Economic Rivals Given “Go-Ahead” to Destroy Rest of Domestic Manufacturing by Bush’s Stand on Trade

Trade Alert.us ^ | 1/30/04 | William Hawkins

[templar]

“My administration is promoting free and fair trade ...

Those two concepts, free trade and fair trade, seem to be at odds with one another. Wonder how they can both be promoted at the same time? Isn't it a bit like seving two masters?

[hedgetrimmer]

Our own congressmen are not fair with respect to trade. Their goal, expressed at the world economic forum, is not a strong, indepependent United States:

I bumped into Congressman Barney Frank and asked what he wanted to accomplish in Davos, and he said he wanted to get the message to the world's top business leaders and bankers that he is prepared to cooperate with worldwide economic integration

[Last Dakotan]

What jobs have been exported?

The ones that pay better than Wal-Mart & McDonald's.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

If so then the dollar won't buy much. And us dollar workers will be third world poor.

It truly is a race to the bottom.

One theory I have as to why so much illegal labor is being allowed in is because that is another way of competing with the cheap, foreign labor. By providing it for corporations here in the states they may be less apt to move or be undercutted by foreign competitors.

The government now realizes that because of current globalist policies we run the risk of losing too many employers necessary to fund the government. Letting them have their cheap labor is better than them moving out or going bankrupt.

So where does that leave the American citizen? Basically competing for minimum wage jobs.

[LibertyAndJusticeForAll]

"...to create jobs for American workers."

Well, after his 'immigration' proposal, we all know that when he says "American workers", he encompasses anyone on the face of the earth who wants to work for an American business.
Millions of American citizens are losing their jobs. Any jobs left pay only a fraction of the jobs lost, and require no training.
The jobs many Americans educated and trained for, belong to foreigners now. This is the trend, and he wants the trend accelerated. Bush won't admit these things in so many words, instead he further insults us by claiming we need training. No wonder Cal Thomas and others are writing about how Bush is losing his Conservative base.
Ronald Reagan protected American employees and businesses and the Republican Party believed in this for over 100 years; as did our nation for its first 200 years.

[Last Dakotan]

NAM (a wholly owned subsidiary of the Fortune 100) cooks these figures by not including the value of foreign made parts, just the final article. Thus a SUV assembled in Janesville Wisconsin is 100% American whether or not it contains 25% Chinese parts.

[raybbr]

You've yet to tell me why freedoms have limits. At least why the freedom to trade should have limits.

Can you cite one place on earth where there is free trade? How is it that the global economy is working without the type of free trade you advocate?

[Reaganwuzthebest]

Ronald Reagan protected American employees and businesses and the Republican Party believed in this for over 100 years; as did our nation for its first 200 years.

That's exactly right. But the free traders act as if that was never the case and any thought of returning to those policies would be socialistic and anti-freedom.

[Wolfie]

Our leaders all become very wealthy people under the current system (retiring with far greater wealth than can be accounted for by their salaries alone). I don't expect any real changes.

[1rudeboy]

Do you have any data that shows the "long-term trend" of declining real wages?

[1rudeboy]

Thus a SUV assembled in Janesville Wisconsin is 100% American whether or not it contains 25% Chinese parts.

False. Big Auto has entire departments devoted to calculating "domestic content," and it is domestic content that determines whether or not an auto gets a "Made in U.S.A." label.

[1rudeboy]

A close look at the Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom will show that those countries that score highly are also those countries with the highest per capita incomes, etc.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

Do you have any data that shows the "long-term trend" of declining real wages?

First of all you can look at sarcasm's post #13. Would you care to dispute that? Can you post data that demonstrates real wages are increasing? And not from a government site as you've done in the past.

[Viva Le Dissention]

Really? If the citizens pay taxes on their income without deducting their living expenses, why the corporations deduct their costs? They should be taxed on the gross revenue same way as everyone else.

As any capitalist will tell you, the final step in the transition to a truly capitalist society is the abolition of all taxation. To say that corporations need to pay their "fair share" is getting it backwards--the individuals need to pay less.

Ok, you think that it's unfair that corporations can deduct operating expenses, but individuals can't deduct living expenses? Fine--the answer isn't to change the tax code to disallow a deduction for operating expenses, but to change the tax code that allows for deduction of living expenses.

I don't agree with Bush on much. In fact, this is the only issue on which I agree with Bush--but he is dead on, 100% right. My only concern with the Bush administration on this subject is that I wish it would concentrate less on bi and tri-lateral trade deals, and concentrate more on multi-lateral trade advancement. I'd like to see the Bush administration push hard to advance the Doha round--which would include eliminating farm subsidies--and really get some meaningful relief in the realm of world trade. I think since the Doha round collapsed last Sept., Bush has shown some surprising interest in reviving the talks, so perhaps there is promise.

[1rudeboy]

That's funny. You question my sources, yet you have none.

[Mears]

Thanks for the paragraphs.

[LibertyAndJusticeForAll]

Ronald Reagan protected American employees and businesses and the Republican Party believed in this for over 100 years; as did our nation for its first 200 years.

"That's exactly right. But the free traders act as if that was never the case and any thought of returning to those policies would be socialistic and anti-freedom."

I noticed many of those who don't understand this are too young to have voted for Reagan. They seem to be the brain-washed product of our liberal academia which pervades the economics department as well as other college departments.

Now Communist China has purchased some of our loans and we are now caught up in a precarious and fragile market.

Of course, Communist China still gets OPIC and Ex-Im Bank funding (compliments of the American taxpayer) for any business setting up within their borders. And, the government there automatically owns half of every business within China's borders.

That Communist China still imprisons Christians for being Christian and uses forced prison labor doesn't seem to bother anyone in the Bush administration, or any of the free-traitors here.

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who remembers which government fully backed which side of the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

You do this on every one of these threads. When data is presented, which I've done in the past you totally dismiss it. Are you disputing what's posted on #13?

[sarcasm]

Do you have any data that shows the "long-term trend" of declining real wages?

But you knew that.

[ClintonBeGone]

How is it that the global economy is working without the type of free trade you advocate?

It's not whether we should have free trade, its whether we should have free-er trade. Certainly you understand my post where I explained it's degrees of evil??