New York Democrats tout tech manufacturing ads
With the midterm elections just over a month away and worries about the economy at the top of voters’ minds, New York Democrats at various office levels seized the opportunity to tout major announcements in technology manufacturing projects this week in several parts of the state, as well as the legislation helped make these projects possible.
The highlight came on Thursday with a visit by President Joe Biden to Poughkeepsie to celebrate the announcement that IBM will invest $20 billion to cover research, development and manufacturing of semiconductors, quantum computing and electronics. artificial intelligence in the Hudson Valley over the next decade.
“It is here and now that the Hudson Valley could become the epicenter of the future of quantum computing, the most advanced and fastest computing the world has ever seen,” Biden said.
The investment, officials said, was prompted by the CHIPS and Science Act, signed into law by President Biden in July, which is spending tens of billions of dollars to revive the US semiconductor industry.
The announcement was a chance to relish for three Democrats currently representing the Hudson Valley in the House of Representatives as they seek to retain those seats. The region could very well determine who controls the lower house.
“This is truly a new generation of growth and prosperity for the Hudson Valley, for central New York, and I’m so proud of the CHIPS and Science Act, I’m so proud of the president and the Democratic majority who brought this,” said Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who has served in Congress for about a decade and is now running for re-election in the 17th District.
Maloney is also the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the one responsible for electing the Democrats.
“Between the CHIPS Act and the bipartisan Infrastructure Act, we have made it clear that the United States will be the leader in global manufacturing,” said Rep. Pat Ryan, who won a closely watched special election in August in the 19th congressional district. and is seeking a full term in the 18th arrondissement.
Maloney and Ryan flanked Governor Kathy Hochul – who is also on the ballot in November for a full term.
“It’s great that we’re keeping the semiconductor industry in the United States of America,” Hochul said of the CHIPS law. “But I want them in New York. I am very competitive. I want them here, in my condition.
However, the Democrats were not the only ones present. Republican Marc Molinaro, the Dutchess County executive where Poughkeepsie is located, was also in the room. Molinaro shows up in the third competitive seat at the Hudson Valley House – on the 19the District – after losing to Pat Ryan in the August special election.
“We’ve rebuilt an economy here in Dutchess County, and frankly, we’ve done that in partnership with IBM, but there are countless people outside of this room, and many of them inside. inside, who are struggling to pay their bills,” Molinaro said Spectrum News 1. “They see inflation skyrocketing, they see the high cost of living and they see crime on the streets. It is not reassuring for them to find out about trades in five, 10 or 15 years from now. What they want to know is how are we going to cut costs, how are we going to fight inflation, how are we going to keep our community safe. The chair has an obligation to address that as well.
A Spectrum News/ A Siena College poll released Thursday found Molinaro trailing Democrat Josh Riley in the 19th District race by 5 points, which is within the margin of error.
IBM’s announcement follows Tuesday’s announcement that Micron will invest up to $100 billion over the next 20 years to build a computer chip manufacturing plant in central New York, creating about 50 000 jobs. US Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, also re-elected this year, made the announcement as one of the key architects of the CHIPS Act.
The Micron project sparked a Twitter exchange between Republican and Democratic candidates for another competitive seat in Congress, the one that will house the future facility. After Brandon Williams, the Republican and software company founder, published the Micron news, Democrat Francis Conole responded by saying, “Brandon’s supporters in Congress voted against the CHIPS bill which made possible, and he remained silent during his adoption. Now he wants to win it both ways.
Williams responded that “your endorsers in the county leg voted against the infrastructure and funding that made this deal possible.”
Williams and Conole are in a political battle to replace incumbent Rep. John Katko, who was one of the few House Republicans to support the CHIPS Act.
“I got my ass kicked for pushing him,” Katko told reporters in Syracuse on Wednesday. “Not only did I vote for it, but I got other people in my party to vote. And it really made it a very bipartisan effort, and you know, quite frankly, I’m very proud of that.
