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To: NewRomeTacitus
"Protectionism is not evil, it is necessary when we're getting hosed from all sides."

We are getting hosed from the inside of the White House. I don't see a change coming up no matter who is in there. Any ideas?

15 posted on 02/20/2004 6:19:46 AM PST by B4Ranch ( Dear Mr. President, Sir, Are you listening to the voters?)
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To: B4Ranch; JustPiper
"I don't see a change coming up no matter who is in there. Any ideas?"

Only Pat Buchanan has dared to address the problem, but his sanity waves bye bye on Middle East policy. The problem, like so many others, is directly traceable to the overwhelming influence corporate money has on our representatives. Even when we send a person up who has enough of their own money they get overwhelmed (Bill Frist) or worn down (Fred Thompson) and become part of the problem, actively or passively.
This White House and Republican Congress destroyed the latest campaign finance reform initiative, illustrating the depth of this corruption. The general public does not perceive how it affects their daily lives and pocketbooks. Talking news heads don't help when they report on these matters punctuated with smirks.
No answers but the usual Freeping way: write, yell, inform, share news, keep watch and continue attempting to put the best people in office.
JustPiper's idea of holding these companies collective noses to the carpet like a bad puppy may have some effect, but I fear too many have already gone over to the "Dark Side" having convinced themselves that they must export many jobs to preserve those left here.
I try to do my part by checking labels on everything before making purchases, but too often I find the product I need no longer has an American analogue or is an amalgam of international parts.
21 posted on 02/20/2004 10:42:52 AM PST by NewRomeTacitus (wants Centurions on the Frontier.)
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To: B4Ranch
Any ideas?

Yeah, sure.

from the Constitution Party's platform:

Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution states that Congress shall have the power "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations," and "to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing" copyright and patent protection for authors and inventors.

Congress may not abdicate or transfer to others these Constitutional powers. We oppose, therefore, the unconstitutional transfer of authority over U.S. trade policy from Congress to agencies, domestic or foreign, which improperly exercise policy-setting functions with respect to U.S. trade policy, and the unconstitutional transfer of authority over copyright and patent policy from Congress to agencies, domestic and foreign.

We favor the abolition of the Office of Special Trade Representative, and insist on the withdrawal of the United States from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and all other agreements wherein bureaucracies, institutions or individuals, other than the Congress of the United States, improperly assume responsibility for establishing policies which directly affect the economic well-being of every American citizen. We also favor more vigorous efforts to protect the copyright and patent rights of their owners in both domestic and foreign markets.

As indicated in Article I, Section 8: duties, imposts, and excises are legitimate revenue-raising measures on which the United States government may properly rely. As Abraham Lincoln pointed out, the legitimate costs of the federal government can be borne either by taxes on American citizens and businesses or by tariffs on foreign companies and products. The latter is preferable to the former.

Similarly, we oppose all international trade agreements which have the effect of diminishing America's economic self-sufficiency and of exporting jobs, the loss of which will impoverish American families, undermine American communities, and diminish America's capacity for economic self-reliance.

We see our country and its workers as more than bargaining chips for multinational corporations and international banks in their ill-conceived and evil New World Order.

The defense of the American nation and the preservation of its economic integrity are essential to the defense of the liberty and prosperity of every American citizen.

We will insist on strict federal criminal penalties for any officer of the United States government, or spouse thereof, who subsequently hires himself or herself out to represent any foreign government or other entity, public or private, with respect to influencing either public opinion or public policy on matters affecting U.S. trade with any such governments or other entities.

The indebtedness of the American government has contributed dangerously to making our economy more vulnerable to foreign takeover and manipulation. Particularly in the area of national security, foreign interests have thus been abetted in gaining access to America's high-tech secrets under the guise of commercial enterprise. We propose that technology transfers which compromise national security be made illegal, and urge that all violators be prosecuted.

We reject the concept of Most Favored Nation status, especially insofar as it has been used to curry favor with regimes whose domestic and international policies are abhorrent to decent people everywhere, and are in fundamental conflict with the vital interests of the United States of America.

The United States government should establish the firm policy that U.S. or multinational businesses investing abroad do so at their own risk. There is no obligation by our Government to protect those businesses with the lives of our service personnel, or the taxes of our citizens.

25 posted on 02/20/2004 10:59:57 AM PST by GraniteStateConservative ("Bush wakes up every morning thinking about how to take the war to the terrorists." -- C. Hitchens)
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