Posted on 06/15/2004 9:55:41 PM PDT by Remember_Salamis
Oh this will be good!!! lemme get my popcorn and soda pop.
Obviously he's a traitor. No need for reason or logic.
/sarcasm
Its not a case for or against free trade that is at issue. Free Trade is great. I am all for it.
Now you do your little thing and define what Free Trade is supposed to mean. I will be waiting for you to give me a brief synopsis.
Lou Dobbs Transcript from CNNfn:
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENTS (voice-over): Crate after crate, aisle after aisle, Chinese goods. The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission says that is a problem.
RICHARD D'AMATO, VICE CHAIRMAN, U.S.-CHINA COMMISSION: Chinese nonmarket and mercantilist trade practices have tilted the playing field unfairly against U.S. interests and need to be addressed by U.S. government more aggressively.
PILGRIM: U.S. imports from China outpace exports by more than 5 to 1, part of what the report calls the most lopsided trade relationship the United States has. The United States imports $152 billion worth of goods from China, but only exports $28 billion. The report finds that contributes to the erosion of U.S. manufacturing jobs, something critical to the nation's economic and national security.
JOHN TRACIK, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: The erosion of a manufacturing base to China is a problem for the United States because, frankly, a world superpower cannot survive as a superpower without an industrial base. It's just impossible.
PILGRIM: And the report recommended the U.S. Trade Representative Office should investigate China's system of government subsidies from manufacturing and address China's exchange manipulation.
In the broader context, some China experts think the U.S. relationship will be a difficult one.
KURT CAMPBELL, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: The idea that is underscored in this report is that it's possible to have a strong, stable relationship with China? I don't buy it. I think by its very nature, U.S.-Chinese relations are going to be complex and contradictory for years, perhaps decades, to come.
PILGRIM: On the issues of security, the report finds some disturbing trends. China is buying time by reassuring its neighbors of long-term peaceful intentions. Meanwhile, it's strengthening its military. And the report questions China's commitment to a peaceful approach to Taiwan or preserving Hong Kong's autonomy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Now China is important for its role in brokering talks with North Korea, and that, says the report, will be the true test of U.S.-China relations. But that role should not rule out investigating other practices the United States finds damaging to its economy or its national security -- Lou.
DOBBS: Remarkable. This report is simply remarkable on every aspect. Kitty, thank you.
Kitty Pilgrim.
I'm joined now by the chairman of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, Roger Robinson, who joins us tonight from our Washington, D.C., bureau.
Good to have you here.
This report, as you undoubtedly realized as you were preparing it, is a blockbuster in terms of the direction of this administration's policy and the one before it, the Clinton administration?
ROGER ROBINSON, U.S.-CHINA ECONOMIC AND SECURITY REVIEW COMMISSION: Well, Lou, we're mandated by the Congress to look at the downside risk in this very expansive and complex bilateral relationship, arguably the most complex of any this country faces.
The Congress is very engaged in matters concerning U.S.-China trade, both on the economic and the national security front. So it's not surprising that they would want a series of metrics or an ability to measure year to year where we are in that relationship.
Are we making significant progress, are we at a standstill, or is our situation actually deteriorating? And we found out to our chagrin that it was primarily the latter.
DOBBS: Roger, there are many people -- and,frankly, I would have to be very candid with you and tell you I'm amongst those -- who are not surprised by the findings on the trade deficit. China is engaging in managed trade, trying to achieve maximum surpluses wherever it possibly can.
Why, in your judgment, as you review these policies, has this administration in particular followed policies that resulted in almost $130 billion deficit last year with China and a deficit that's running 20 percent higher this year?
ROBINSON: If we look at the underpinnings of this massive trade deficit, which is, by the way, on track to setting a new record this year, we find a number of disturbing issues that haven't been adequately treated, in the view of the commission.
Obviously, the currency manipulation issue is right at the top of that list, some 15 percent to 40 percent undervalued in our estimation. A significant repegging to a basket of currencies is urgently required. We have an array of subsidies from capital to labor and others that have not been sufficiently treated, and we've been very reticent, as you know, to hold China's feet to the fire concerning its WTO commitments and bringing these issues to the settlement dispute mechanism. DOBBS: Not only has this administration -- and, again, in all fairness, the Clinton administration before -- been hesitant to bring about any sort of balanced trade approach to China. In point of fact, there's been a delinking of political and economic policy toward China.
Is it -- as you've assessed what is happening in this relationship with what is happening in Hong Kong and other issues of human rights within China mainland, is it a time to consider tying political interests -- U.S. political interests -- and commercial interests into a policy for China?
ROBINSON: Well, one thing you've mentioned, Lou, that I think I agree with and the commission would buy as well is this notion of being very careful about the undue and inappropriate linkage of national security foreign policy issues with the trade issues.
There are many that would argue that, for example, the administration -- and even previous administrations -- might have been willing to look the other way on unfair trade practices and competition in favor of bigger picture foreign policy and national security goals.
You know that the North Korean nuclear crisis is at the top of that list today. How much are we not holding Chinese feet to the fire in the effort to secure greater Chinese cooperation in the resolution of that crisis?
We think that these issues should be dealt with on their own merits, that we have for too long allowed this honeymoon and in effect debilitating circumstance to be able to be maintained.
DOBBS: And you and your commission have raised a critical issue in terms of the manufacturing base that has been lost specifically to China, and that is, of course, the importance of a solid, comprehensive manufacturing base to provide for the national security interests of this country. How alarming do you think the current situation is? What are the prospects of resolving it?
