Reader dare to take apart this political chatter, and realize that it is’s Stephens attempt at Sturm und Drang?
Aug 26, 2025
Editor: This first paragraph: Is an American Conservative consonant with a Neo-Conservative?
Ask an American conservative what makes America great, and at least until about a week ago, he might have said that, among other virtues, it’s a country in which the government stays out of the business of getting in business.
Editor: the cast of characters in Stephen’s Economic Melodrama:
Fannie Mae and Amtrak, but their record of mismanagement and mediocrit, like the Airbus consortium in Europe, But American conservatism under President Trump is changing into something unrecognizable, Trump called for the resignation of Lip-Bu Tan, Intel’s new chief executive, based on vague allegations, Trump also decided to convert nearly $9 billion in government funding promised to Intel under the 2022 CHIPS Act, “You know what? I think the United States should be given 10 percent of Intel,” Trump says he told Tan in a White House meeting on Friday. Tan speedily agreed. Intel, which had a $500 billion market cap at the turn of the century, is now at $107 billion. What’s to keep it from going lower and taking taxpayers down with it? …that it’s systemically important to the U.S. economy (as the banks were in the 2008 financial crisis), that it’s vital for national security (as the critical minerals industry is today)…The ecosystem of American chip makers, from Nvidia to Micron to Qualcomm, is thriving….it would simply join the long gray line of America’s corporate has-beens, from Sears to Chrysler to IBM to General Electric….Intel will now join the stable of other cowed and compliant corporations, universities and law firms living in fear of the next Truth Social post, funding revocation or regulatory obstruction….Republicans now cheering Trump for his daily Big Dog performance should at least wonder what the consequences for America’s economic freedom and competitiveness will be once he makes America statist again….A current of neosocialism now runs through parts of MAGA land, particularly among those who confuse Catholic social teachings with economic reality. This crew should remember that in democratic politics, two can play the game….And what Trump is doing with Intel could soon become a template for dozens, if not hundreds, of U.S. companies in which Uncle Sam demands a golden share….
Old Socialist.
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