Free Republic

The reason why Obamatrade became law is because of Sen. Ted Cruz,” said Donald Trump’s senior policy advisor Stephen Miller on Monday’s program of Breitbart News Daily. Miller — who had been working for Sen. Jeff Sessions at the time that Sessions led the conservative opposition to Obamatrade in the U.S. Senate— said that Cruz’s “lobbying” effort to fast track President Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership “was the difference maker” that enabled fast track to pass. Like Sen. Cruz, Obama had been pushing for fast track to ensure the passage of TPP. Fast track lowers the 67 votes required to pass a...

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch voted Wednesday in a referendum on a far-reaching free trade deal meant to foster closer ties between Ukraine and the European Union that has run into opposition in the Netherlands where many see it as evidence of unwanted EU expansionism. The non-binding vote in the Netherlands exposes deep divisions about this country's place in Europe and comes less than three months before British citizens decide in their own referendum whether to leave the EU altogether. Dutch opponents of the EU-Ukraine association agreement argue its ultimate goal is bringing Kiev into the EU. Supporters...

Manufacturing was the economic growth engine of United States. It helped to create the high paying jobs, improved living standards, national wealth, military might, and tax revenues. Unfortunately, there has been a dramatic decline in the above scenario for the United States in the 21st century. The U.S is rapidly turning into non-Super Power second rate country. Manufacturing is the basis for research and development and National Defense and once represented more than 28% of the jobs in the U.S. Although the absolute number of jobs in American manufacturing was rather constant at about 17 million from 1969 to 2002,...

Recent economic reports, including some by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), have delved into the devastating damages done to the American economy because of our sky-rocketing trade deficit. It’s no secret that the U.S. trade deficit is high. After all, our trade deficit is responsible for the transfer of over $1 billion a day to foreign countries. The EPI report took it a step further and claimed that our trade deficit increased our budget deficit by between $78.8 billion and $165.8 billion in 2012. Our trade deficit warrants attention because it is a devastating problem that is hurting not only...

As unemployment has taken its toll on the United States, politicians continue to echo that education is the answer to the economic crisis. The question is: how will the well-educated ever provide for themselves when all the means to create wealth are flowing out of the country? Over the past twenty years, the United States has lost a massive number of lower and middle class value-added jobs. These are largely the manufacturing jobs that allowed the United States to support its own needs and export goods, which builds real wealth. However, many major economists predict that job losses should be...

Cruz addresses a major reason for our trade deficit. However ... If something confuses people? It invites corruption. A handy rule of thumb in government. Are VATs confusing? Very. ~~~ Even explaining a VAT* is tough because there are many different kinds. Some alleged VATs aren't even VATs according to many. But I'll break it down into two categories: 1. A good VAT. 2. A bad VAT. ~~~ A Good VAT Senator Cruz proposes 'turning the tables' on Europe and other nations which are sneaking money back to corporations which give them jobs. In the nutshell, a good 'VAT' is...

As I understand it, a VAT tax is very different than a national sales tax because it taxes every level of production and distribution. That gives imported products a grossly unfair advantage. ~~~ For example -- the price of a screw. First the ore value is taxed. Then the smelted steel value is taxed. Then the steel distributer is taxed. Then after the screw is made, the value of the screw is screwed again. Then the screw wholesale value is screwed. Then the retail value is screwed again -- the only visible aspect of the tax. The rest of the...

Maurice King worked for Joerns Healthcare, a medical furniture manufacturer, for nearly 43 years. Until suddenly one day, he didn’t. Joerns shuttered its plant in Stevens Point, Wis., in 2012 after years of gradually outsourcing work to China. It cut loose 175 workers. Now the 62-year-old former local steelworkers union president works a 2-11 p.m. shift at a fan factory. No more local fish fries on Friday nights with his wife, or his side job for 25 years as town chairman in Dewey, population 975. He hasn’t yet earned a week of vacation. As for retirement? That’s been pushed back....

Billionaire Donald Trump, the 2016 GOP presidential frontrunner, told Breitbart News exclusively that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) “will vote for” Obamatrade “again” after the election—and would implement Obama’s trade agenda if elected president. “Now, he’s going to vote for it again,” Trump said in a phone interview on Friday. “He’s going to vote for it again. He’s just waiting for after the election. He will vote for it—because the people who give him campaign contributions want it. He will vote for it right after the election.” The first time that the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation came up in the...

Donald Trump says the problem in the United States is that "we don't win anymore." Trade is his favorite example, based on our longstanding trade deficit. But in one big area, America is a big global winner, year after year. That little-known fact exposes the basic, fatal error in Trump's lament. What he overlooks is that this country is one of the most inviting places for people abroad to invest their money. Since 2001, foreign direct investment in the United States has more than doubled. Last year, foreigners bought $11 trillion worth of stocks. They also wanted other assets --...

