They are idiots. There is no calculation that requires or even strongly suggests that this is a good idea.

They are not alone. And about this:

It still has to be approved on the Wisconsin side of the border.

Don’t count on any hint of sanity from the clowns in Wisconsin — they are as bought and paid for as the people in MN (and as the people we have in MI).

Read up on the agreement Scott Walker made with Foxconn for southeast WI. Potentially up to $4.1 billion in relief for what was initially promised to be a huge next-generation plant for next-generation high resolution panels. Lifting of concerns about environmental caution for the plant, allowance for the plant to use as much Lake Michigan water as they want for promises of a huge number of jobs (about 130,000 was the stated number). As initially crafted the cost to the state per job was admitted to be about $100,000, which the state said would be made up quickly, but which oversight and outside analysts projected that (even with the best returns) would not be made up until 2040.

Now:

Foxcon: “Well, we’re not going to make the plant next generation, won’t produce the panels, and it won’t be the size we promised. Oh — and it will be highly automated; 90% of the work will be done by robots so we won’t need as many people.”

Projected cost per job now approaching $150,000, and projected time to recoup state costs: essentially never. The real potential return: turning an area of WI outside of the Racine/Kenosha area into the same toxic cesspool that’s found around Foxcon’s plants in China.