My absurd experiences in North America over the years

In mid-April, Ohio is a vibrant and lush place, teeming with springtime life.

After stabilizing the situation in the state, Kasich immediately invited Lee to visit the Toledo logistics hub under construction.

This is not to say that he is eager to curry favor, but rather that the state has a fiscal deficit of $80 billion and an unemployment rate of 10.9%, which is also far higher than the federal average.

He must revitalize the economy and reduce the unemployment rate as soon as possible.

The Toledo warehousing and logistics project is currently the largest investment project in the state, and this is just the beginning. There will be further expansion of the logistics network, which will create tens of thousands of jobs in Ohio without any problem.

Strictly speaking, he was even more eager than Li Fu for this project to be implemented and started as soon as possible.

Li Fu accepted Kasich's invitation and traveled from Los Angeles to Toledo to go to the construction site with him.

Accompanying them were two state legislators and three television station vehicles.

The tower cranes at the construction site have been erected, and workers are pouring concrete for the foundation. Winston from the Port Authority and Morris from Forrest Capital are standing by as advisors.

Together, they briefed the governor and Li Fu on the overall progress of the project.

Kasich, wearing a hard hat, stood in the middle of the construction site, occasionally facing the interview cameras. After all, even if it wasn't a publicity stunt, he wanted his voters to know that he, as governor, cared about them and was paying attention to the project.

"Forrest Capital has invested billions of dollars in Ohio now and in the years to come, creating tens of thousands of jobs," he asserted confidently. "As governor, my responsibility is to ensure that the federal government does not slow down this project, and that is why I am here today."

He was very direct: it seems that it's politically correct for a governor to oppose the federal government, since the Democrats are in power!

This passage was later repeatedly broadcast by the local television station.

The public, on the contrary, cheered for him.

After inspecting the construction site, Kasich had a detailed discussion with Li Fu in the site office.

When he heard Li Fu's overall plan, his eyes lit up. The idea of ​​extending the logistics network to the community, either in the form of community supermarkets or in cooperation with them, to promote the construction of community logistics at the end of the chain was beyond his imagination.

The number of jobs created, both directly and indirectly, was more than he had anticipated!

He got such a good thing right after taking office?

Kasich immediately stated that he would apply for federal subsidies to help Li Fu get the entire logistics network up and running as soon as possible, at least during his term.

He wanted to regard it as an important political achievement.

Li Fu knew that the other party was not trying to curry favor with him, but rather seeking to improve his own political achievements and future votes. Therefore, he brought up his overall plan, which would cover more than 100 million people in several states.

After listening, Kasich pondered for a moment and realized that it wasn't impossible for him and the Republican governors of several neighboring states to jointly submit a subsidy application to the federal government.

They recently joined together to reject a federal high-speed rail grant totaling $36 billion.

Being anti-federal is politically correct, while applying for subsidies is a job requirement.

Politicians need to "jump back and forth" between these two extremes.

On the day Li Fu returned to Los Angeles, Kasich began contacting the surrounding Republican governors.

Other governors also needed Forrest Capital's logistics project to be implemented as soon as possible, and the group quickly reached an agreement.

The names of those who co-signed the application included: Ohio Governor Kasich, Michigan Governor Snyder, Pennsylvania Governor Corbett, Wisconsin Governor Walker, and Indiana Governor Daniels.

All six states surrounding the Great Lakes, except Illinois, have signed the agreement.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, a Democrat, was also interested in participating, but was rejected by several others.

The governors of five states jointly signed an application for a $3.2 million TIGER subsidy program managed by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

It is rare for governors to jointly petition, but it is quite common for them to jointly reject federal decisions.

But at this point in time, they are certain they will not encounter much resistance, because all parties' plans have come together.

The rationale for the application is that the federal government has long underinvested in the logistics infrastructure of the rust belt, and there have been gaps in the multimodal transport network of the five states.

Forrest Capital's project fills this gap perfectly. Once completed, it will directly create tens of thousands of jobs, with many more created indirectly.

The subsidies accounted for only 15% of the total investment in the first phase, with the majority of the funding coming from Forrest Capital and JPMorgan Chase.

The core argument of the application is simple and clear.

The federal government only needs to contribute a small portion, and the rest of the funding is already secured. This is not about funding new projects, but about accelerating the progress of an existing project.

This reasoning makes the subsidy approval process relatively easy, because it is not a new project that requires a large amount of federal funding, but an existing project that already has funding and only needs to be accelerated.

The Republicans now control the House of Representatives, and this money doesn't involve any political controversy, so no one will publicly vote against a project that creates jobs for rust belts.

Therefore, the proposal was passed directly.

The real resistance came from the Senate.

Senate Democrats are now facing a difficult situation.

The Arab Spring is in full swing in Libya, and the president's cabinet has decided to intervene militarily.

Gaddafi's rivals are gathering in Benghazi, France and Britain are pushing for a no-fly zone, and the Democratic Party is not yet fully in agreement on whether to intervene.

In this situation, the Democratic Party needs the support of some Republican members of the Senate.

Middle East affairs have historically required bipartisan cooperation, and if Republicans block any resolution on Libya in the Senate, it will be difficult for the proposal to pass.

They hold only a narrow majority in the Senate.

The president's cabinet needs its current diplomatic strategy to remain unaffected.

This means that the Democratic Party has to make concessions on certain domestic issues, and the joint subsidy application from five governors is one such concession.

Schumer stated in an internal meeting, "This subsidy is for the Great Lakes Rust Belt, not for Forrest Capital, and certainly not for Li Fu. If we oppose it, Rust Belt voters will think the federal government doesn't want them to have an easy time."

This directly convinced most of the participating members.

On election day, the subsidy application was approved by 72 votes to 27.

Twenty-three Democratic senators voted in favor, and one abstained; they were not happy to see Li Fu's project progressing smoothly.

However, under pressure from the situation in the Middle East and the practical consideration of electoral votes, they chose to compromise.

Does Li Fu really need this money? Not necessarily.

However, he does need to establish close ties with the Great Lakes region to gain sufficient political endorsement.

$3.2 million can indeed accelerate the project's progress.

In May, the construction site in Toledo was busier than at the beginning of the year, with workers installing the base of the sorting line and the docks at the port undergoing upgrades.

Winston stood at the window of his port office, looking at the outline of the logistics hub under construction in the distance. He estimated that the first set of equipment would be installed by this fall, and it wouldn't be long before it started operating.

Meanwhile, in Washington, closed-door meetings to discuss the situation in Libya are being held longer and more frequently than ever before.

Gaddafi's forces are advancing towards Benghazi, increasing pressure within the White House.

Hillary Clinton's office was brightly lit; she hadn't left the State Department before 10 p.m. for several days in a row.

The US military's intervention in the chaotic Middle East situation also spurred military operations across NATO to drive Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi to his doom.