Two weeks ago, Donald Trump was a caricature. Someone known for antics, and a single phrase..
That same Donald Trump in one single week, catapulted to national prominence by saying in so many words:
AMERICA FIRST.
Now that the gov’t has ruined our industrial base, they are in the process of doubling down, and aiming for our “energy”.
The American public sees the problem with one-sided free trade. That is where we have opened our markets to foreign countries (principally in Asia) who in turn have closed their markets by currency manipulations or a variety of tariff and non-tariff barriers.
The Republicans ignore this at their peril.
A generation ago the rest of the world was bombed out (after WWII) or had no factories.. We had the luxury of not getting hit like the rest of the world. We tried high tariffs and it didn’t work. The cause is Government regulation overkill..
This isn’t about Free Trade, it is a communist plot to destroy our industrial base so that we can never again win another war of attrition. This will leave China in a position too dominate ASIA and the pacific rim. The ChiComs think long term.
The rest of the world has finally caught up with us.
Did you think they were going to stay a century behind us forever.
We have been cutting a fat hog for a long time, but now it's over. I don't think it is the government,s fault or business's fault. I really think it all came about because backward countries would send their brightest students to the U.S. to be educated and learn about our ways and then they would return to their own countries and begin to provide goods and services at a better rate than we could provide them ourselves. Remember the trinkets and cheap junk we used to get from Japan and other Asians countries?
Soon they began to challenge us for markets in more and more areas. It's free markets and competition, it's what we preach and now they are using their natural advantages such as lower cost of labor to take it to us.
We have some disadvantages, but so do they. Bottom line is those that can, can and those who can't, can't.
A free market economy is never the problem. Government interference with a free market is always the problem (unless they are legitimately breaking up a monopoly).
A generation ago, war had just destroyed the economic capacity of the world - Europe, Japan, China.Eventually the world caught up.
Eliminate Corporate taxes, regulations, EPA, let up produce energy, and watch thigs grow again.
We can compete if government gets out of the way.
But it's a big one.
I support a 50% tariff on all manufactured goods that originate in China (due to currency manipulation) and a $50/bbl tariff on all IMPORTED oil and refined products (national security issue).
Of course the energy tariff would have to be offset by more nukes and more drilling. And, some of that tariff money could be used to offset a guaranteed price for "cracked" diesel from coal...
Hardworking people and Freedom is what made America great. We have lost a significant amount of both.
We must place our faith in our government. Only it can decide what is best for us. There, people much more intelligent than we can determine what is best for us in our day-to-day lives. Why the reluctance? Embrace the power of the government.
Profits for a few, regardless of consequences...
Profits over principle..
Nothing else matters, as America lay nearly dead on the floor.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/954156/posts
“But, in general, the protective system of our day is conservative, while the free trade system is destructive. It breaks up old nationalities and pushes the antagonism of the proletariat and the bourgeoisie to the extreme point. In a word, the free trade system hastens the social revolution. It is in this revolutionary sense alone, gentlemen, that I vote in favor of free trade.” ~ Karl Marx, On the Question of Free Trade, January 9, 1848 http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/01/09ft.htm#marx
Free trade is not the cause of our demise. The problem is taxation & regulation - an overbearing government here in the US.
Our businesses & industry have moved overseas, not because of free trade, but because their costs of doing business are significantly less than in the US. Wages & benefits are much lower, as are taxes, & any regulation can be bribed out of existence.
America used to be a magnet for business & industry. Now, companies can't wait to leave. Until or unless we recreate an economy that is tax, regulation, & profit friendly to businesses, our decline will continue.
If you place tariffs on imported goods, foreign countries will simply reciprocate with their own tariffs on our goods. The World tried that during the Great Depression with disastrous consequences. And tariffs only raise the price of goods in the stores, hurting all Americans. Why should I pay more for clothing, appliances, & other goods simply because the gov’t & unions have driven these industries overseas?
What you are advocating is a gov’t subsidy on inefficient, unprofitable companies & industries, whether caused by over-taxation, over-regulation, unions, and/or just bad management. This is not a conservative position.
Tariffs & trade restrictions (other than military related) are for those who can't compete in a capitalist economy. I will side with capitalism over regulation & tariff every time. The gov't is no better at this aspect of economic manipulation than it is in any other.
Don't you get it? The gov't is the problem, not the solution!
We don’t have free trade.
Between minimum wage, regulations, mandates, tariffs, etc we’re not close to free trade.
So...don’t blame it.
I believe the KKK has uttered the phrase “America First” on occasion, yet I haven't seen them “catapulted to national prominence”. You are easily impressed.
Donald Trump is a cheap hustler. He will say or do anything to enrich/empower “The Donald”. A common thief & liar would make a better President.
One problem I have with many who advocate "free trade" is that many places can have factories because American taxpayers have subsidized the infrastructure required to put factories there. At the very least, we should have a tariff on those goods to reimburse the taxpayer for those dollars and the interest on those dollars. Putting that kind of tariff on those goods would bring them back up to a true "free market" price because that price should include the full cost of the infrastructure needed to produce the goods.
We need to change some of the regulation that makes producing goods in the United States so expensive. If we'd reduce the cost of making things here, businesses would love to return. On the other hand, some safety regulations are worthwhile, and we should impose a tariff on goods made with slave labor or goods made in factories that are so unsafe that people are treated as disposable workers. There's no reason that Americans should have to compete with people who are being regularly disfigured in accidents and then thrown out to starve.
Yeah, let’s join the labor unions and stop this “free trade” nonsense. I don’t mind paying higher prices for everything if America’s labor unions are happy.
Agree...100%
After were done destroying our manufacturing base
with litigation, taxes, regulations, high energy prices,
compliance,government programs, unions, local officials
with itchy palms, the business either does 1 of 3 things.
1. Goes broke.
2. Gets in bed with the big government protection racket.
2. Moves offshore to escape the madness.
The folks on FR that want the government to fix this problem
by placing tariffs on foreign made goods to correct the
problem don’t even understand the problem.
1. Government meddling caused the problem.
2. Tariffs will put more money in the government’s coffers
causing more growth of big government. causing more
government meddling. (see #1)
3. Tariffs will cause retaliation causing our export levels to drop.
Stop allowing the government, lawyers, and unions to ripoff
and kill our private industry.