Hacker News Reader

Comment by thedance | Hacker News Reader

It's ridiculous that Google has to front a glove and mask company the working capital and donate the product to the CDC. That's what the government is supposed to do. The federal government should be providing interest-free working capital and guaranteeing the sale of every glove and mask anyone can produce.

View on HN

>It's ridiculous that Google has to

It doesn't have to. This is a choice Google is making on how it wants to conduct charity.

>The federal government should be providing interest-free working capital and guaranteeing the sale of every glove and mask

Sale at what price? It has to be bounded or else it sounds ripe for fraud (people are monsters).

> anyone can produce.

So is the loan for anyone that wants it? Or just for companies that have proven they can make gloves and masks? If the former, what stops people from just using the loan to fund salaries while making a ritual display of making masks for a few months and then declaring bankruptcy after collecting salaries during that time?

I think you are misunderstanding the parent's point. The basic gist is that any glove, mask, and ventilator manufacturer should at the very least get immediate working capital loans/grants from the government to expand production.

Guaranteeing the sale means that the manufacturer will assume no risk for overproduction. The price would be whatever the prevailing market price was before the crisis or maybe with a slight premium.

In essence, the government should remove all business risk for manufacturers of needed equipment.

What makes you think this is not already the case?

The government can, in an emergency like this, set prices. They could set prices at the previous price for bulk PPE and order companies to fulfill it and if they refuse, eminent domain them and sell them to someone who will.

As much as this will annoy civil libertarians, the powers of the state are vast and in emergencies should be used to protect people when justifiable and without harming people. The takings clause will ensure that whatever companies are affected will be monetarily compensated and they have recourse through our courts.

>This is a choice Google is making on how it wants to conduct charity.

Maybe they should choose not to maximize tax avoidance instead.

I hope the confluence of this administration, plus this pandemic resulting in this piss-poor federal response, is something we'll never see again in our lifetimes.

I'm really glad somebody is stepping up to the plate in the meantime. Every bit counts.

The House just passed a two trillion dollar relief bill. That's almost 3 times the entire value of alphabet. And much of that's going to obtaining medical supplies. What are you talking about?

I have at times worried this crisis could be used to cement our transition to a Corporatocacy. There has been a huge number of roles that the government SHOULD be performing in at least a partnership that appear to be simply being fulfilled by private corporations. On one hand, while i'm glad to see some real leadership, I worry about the long term ramifications.

How much in taxes has Google avoided over the years???

Thats the actual funding the Government was Already supposed to have (and then be responsible for using correctly) to do this.

So, in my opinion, the Government (read: the fucking citizens of the country) should demand fealty payments from ALL the companies that were under-paying taxes.

All companies, who are considered "corp=people" should be taken to task and be required to PAY rather than get a bailout.

Have you noticed the marketing push by Verizon of late?

That company, for whom Ajit is their mole in the .gov, should be just nationalized and turned over. (obviously, this then means that its a 100% surveillance company... so that must be weighed)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com