[Cronos]

Where's my proof? We're NOT a small, poor nation anymore. We grew in size and in population with massive immigration. The people who came here wanted to work hard and live the dream. As generations have gone by, the desire has died, as we've had it really good -- e.g. the sizties -- America was the super power and the kids in the 60s were the richest and most secure generation. They had it too good and sc***ed up the nation. Now the folks in India today have that urge to better themselves and their country (and with quite a lot of room). This is good in the long term -- prosperous, free countries are peaceful countries (e.g. Japan today)

[null and void]

Agreed. Good in the long term. I strongly favor raising the rest of the world to our standard of living.

HOWEVER, this doesn't have to be done at the short term cost of beggaring America and Americans.

That's the part I have a real problem with!

[Orbiting_Rosie's_Head]

Where's my proof? We're NOT a small, poor nation anymore

Nice try, but that's not what I asked you to prove. You seem to have forgotten your own statement, or you are just trying to steer the argument away from it, because you have no proof. You postulated that tariffs would no longer work for our nation. THAT is what I asked you to prove. Your statement (in case you forgot):

What worked when we were a small, poor nation in the 1700s will not work in the 2000s...

So, prove it.