Posted on 09/23/2011 10:54:24 AM PDT by 92nina
...I understand political motives behind these sorts of measures, but it makes horrible economic sense. Yet Obama has once again chosen politics over the economy. Within the Presidents American Jobs Act lies a provision that mandates all iron, steel and other manufactured goods must be domestically produced as part of around $80 billion in infrastructure spending. Such protectionist measures raise costs for consumers and businesses. When businesses are forced to pay more for products, that increase gets passed on to consumers, who are then forced to forgo spending elsewhere. In other words, by protecting one industry, countless others are losing billions of dollars in profits. Not only do Buy American provisions restrict growth, but they inevitably cost more jobs than they purport to create. After the 2009 provision, employers across the country were forced to lay off workers as a direct result of Buy American requirements. One factory in Pennsylvania let go 600 employees because some of its products include goods produced overseas. The insistence on the Administration including time and again this protectionist provision proves they dont know the first thing about economic growth and job creation. As pointed out on this site numerous times, there are many, many things wrong with Obamas jobs legislation and the entire bill should be scrapped.
Read more: http://www.atr.org/buy-american-another-job-killer-jobs-a6470#ixzz1YnbVnPRb
(Excerpt) Read more at atr.org ...
Take this article and others I found to the fight to the Libs on their own turf; put the Left on the defensive at Digg and at Reddit and in Stumbleupon and Delicious
THE NEXT APPROPRIATIONS BILL should include REMOVING UNION MEMBERSHIP FROM ALL GOVERNMENT JOBS, period.
These two things, alone, would drive competition, lower costs to consumers, and stop the socialist takeover in its tracks.
What consumers? The 20% Americans unemployed aren't consuming. The other 80% aren't consuming either for fear they are going to soon join the 20%.
Maybe it's Chinese consumers you are talking about? Yes, heaven forbid we raise the cost to them. Oh wait, the Chinese don't consume much of our products either, their government just hoards the money to buy our debt and to buy more American companies like defense part manufacturers that they dismantle and move to China.
China now sends entire bridges to the US.
Great ideas.
Nuts. Buy USA only, pay the price to give your neighbors and countrymen jobs! Duh.
An example of free trade working is this:
An example of Free trade not working is this:
Repeal David-Bacon and public-sector unions in the Federal government? Yes! Now that’s what I like to hear.
We need an American System that favors our nation and people.Begin protecting or subsidizing industries that will build our nations wealth. Our nation underwent its greatest growth when it favored its own people.
I love this example.
So are tariffs in demand?
Making companies search for American made manufacturing for all the components necessary to complete the contract seems on the face of it like a good idea at first glance. However in order to qualify for the (Marxist moslem American hater) contract, it puts the fragile manufacturing base we have remaining here in America through hoops and red tape that will end in exactly what you state.
Where do we go from here?
Am I way off base here?
I agree that searching for American made components is a cumbersome and expensive way to go about it. Though I'm not opposed to the idea when the money being spent is tax dollars. It might be the only way we can enforce it given current trade agreements, but I think those trade agreements need to be reworked.
And by selective tariffs, I mean tariffs that target the worst trade offenders and most unequal partners. That'd be China.
I think some of the tariffs should float based on our unemployment numbers. The lower the unemployment, the more lax the tariffs.
Exactly .. and of course there are a couple more free trade bills soon to be signed (left over from the GWB administration ..)
Washington has given away manufacturing jobs and then they wonder why there is no recovery.. how do we elect such dumb people.???. or are they all playing dumb so they can continue to fed at the hands of all those lobbyists??
Meanwhile, back in Country #1, the Unions decide to infiltrate government at ALL LEVELS, so they can continue their extortion, this time at the un-limited upside potential at the command of Taxpayers (simply by paying off politicians through contributions and quid pro quo Legislation to protect the money machine).
Is this a grand idea, or what?
I’m not fond of unions, but you could roll back all the salary gains attributed to unions and we still aren’t going to compete with billions of Chinese willing to work for $2 a day.
Only 11% of the U.S. workforce is unionized and only 7% of the private sector is unionized. You make a good point about unions taking over government, but unions are simply not the real issue causing this economic crisis. Neither is government taxes and regulation, although everyone would like to see less of both.
Lehman Brothers was heavily invested in Wind and Solar and was one of the reasons why it went under.
The COST of government, at all levels, is astronomical, as is the funding of bailouts to favored groups (banks, pension funds, etc.), which is ALSO payback for continued support of politicians. For example, quality of public education is in the toilet, the Union rules have made incompetency a protected species, and un-limited funding from special interests to keep buddy-buddy Legislation and Funding-steering of taxdollars to supporters have created the largest money-making machine in the world (American government at all levels).
The bottom line is that the Government is the siphon, and the taxpayer is the target. They've over-spent future revenues, and continue to do so, leaving taxpayers on the hook for their greed.
there is very little made here and it is impossible and stupid.
Yeah; you're right.
Lets let the AFSCME, SEIU, NEA members continue at their escalating over-compensated rates, and maintain our "living wage" for those who produce ZERO.
There's about 15% of the REAL WORKFORCE who are making $0 right now, not even $1 a day. NO ONE is forced to buy imports, and they are touted and sought by Americans. That's what a State-Run-Media does. Thanks to the socialists (in concert with banking and corporate interests), the high contributors are rewarded with letting them move production off-shore, to avoid the Unions and save overall costs, then return goods for sale without tariffs. We allow parasites to live off others earnings via income taxes, fees, regulation, to buy their votes, and reward cheap labor by subsizing their illegal entry into this Country, and then handing them parasitic benefits, too.
We need a do-over, and it's coming.....
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