presidency, many of whom have contributed to pivotal decisions on immigration policy, mask mandates, and abortion rights.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="abSf6m">
|
||
Setting legislative priorities
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7JNs3J">
|
||
In the majority, Democrats would be able to set the floor schedule and ignore bills that Republicans send over from the House. “It’s crucial to keep the Senate if only to serve as a bulwark against every bad idea that House Republicans are going to think of when they try to send them over to the Senate,” said Manley.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UQEFQR">
|
||
If Republicans had Senate control, any bills that passed both chambers could still be vetoed by Biden. In the process, however, they could force vulnerable Democrats to take difficult votes on contentious issues.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FZjCkP">
|
||
Similarly, Republicans could use tools like the <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/where-are-the-congressional-review-act-disapprovals/">Congressional Review Act and budget resolutions for messaging votes</a>. Using the CRA, lawmakers could try to undo rules recently imposed by the Biden administration. If a simple majority in both chambers disapproves of a rule, they can pass a resolution trying to repeal it. Biden could also veto this, but Democrats would be pushed to take tough votes on the administration’s policies in the interim.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aYtPqi">
|
||
Budget resolutions also only require a simple majority to pass the Senate and could be another forum for Republicans to score political points. Using these resolutions, which are also subject to a presidential veto, they could approve changes to the tax code or spending on climate programs and reproductive health.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="jg2VHk">
|
||
Investigations
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PCtWcI">
|
||
Republicans have already vowed to serve as a check on the Biden administration once they retake the majority in either chamber. <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/06/gop-early-plans-hunter-biden-probes-00023230">House Republicans</a>, for example, have announced plans to investigate the business practices of the president’s son Hunter Biden, and even pursue impeachment of <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/republicans-raise-prospect-impeaching-
|
||
homeland-security-chief-rcna26229">certain Cabinet members</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="k26OEc">
|
||
“Immediately, the House Republicans are going to start investigating the White House and the administration, basically looking for anything to embarrass the administration as much as they can,” says Neilan Chaturvedi, a political science professor at Cal Poly Pomona.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="otYQGp">
|
||
While a GOP-controlled House would be able to dedicate time and resources to these efforts, a Democrat- controlled Senate could make sure that their chamber’s committees didn’t focus hearings on these issues. Additionally, the Senate <a href="https://www.lawfareblog.com/can-senate-decline-try-impeachment-case">could attempt to avoid a trial</a> if the House approves articles of impeachment for an administration official.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3EC0jy">
|
||
“The House could go ahead and vote to impeach, but there is some ambiguity about whether or not the Senate is compelled to hold a trial,” said George Washington University political science professor Sarah Binder.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="H258gH">
|
||
Democrats’ 2022 wins could decide control of the Senate for years
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sBqdW5">
|
||
Democratic wins this cycle would cushion potential losses the party could experience in the next election. Since senators hold six-year terms, anyone elected in 2022 would play a major role in preserving the party’s numbers for Congressional terms to come.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="q5YdjN">
|
||
“I think it matters more down the line because Democrats are staring at a really brutal map in 2024,” says Cook Political Report’s Jessica Taylor.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VY1rRD">
|
||
<a href="https://www.vox.com/23030164/senate-2022-midterm-elections-
|
||
battlegrounds">As Vox’s Andrew Prokop has explained</a>, Democrats aren’t currently defending any seats in states that Trump took in 2020. The four most contentious Democratic seats that are up — Nevada, Georgia, New Hampshire, and Arizona — are all places Biden won. Two other swing seats currently held by Republicans — Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — are also places Biden previously won, putting them in Democrats’ potential reach.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jzYrID">
|
||
The 2024 map, however, <a href="https://rollcall.com/2021/05/18/the-democrats-2024-senate-problem/">is far more challenging</a>. That year, Democrats will be defending Sen. Joe Manchin’s seat in West Virginia, Sen. Jon Tester’s seat in Montana, and Sen. Sherrod Brown’s seat in Ohio, all states that voted for Trump in the last election. Additionally, several other Democrat-held seats will be up in states like Arizona, Michigan, and Maine.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LPkhoT">
|
||
Essentially, the more seats Democrats can win in 2022, the better position they’ll have to withstand any shake-ups two years from now.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GadPIE">
|
||
</p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>20-member Indian team for Chess Olympiad</strong> - Anand steps aside to let youngsters have a chance</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Dhoni places a premium on Jadeja, the allrounder</strong> - ‘We were also losing a great fielder, we are struggling for a deep midwicket fielder’</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Bengaluru City retains hockey title</strong> - Osmania University blanks University of Rajasthan in women’s tennis final</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Rafale Nadal, Novak Djokovic slam Wimbledon ban on Russian players</strong> - On April 20, Wimbledon became the first standalone tennis tournament to refuse entries to Russian and Belarusian players</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Stadium to be built in Olympic gold-medallist Neeraj Chopra's native village, says Haryana Chief Minister</strong> - Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra's native village Khandra is in Panipat</p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Chirag Paswan welcomes Prashant Kishor’s entry to Bihar; JD(U) says there is no political space for him</strong> - Chirag Paswan stated that there was an urgent need in Bihar for leaders who are willing to work rising above the caste lines</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>DGCA starts probe into Durgapur flight turbulence; SpiceJet says flyers were told to remain seated</strong> - SpiceJet said the seat belt sign was on and multiple announcements were made by crew members asking passengers to remain seated</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>My arrest pre-planned conspiracy designed by Godse-bhakts in PMO, act of cowardice: Jignesh Mevani</strong> - Mevani, who was released on Saturday, also said his arrest was an act of “56-inch cowardice” that had undermined Gujarat’s pride, an apparent swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 56-inch chest assertion</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>PSI recruitment scam: Gyan Jyoti English Medium School principal surrenders</strong> - Kashinath, principal of Gyan Jyoti English Medium School in Kalaburagi, surrendered after arrested BJP leader Divya Hagaragi claimed during questioning that he was the mastermind of the malpractices in the PSI recruitment exam scam</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Rahul Gandhi slams Modi Govt, accuses it of misgovernance</strong> - Rahul Gandhi’s tweet came in the midst of a power and coal shortage in the country</p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine war: Hundreds trapped in Mariupol steelworks despite evacuations</strong> - A commander at the Mariupol steel plant says hundreds are stuck and Russia has resumed shelling.</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Mariupol evacuee tells of months of darkness</strong> - The UN says an operation to evacuate civilians trapped in a steelworks in Mariupol is under way.