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Comment by 55873445216111 | Hacker News Reader

In practical terms, the government is just too slow to actually help. They always shoot behind the target. The semiconductor market is cyclical. By the time the CHIPS Act, etc, actually get passed and implemented, the market will already be in oversupply and voters/politicians will complain about government handouts for these companies.

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In practical terms the government is intentionally hamstrung to appear incompetent:

https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/financials/annual-reports/...

With a vote Congress destroys budgets and the narrative is the PO sucks.

Government incompetence is private interest driven propaganda

But Congress is part of the government. So it's hamstringing itself. It's the same line of thought when some large dinosaur of a company purchases a startup. "Welp, startup is going to suck in 2 years." It's not the startup's fault, but to the consumer it's still going to suck. It doesn't really matter why.

Incorrect. Congress can muck up government for everyone while investing in stocks, and receive unlimited campaign cash to help keep their job mucking up government.

As individuals, Congress is doing fine by its members

Yes, it's correct. It's the government mucking up itself to benefit the individual's personal interests. That doesn't mean they're not part of the government or not mucking up the government.

No. Congress is not "part of the government". Sure, they get government paychecks, but they're the legislature not the executive. They don't "do" anything, just direct that it be done. All but a few are millionaires who make more income from non-government sources than that paycheck. By virtue of their office, they're also well connected: able to get lucrative board memberships for their kids in Ukraine, or Arkansas. As part of the upper echelon of society they share the interest of the rest of their class in not only making the government appear ineffective, but also ineffective in fact. A competent government might be a threat to their power, after all: as would an unbought section of their own chambers. Hence the critical need for a disciplined two party duopoly that savagely suppresses all competition.

“Congress is not part of the government.”

Thanks for letting me know I can ignore everything you wrote after that idiotic statement.

> but they're the legislature not the executive

The government has multiple branches... They're the legislative branch.

If we're going by your logic, the executive branch is the one that is not part of the government because they don't get to decide how to govern.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/our-governm...

https://www.usa.gov/branches-of-government

https://people.howstuffworks.com/three-branches-government.h...

> All but a few are millionaires who make more income from non-government sources than that paycheck. By virtue of their office, they're also well connecte

All of this is true for the executive branch too.

Govt incompetence is a reality.

You can argue that govt need not be incompetent, but it's foolish to act as if the US govt is competent until it actually is competent.

That's true regardless of how good things could be if the US govt was competent.

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