Originally published at: The Ohio Republican Begging the Senate to Help Him Get Out of the Data Center Mess He Helped Create
Big Tech Skeletons Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) was appointed to fill Vice President JD Vance’s vacant Senate seat after Vance became vice president. He is currently running in the November 2026 special election to serve out the remainder of Vance’s term and is fending off an aggressive challenge from longtime Ohio Democrat and former Sen.…
1 Like
I hope Sherrod Brown knocks this guy into next week.
AI rats on itself, indicating that the data centers in Ohio provide fewer than 20,000 permanent jobs, at a cost of $2.5B in tax breaks (no idea what the additional utility costs are). SO each one of those jobs costed taxpayers about $125,000.
15 Likes
Husted is one of many Republicans trying to shape-shift on an issue they staunchly supported even months ago. … It goes like this: Republicans are all for data center construction as an economic driver for rural and urban communities, but tech companies need to be footing the bill for rising electric costs.
“They’ve earned that backlash,” Husted said. “They haven’t been as forthcoming about the benefits that will come in terms of local jobs and construction worker jobs and reduced property taxes, and they haven’t offered things like paying the energy bills for local communities, for the power plants they build.”
This is the first time I can recall that Republicans aren’t arguing in favor the consumer subsidizing some of Bid Bidness’s expenses.
11 Likes
As we’ve established over the past half-century, it is incredibly unfair to hold Republicans accountable for their words and actions. Senator Husted is just a little birthday boy, and besides, Jesus forgives him.
7 Likes
Any guesses as to what TCF will say/do with his threat against raising the interest rate? Will he try to fire Walsh now?
4 Likes
Meanwhile, in Congress, Husted is using the last remaining days of the legislative session before the upper chamber goes on recess to try to convince his colleagues to take up a bill that he’s co-sponsoring that would force the tech companies behind data centers to cover the cost of utilities for their buildouts.
Yeah, Jon, but it turns out that your Squeaker of the House has just sent everyone home again, recessing early to avoid the terrible threat that some actual Congressional oversight (in the form of the Dregseth impeachment) might happen, despite Mikey’s most ardent efforts to avoid it.
So, no messaging bill for you – too bad, so sad. Cue the very small violin.
9 Likes
Nothing new. That may be somewhat lower than the standard for these giveaways.
And the giveaway goes to corporations/individuals worth billions. Sound like stadium shit to anyone?
4 Likes
Could somebody tell me how data centers are going to improve life for average Americans?
5 Likes
In my first Russian classes in 7th grade, we learned immediately about Soviet-era wordplay “Pravda ni pravda.” The newspaper Pravda (Truth) is not the truth. In modern America, the president has outmatched the Soviet system, releasing completely not true strings of sentences on his Truth Social media platform. Truth Social ni pravda!
6 Likes
AI and cloud computing are part of the same package. The cloud provides the massive infrastructure AI needs to run and AI makes cloud systems easier to manage. Ed Zitron has commented that if this build-out was done in the name of the cloud, or cloud computing, it could have never fueled the God Machine spending spree that ends with a crashing of the financial system. If anything, AI is proving a nuisance in many spheres. Students use it to do their homework with the self-defeating result they never learn to use the principles or knowledge teachers are trying to teach. AI slop is digital cholesterol. There is also a second-mover advantage, something well understood by China, which involves lingering just behind the advanced countries on the tech frontier at much lower investment costs with fewer costly booboos. As a result the Chinese Kimi and DeepSeek are right in there with the rest of the leading LLMs at a fraction of the investment. Also, rather than building data centers (and despite skillful circumventing of sanctions in purchasing advanced chips), the Chinese are instead more focused on embodied AI, physical things like humanoid robots and drones. With trillions in debt payments set to start next year, AI firms still have little to justify such spending on the income side. And all this with nary a mention of the rapid obsolescence that data centers face. For example, a significant advance in error-correction, a big issue in quantum computing, would have hyperscale data center owners asking about how to turn their giant electricity- and water-sucking sheds into storage units or homeless shelters.
1 Like
The robots take our jerbs but also give them. Turns out there’s a website for AI agentic shoppers in the “meatspace” to rent human assistants. See, it’s all working out fine. No comment as to whether humans can be hired to carry out hybrid warfare and sabotage attacks, but Russia’s FSB AI agents would like more info like whether you can pay in crypto or e-rubles.
1 Like
House Cancels Votes to Avoid Embarrassment Over Hegseth Impeachment | The New Republic
The House is going home again—this time to avoid a vote on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s impeachment.
House GOP leadership announced Wednesday morning that they will end their current slate of votes early and head home until the midterms, a nearly two-month break.
GOOD TIMES
House Republican Meeting Turns Into Shouting Match - The Washington Sun
The speaker wanted to discuss a bill to suspend the gas tax through the election, an effort spearheaded by House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Maryland). Harris agreed to vote with leaders on a procedural measure in exchange for a commitment. Leaders promised him they would convene a meeting to discuss the possibility of suspending the gas tax.
But the meeting quickly devolved into chaos, according to five sources in the room and another briefed on the meeting.
Rep. Sam Graves (R-Missouri), chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, brought in a printed post on X from 2022 in which Harris criticized then-President Joe Biden’s efforts to suspend the gas tax.
“Suspending the federal gas tax is just another Biden Administration stunt to distract from their self-inflicted crisis,” Harris said in the post.
Graves, who sits on a committee of jurisdiction for the gas tax, was opposed to the bill being moved to the floor — outside of regular order — and cited Harris’ previous comments.
1 Like
Donald Trump, 80, Insults Host State in Bonkers Speech
Donald Trump ranted about North Carolina during a rally speech in the battleground state on Wednesday.
The president, 80, took the stage in Gastonia, in western North Carolina, to support Michael Whatley, a former RNC and North Carolina GOP chairman who is running to replace retiring Republican incumbent Thom Tillis. Michigan-born Whatley, 57, is up against former North Carolina governor, attorney general, and state representative Roy Cooper.
1 Like
He think MAGA is stupid!
Republican congressman says ground beef is ‘less than $2 a pound.’ It’s actually almost $7 a pound.
The Minnesota Republican appeared Wednesday morning on Fox Business and declared that beef prices had dropped to a level that may have shocked some viewers.
“We still have work to do, there’s no question,” Emmer said, downplaying the recent spike in inflation. “But eggs are at pre-pandemic prices. Beef is at less than $2 a pound for ground beef.”
HuffPost reached out to Emmer’s office to see if he misspoke, and if not, whether he would share the name of his ground beef supplier. A spokesperson did not immediately respond Wednesday.
5 Likes
Realistically, Ohio will likely be one of the first states to pass a zero rate increase law, and it will be gladly accepted by the build out in southern Ohio. This is a “tier 1” build out so to speak. All wheels shall be greased.
But, no need to correct the narrative. Might as well use the scapegoat. It’s a two for one win. This Ohio build out is actually vitally important in my opinion – non-negotiable, even.
But no need to ever admit that politically. Hang the bastards.
So desperate to take blame away for gas prices from himself & his Iran war 
1 Like