I don’t have all the details YET to prove this is a scam, but when Republicans give an undeserving company with a history of scams $765 million to manufacture products completely unrelated to their skills and experience, and their stock price skyrockets right BEFORE the deal is announced, then Republican greed is afoot!
The Trump administration’s latest “economic nationalism” scheme involves having taxpayers underwrite a $765 million loan to Eastman Kodak, the long-struggling camera company, in the hopes of transforming it into a pharmaceutical manufacturer.
If that sounds like a far-fetched idea, well, give some credit to the lobbyists who apparently made it happen.
The Daily Beast’s Lachlan Markay reports that Kodak restarted its shuttered D.C. lobbying team in April of this year and proceeded to spend $870,000 on influence-peddling in the months leading up to last week’s announcement by the White House. That’s twice as much as the company had ever spent in a single quarter, according to lobbying disclosures, and it appears to have paid off.
When the White House announced the massive loan to Kodak last week, Trump lauded it as a “breakthrough in bringing pharmaceutical manufacturing back to the United States.” Eastman Kodak will produce active pharmaceutical ingredients, or APIs, which are the chemical compounds used as the building blocks for many drugs. The loan to Eastman Kodak is supposed to be repaid within 25 years.
The White House is throwing all that taxpayer-backed cash at a company with no experience making pharmaceuticals as part of an overall effort to shift the global supply chains for pharmaceuticals. Some Republicans—including Peter Navarro, Trump’s top trade advisor, and lawmakers like Sen. Josh Hawley (R–Mo.)—fear that America is too dependant [sic] on imported drugs and APIs manufactured in China.
In reality, however, there is little cause for concern. The global supply chains for pharmaceuticals are diverse and resilient… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <Reason>
SEC investigating Kodak loan disclosure: Dow Jones
I’d be willing to bet that the Trump* family committed the crime of insider trading and made millions from the 1,400%+ increase in Kodak stock, while $765 million could have gone to people and small businesses that really need the money due to Trump’s* Republican plague.
RESIST!!
7 Responses to “The $765 Million Republican Rip-off”
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There is every good reason to suspect foul play, as you do. Trump has shown, that he does nothing NOTHING, without an ulterior motive. I’m willing to bet, that if he gets re-elected, or simply steals the election, the loan will be forgiven whenever a convenient time is found.
According to Wikipedia, Eastman Chemical Company was spun off from Kodak in 1994, and currently manufactures a wide range of chemicals. People who search for it tend to also search for Dow and DuPont. That doesn’t mean it’s any more qualified to go into pharmaceuticals than if it were still making film, but it does provide an excuse to anyone who might want to think so. (I found that out looking up George Eastman, who, I suspect, is spinning in his grave in the Eastman Business Park in Rochester, NY)
I couldn’t agree more that this deal smells worse than any of their products (which don’t appear to include fertilizers, but do include several other noxious substances.)
Good grief! How sickening!!
Republicans: Thieves, and liars one and all.
Quite the coinkydink:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/31/business/kodak-ceo-stock-options.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/08/04/warren-says-sec-should-investigate-potential-insider-trading-eastman-kodak/#comments-wrapper
I’m quite sure this will prove to be a scam, especially now Elizabeth Warren is right on top of it. It looks like Republicans are trying to get all out of Trump while he’s still in office and so does the Trump clan. It’ll take a while, but I hope that they can soon trace all the Eastman Kodak shares strawmen bought for the Trumps and Kutchners. They will, because it has the Trump stench all over it at stinks to high heaven.
Despicable what evil tRump continues to try and get away with, especially with all of his stinking repug buddies standing right behind him.
I too agree with all of you that this will end up being a scam.
I pray that the Securities and Exchange Commission does what Elizabeth Warren has requested.
I’d love to see tRump, his family and all of his rotten buddies to be slapped good with major fines, then locked up for all of their evil crimes.
Thanks, TGIF Hurry Hugs and Amen to all!