“Nevada’s solar economy is booming,” according to claims by US Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV). She recently backed a bill that seeks to pour millions into the solar panel manufacturing sector. The proposed Reclaiming the Solar Supply Chain Act would offer more than $3 million in grants and loans over the next five years to bolster the production of solar facilities.
But let’s look at this sunny picture with a little more discerning eye. As is often the case, the devil is in the details.
The eloquence around this initiative is cloaked in the promise of creating “good-paying union jobs right here at home.” But isn’t it a bit presumptuous to assume that these new jobs, if they materialize, will automatically be unionized? And isn’t it a tad convenient that this promise comes from a senator of the party that always garners union support?
Furthermore, it is important to consider the fact that this isn’t the first iteration of the bill. A similar proposal was presented last year, and it never advanced out of the committee stage. If it was such a compelling idea, why didn’t it gain traction and garner sufficient support back then?
Cortez Masto and her colleagues argue that the US can only manufacture a fraction of what’s needed to meet the growing domestic solar demand. However, it seems they conveniently forgot about the power of free market competition. Isn’t it possible that if the demand is indeed so high, market forces would naturally drive-up production, without the need for government intervention?
Instead of creating a free-market environment that encourages businesses to grow, innovate, and compete, this bill suggests the government should step in again and artificially prop up the solar industry with taxpayers’ money. Nothing new here, it’s the same old story: Government trying to pick winners and losers instead of letting the market decide.
Recently, Nevada Senators Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, urged colleagues to vote against a measure to reinstate a tariff on solar imports from four Southeast Asian countries. They argued it would have eliminated nearly 30,000 jobs in Nevada and tens of thousands more nationwide. But what about the jobs that could have been created if American manufacturers were able to compete on a level playing field?
As time goes by, and to me it seems to be moving at light speed, those on the left are trying to usher in a social society that history has already proven does not survive. These leftists act like capitalism is dead, but if not, are anxious to bury it, dead or alive.
CALL TO ACTION: We must acknowledge the reality that the government doesn’t create jobs, businesses do. Instead of pouring millions into one specific industry, let’s lower barriers for all businesses and stimulate competition. That’s how we’ll create truly sustainable jobs and a robust economy. Let’s remind our representatives of the wisdom in the old saying, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”
By Whose Authority?
For more information on my Commentary and to see some of my backup research, or if you wonder why I take the position I take, go to www.LyleBrennan.com.
2 Chronicles 7:14 (NKJV) “If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”