Treasury secretary wants fired federal staffers to work in factories

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the thousands of federal workers President Donald Trump and co-President Elon Musk have fired will become the workforce in factories Trump says will return to America thanks to his new tariff policy.Bessent made the comment in an interview with right-wing zealot Tucker Carlson, who was trying to build support for Trump’s insane tariffs that are tanking global stock markets and raising the odds that the United States sinks into a deep recession."The president is reordering trade," Bessent said. "On the other side, we are shedding excess labor in the federal government and bringing down federal borrowings. And then on the other side, that will give us the labor that we need for new manufacturing and we’re going to re-lever the private sector."xxYouTube VideoOf course, many of the workers fired by the Trump administration are highly educated experts in fields like medicine, science, foreign relations, and the military—whose skill sets helped find cures for cancer, accurately predict the weather to avoid mass casualties from storms, and stop the spread of deadly diseases like Ebola.Not only is sending those highly skilled workers to do menial manufacturing jobs ridiculous, but it’s something those workers are unlikely to want to do, as they’d earn far less as a factory worker than a medical researcher or weather forecaster.What Bessent is describing is literally Maoism—the kind of communist ideology that Republicans have always baselessly accused Democrats of trying to impose on the country. Through his “Cultural Revolution,” Chinese leader Mao Zedong forced thousands of "educated" citizens to work in the fields to "undergo re-education by poor peasants." Sound familiar?Workers at Alco Electronics pack video display devices at the factory in Houjie Town, Dongguan City, in the Guangdong province of China. Trump officials think this is our future.Even if Bessent’s idea of forcing highly skilled workers to sew clothing in garment factories or assemble appliances or gadgets in electronic factories had any chance of being implemented, there is no universe in which the United States can manufacture goods for an affordable price.The cost of manufacturing goods in the U.S. is exponentially higher than in countries like China, where workers are paid slave wages and the government subsidizes manufacturing to keep the factories afloat.The Wall Street Journal reported that it would cost 10 times as much to manufacture an iPhone in the United States as it does in China—a cost that would make the phone unaffordable to mass audiences.Not to mention it would take years merely to build the physical factories that are needed to onshore production of goods we currently buy for far better prices from abroad. For example, it takes between three and four years just to build a factory to produce semiconductors—chips used in electronics like cellphones and other communication devices.According to intel—which makes these kinds of chips:An Intel semiconductor factory, or ‘fab,’ is a manufacturing marvel. Every hour, every day of the year, the 70-foot-tall structure produces millions of computer chips, the most complex products on Earth and each not much bigger than a fingernail. A fab—which includes 1,200 multimillion-dollar tools and 1,500 pieces of utility equipment—takes about three to four years, over $10 billion and 7,000 construction workers to complete. Three of the fab’s four levels support the clean room level, the place where actual chip production occurs.Bessent isn't the only Trump administration official with loony dreams of a manufacturing resurgence in the United States. Noted idiot and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on "Face the Nation" on Sunday that Americans are going to be making iPhones."The army of millions and millions of human beings screwing in little screws to make iPhones—that kind of thing is going to come to America," Lutnick said.xLutnick: "The army of millions and millions of human beings screwing in little screws to make iPhones -- that kind of thing is going to come to America."— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-04-06T14:52:43.049ZThe absolute dumbest people are running this country. Thank you to the Daily Kos community who continues to fight so hard with Daily Kos. Your reader support means everything. We will continue to have you covered and keep you informed, so please donate just $3 to help support the work we do.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the thousands of federal workers President Donald Trump and co-President Elon Musk have fired will become the workforce in factories Trump says will return to America thanks to his new tariff policy . Bessent made the comment in an interview with right-wing zealot Tucker Carlson, who was trying to build support for Trump’s insane tariffs that are tanking global stock markets and raising the odds that the United States sinks into a deep recession . "The president is reordering trade," Bessent said .

"On the other side, we are shedding excess labor in the federal government and bringing down federal borrowings. And then on the other side, that will give us the labor that we need for new manufacturing and we’re going to re-lever the private sector." x x YouTube Video Of course, many of the workers fired by the Trump administration are highly educated experts in fields like medicine , science , foreign relations , and the military —whose skill sets helped find cures for cancer , accurately predict the weather to avoid mass casualties from storms , and stop the spread of deadly diseases like Ebola .

Not only is sending those highly skilled workers to do menial manufacturing jobs ridiculous, but it’s something those workers are unlikely to want to do, as they’d earn far less as a factory worker than a medical researcher or weather forecaster. What Bessent is describing is literally Maoism—the kind of communist ideology that Republicans have always baselessly accused Democrats of trying to impose on the country. Through his “Cultural Revolution,” Chinese leader Mao Zedong forced thousands of "educated" citizens to work in the fields to "undergo re-education by poor peasants.

" Sound familiar? Even if Bessent’s idea of forcing highly skilled workers to sew clothing in garment factories or assemble appliances or gadgets in electronic factories had any chance of being implemented, there is no universe in which the United States can manufacture goods for an affordable price. The cost of manufacturing goods in the U.S.

is exponentially higher than in countries like China, where workers are paid slave wages and the government subsidizes manufacturing to keep the factories afloat. The Wall Street Journal reported that it would cost 10 times as much to manufacture an iPhone in the United States as it does in China—a cost that would make the phone unaffordable to mass audiences. Not to mention it would take years merely to build the physical factories that are needed to onshore production of goods we currently buy for far better prices from abroad.

For example, it takes between three and four years just to build a factory to produce semiconductors—chips used in electronics like cellphones and other communication devices. According to intel —which makes these kinds of chips: An Intel semiconductor factory, or ‘fab,’ is a manufacturing marvel. Every hour, every day of the year, the 70-foot-tall structure produces millions of computer chips, the most complex products on Earth and each not much bigger than a fingernail.

A fab—which includes 1,200 multimillion-dollar tools and 1,500 pieces of utility equipment—takes about three to four years, over $10 billion and 7,000 construction workers to complete. Three of the fab’s four levels support the clean room level, the place where actual chip production occurs. Bessent isn't the only Trump administration official with loony dreams of a manufacturing resurgence in the United States.

Noted idiot and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on "Face the Nation" on Sunday that Americans are going to be making iPhones. "The army of millions and millions of human beings screwing in little screws to make iPhones—that kind of thing is going to come to America," Lutnick said. x Lutnick: "The army of millions and millions of human beings screwing in little screws to make iPhones -- that kind of thing is going to come to America.

" — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-04-06T14:52:43.049Z The absolute dumbest people are running this country.

Thank you to the Daily Kos community who continues to fight so hard with Daily Kos. Your reader support means everything. We will continue to have you covered and keep you informed, so please donate just $3 to help support the work we do.

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