</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Israel outrage at Sergei Lavrov’s claim that Hitler was part Jewish</strong> - The Russian foreign minister’s claim that Hitler “had Jewish blood” is denounced as unforgiveable.</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Dutch boy, 4, takes mother’s car for a joyride</strong> - Despite crashing into two parked cars, no one was hurt in the youngster’s early morning escapade.</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>How Ukraine’s ‘Ghost of Kyiv’ legendary pilot was born</strong> - The “Ghost of Kyiv” story about a heroic pilot downing many Russian planes turns out to be a legend.</p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Porsche and Audi are both going to enter Formula 1 in 2026</strong> - “VW Group to F1” rumors have circulated for years, but now it’s true. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1851544">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>“Elephant in the room”: Clean energy’s need for unsustainable minerals</strong> - Our need for minerals may strain supply and lead to environmental issues. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1850832">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Square-Enix sells all of its Western game studios—and their games—to Embracer</strong> - $300 million deal includes “over 50” classic games’ rights, over 1,000 devs. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1851532">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Scientists blast out Earth’s location with the hope of reaching aliens</strong> - “These efforts are like building a big bonfire in the woods and hoping someone finds you.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1851383">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The weekend’s best deals: Beats, iPads, Samsung portable SSD, and more</strong> - Dealmaster also has deals on Apple’s MacBook, Withings ScanWatch, Fire TV and more. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1851472">link</a></p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><strong>Little Timmy was annoyed by his father</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
because whenever he was ahead in an argument, his father would just say - Whatever dude, I fucked your mum.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
And he couldn’t think of a good comeback, so he asked his Uncle Jim for help.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Uncle Jim said - Well, next time he say this to you, you say that I’ve been deeper in her than he ever could.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
So the next time his father made the same comment Little Timmy very loudly said - Uncle Jim has been deeper in her than you ever could.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/octoberinmay"> /u/octoberinmay </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ugfrro/little_timmy_was_annoyed_by_his_father/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ugfrro/little_timmy_was_annoyed_by_his_father/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>A Priest was being honored at his retirement dinner after 25 years in the parish. A leading local politician and member of the church was chosen to make the presentation and to give a little talk at the dinner. However, he was delayed, so the Priest decided to say his own few words while they waited</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“I got my first impression of the parish from the first confession I heard here. I thought I had been assigned to a terrible place. The very first person who entered my confessional told me he had stolen a television set and, when questioned by the police, was able to lie his way out of it. He had stolen money from his parents; embezzled from his employer; had an affair with his boss’s wife; had sex with his boss’s 17 year old daughter on numerous occasions, taken illegal drugs; had several homosexual affairs; was arrested several times for public nudity and gave VD to his sister in-law.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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I was appalled that one person could do so many awful things. But as the days went on, I learned that my people were not all like that and I had, indeed, come to a fine parish full of good and loving people.”
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</p>
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Just as the Priest finished his talk, the politician arrived full of apologies at being late. He immediately began to make the presentation and gave his talk: “I’ll never forget the first day our parish Priest arrived,” said the politician. “In fact, I had the honor of being the first person to go to him for confession.”
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</p>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Ralph--Hinkley"> /u/Ralph–Hinkley </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ugaj28/a_priest_was_being_honored_at_his_retirement/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ugaj28/a_priest_was_being_honored_at_his_retirement/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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<li><strong>Can you have sex with a circle?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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<div class="md">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Fuck a round and find out.
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</p>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/redblackrider"> /u/redblackrider </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ugj5d5/can_you_have_sex_with_a_circle/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ugj5d5/can_you_have_sex_with_a_circle/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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<li><strong>The wine taster at an old vineyard died. A homeless guy, looking ragged And dirty, came to apply. He persuaded the manager to give him a try.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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<div class="md">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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The guy was given a glass of wine. He swirled, smelled, sipped and spit. “It’s a red wine, Merlot, three years old, grown on the South Slope and matured in oak barrels.” He said. “Impressive,” said the manager.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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The man is given another. “Still a red wine, Cabernet, eight years old, from the Northeast slope, stored in a steel vats.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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The manager was amazed. He winked at his secretary. The secretary understood and brought out a glass of urine. The drunkard tasted it and said. “It’s a blonde, 27 years old, three months pregnant, and if I don’t get this job, I’ll tell who the father is!”
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</p>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/lonesome-rabbit"> /u/lonesome-rabbit </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ug0x3x/the_wine_taster_at_an_old_vineyard_died_a/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ug0x3x/the_wine_taster_at_an_old_vineyard_died_a/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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<li><strong>My girlfriend’s dog died so I got her an identical one to try and cheer her up.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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<div class="md">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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But it made her even more upset.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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She screamed at me saying, “What am I supposed to do with two dead dogs?”
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</p>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/mokuna6"> /u/mokuna6 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ugm107/my_girlfriends_dog_died_so_i_got_her_an_identical/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ugm107/my_girlfriends_dog_died_so_i_got_her_an_identical/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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</ul>
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