Posted on 07/16/2009 10:38:52 AM PDT by FromLori
- In a bid to revive support for free trade within the U.S., the Obama administration plans to press foreign nations to increase imports of U.S. agriculture and manufacturing -- but not to push so hard as to ignite a protectionist backlash.
"In order to save trade, we've got to deal more honestly with those who feel like [trade's] benefits haven't been manifested for them," U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in an interview Tuesday. "We've got to be serious about enforcement."
White House economic-policy makers argue they need to jump-start trade to fight the global recession, but they acknowledge that they have little political room at home to maneuver. President Barack Obama wants to win approval of three free-trade deals and finish negotiations on a global trade deal by the end of next year. The initiative Mr. Kirk plans to unveil Thursday could ease public skepticism, mollify union allies and raise prospects for those deals on Capitol Hill.
The administration has had a tough time articulating a clear trade policy. As a presidential candidate, Mr. Obama ran as a trade hawk, urging the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. As president, he has supported free-trade measures, including pledging at several G-20 summits not to take protectionist steps, and softening "Buy America" provisions in the stimulus package that would limit foreign companies from bidding on U.S. government contracts.
To win over a public skeptical about trade, he is now following a course plotted by earlier Republican and Democratic administrations: appear to get tough with trade partners and show that trade deals can boost exports and jobs, then use that credibility to push for new trade deals.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
The government is only in as tight a spot as they want to put themselves.
Perhaps Obama should take a good hard look at the Columbia fiasco and the idiots who handled that, then come back and talk about other nations dealing with the legislative branch run by democrats on trade issues.
The fact is that free trade is largely a one-way street that leaches off U.S. prosperity. The international trade organizations are heavily weighted against us. They keep our products out, and we let theirs in.
That started in the days of the Marshal Plan, when it seemed like a good idea to help out countries devastated by the war, and it never went away.
But the idea that Obama and his idiots can understand this problem and actually level the playing field is laughable.
Schizophrenic....
Obama is a Liberal Globalist no different than Clinton, Bush, Gore, Bush 43, Soros, McCain, Kennedy..etc....
But, even the Liberal Globalists are figuring out that most Americans, regardless of party affiliation, know that Free Trade does not work....you cannot create a job in the USA by shipping it to Communist China, etc.
(I'd ping the usual suspects, but they turned out to be real quite since Zero has come out as a free trader.)
Got some data to prove it?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.