Over the past twenty to thirty years, the United States has lost a massive number of lower and middle class value-added jobs. These are largely the manufacturing jobs that allowed the United States to support its own needs and export goods, which builds real wealth. As unemployment has taken its toll on the United States, politicians continue to echo the sentiment that education is the answer to the economic crisis. The question is: how will the well-educated ever provide for themselves when all the means to create wealth are flowing out of the country? However, many major economists predict that...

Theoretically, “free trade” sounds like a great idea. Consumers get the benefit of increased competition for their buying dollars, manufacturers get to locate or source from the lowest cost labor pool, and exporters have the opportunity to sell into new markets with no tariffs. Unfortunately, there are fundamental real-world flaws that exist with “free trade” that have led to the most massive wealth transfer in the history of the world. The United States has not witnessed a trade surplus since 1975, and since then $10 Trillion has been lost through trade deficits caused by elimination of tariffs. The most significant...

According to an article today in candidate Cruz’s official Super-PAC funded (Via Robert Mercer) media outlet, Breitbart.Com, Senator Ted Cruz now says he doesn’t support the current U.S. Trade Policy and has fully adopted the position of candidate Donald Trump in calling for “Fair Trade’.

In recent years the U.S. has been steadily traversing down a path of destruction. While many Americans have begun to open their eyes to America’s plight, most are still oblivious to the factors that led to our downfall. Recently, the media has been touting recovery, but there are numerous urgent changes that need to be implemented before the U.S. can even think that we are emerging from today’s recession/depression. The New Depression The economic decline in the United States began long before the official beginning of the recession in December 2007. The U.S. is not merely experiencing a “down cycle.”...

It won’t help the economy, it won’t stop China, and it will harm certain U.S. industries. President Obama’s top 2016 legislative priority is passage of his legacy-building “free-trade” deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). But the American public is highly skeptical of TPP and its alleged beneficial economic effects. The public has it right. The problems with the deal are legion. Here are a few great reasons to oppose the deal: TPP does not include provisions prohibiting currency manipulation or enforceable penalties for doing so. Currency manipulation has cost the U.S. thousands of factories and millions of jobs over the last...

he United States used to be a nation whose population, through hard work and sound policy, grew wealthier over time. Now, we are a nation whose middle class has nearly disappeared, whose workers’ wages have stagnated, and whose plutocrats become greedier and wealthier with each passing year. A quick look at the facts reveals why this has happened and continues to happen. America has become a less productive nation over time. Unfortunately, only the rich are enjoying any increase in wealth. The rest of us, though we work harder than Americans did in the past, enjoy no more wealth than...

Establishment economists will defend to the death the idea that trade does not destroy jobs. Yes, I'm serious. They believe that. Really. Instead, they say, job losers move into other jobs so there is no net job loss. They also assume that trade deals cause no change in the balance of trade. This matters because when economists study the TPP and other trade deals, their models find no job losses and no future trade imbalances because those bad things are simply assumed away. Those net negatives cannot happen and are not even worth inquiring about. If you think you observed...

We know that the mainstream media organizations are not working in our best interest. Most TV and Radio networks are owned by large multinational corporations who focus only on wealth and power. Many of these corporations are working with special interest groups, their wealthy owners and corrupt government officials to distract the public from the slew of problems facing the US. This is evident from what we see on TV. We all watch, listen, or read the news in some way. Unfortunately, most of the news manyAmericans are soaking up is skewed and unbalanced. It is impossible to find a...

America was once a prosperous country that was looked upon with envy by foreign nations. In the 1950s our economy was strong and the future looked promising. Our infrastructure was expanding and industrial production was booming. Clearly, we were on the right path. In the past, we produced over 90% of the goods we consumed. Our survival depended solely on the strength of our citizens—the way it should be. Now, the U.S. economy is in shambles. Failed economic policy decisions by our leaders have done irreparable damage and we are suffering.

Lost in the flood of Ronald Reagan retrospectives and testimonials is a crucial fact with special relevance for all Americans today: To a great extent, Ronald Reagan was a trade realist. The conventional wisdom about Reagan as free enterprise, free market champion is largely true. But on trade policy, Reagan acted decisively in five instances to save major American industries from predatory foreign competition. Moreover, as I detailed in a 1994 article in Foreign Affairs, in each case, the temporary import relief succeeded spectacularly, resulting in improved performance by these industries and avoiding the captive market prices that conventional economics...