ROBINSON: Well, you know, since our commission was conceived in the year 2000, there have been overall some 2.8 million manufacturing jobs lost, some 17 percent of total manufacturing jobs. We're trying to explore, you know, what is China's level of responsibility for that massive erosion.
But you're quite right when you think of the manufacturing base as a fundamental national security issue of the United States. Economic security and national security are inextricably linked. I think we've learned that for some time now, and it's certainly the new reality of the 21st Century.
So we are now at -- in a circumstance where we have to take very seriously the idea that unfair trade practices are contributing in such a material way to that erosion and take concrete steps to reverse the situation. We offer the Congress some 38 recommendations to do this, and we feel that Congress is very alert to the kind of presentations that the commission's making in this reporting cycle.
DOBBS: Roger Robinson, chairman of the U.S.-China Commission.
We thank you for being here.
Neither he, nor his "show," have any credibility.
bump
Then you should check the FR archives where this has been posted before. THE CASE FOR FREE TRADE
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
Lou Dobbs has turned into an isolationist fanatic.
That is incorrect. He's a Fair Trader like I am. Isolationist is the new buzzword putdown for anything other than Free Trade. It's deceptive.
Please see post #4.
Dobbs is hyping "outsourcing" as some kind of recent phenomenon, when, in fact, it's been going on for the last fifteen years.
Besides, how can you believe a guy with orange hair?
Neither he, nor his "show," have any credibility.
Wrong again. He has tremendous credibility with Fair Traders and Immigration reformers. Dobbs is the ONLY one doing a good job on reporting these issues.
He used to be a rabid Free TRader until he saw first hand the devastating results of NAFTA. Since then he's come over to our side.
Actually, Dobbs had to figure out a way to distinguish himself from Neil Cavuto, and FOXNEWS, which has been, and is, kicking CNN's candy ass.
So, Dobbs takes up the mantle of "Fair Trade," and is STILL losing, badly, to Cavuto.
Dobbs has no credibility. He uses the same damned cooked-up Forrester Research numbers on outsourcing, numbers that ar FAR FAR higher than anyone else's. Did you know that Forrester actually advises corporations on outsourcing? Yup, they're drumming up fear among CEOs that "everybody else is doing it, so why shouldn't I"?
What devastating results of NAFTA?
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.
Thankyou for posting this Willie. Here are exerpts from the Republican Party Founding Platform of 1896:
For the first time since the Civil War the American people have witnessed the calamitous consequences of full and unrestricted Democratic control of the Government. It has been a record of unparalleled incapacity, dishonor and disaster. In administrative management it has ruthlessly sacrificed indispensable revenue, entailed an unceasing deficit, eked out ordinary current expenses with borrowed money, piled up the public debt by $262,000,000 in time of peace, forced an adverse balance of trade, kept a perpetual menace hanging over the redemption fund, pawned American credit to alien syndicates, and reversed all the measures and results of successful Republican rule. In the broad effect of its policy it has precipitated panic, blighted industry and trade with prolonged depression, closed factories, reduced work and wages, halted enterprise and crippled American production, while stimulating foreign production for the American market. Every consideration of public safety and individual interest demands that the Government shall be rescued from the hands of those who have shown themselves incapable of conducting it without disaster at home and dishonor abroad, and shall be restored to the party which for thirty years administered it with unequaled success and prosperity. And in this connection we heartily endorse the wisdom, patriotism and the success of the Administration of President Harrison.
Allegiance to Protection Renewed.
We renew and emphasize our allegiance to the policy of Protection as the bulwark of American industrial independence and the foundation of American development and prosperity. This true American policy taxes foreign products and encourages home industry; it puts the burden of revenue on foreign goods; it secures the American market for the American producer; it upholds the American standard of wages for the American workingman; it puts the factory by the side of the farm, and makes the American farmer less dependent on foreign demand and prices; it diffuses general thrift and founds the strength of all on the strength of each. In its reasonable application it is just, far and impartial, equally opposed to foreign control and domestic monopoly, to sectional discrimination and individual favoritism. [Emphasis mine]
We denounce the present Democratic tariff as sectional, injurious to the public credit and destructive to business enterprise. We demand such an equitable tariff on foreign imports which come into competition with American products, as will not only furnish adequate revenue for the necessary expenses of the Government, but will protect American labor from degradation to the wage level of other lands. We are not pledged to any particular schedules. The question of rates is a practical question, to be governed by the conditions of the time and of production; the ruling and uncompromising principle is the protection and development of American labor and industry. The country demands a right settlement, and then it wants rest.
Reciprocity Demanded.
We believe the repeal of the reciprocity arrangements negotiated by the last Republican Administration was a national calamity, and we demand their renewal and extension on such terms as will equalize our trade with other nations, remove the restrictions which now obstruct the sale of American products in the ports of other countries, and secure enlarged markets for the products of our farms, forests and factories. Protection and reciprocity are twin measures of Republican policy and go hand in hand. Democratic rule has recklessly struck down both, and both must be re-established. Protection for what we produce; free admission for the necessaries of life which we do not produce; reciprocal agreements of mutual interest which gain open markets for us in return for our open market to others. Protection builds up domestic industry and trade and secures our own market for ourselves; reciprocity builds up foreign trade and finds an outlet for our surplus. We condemn the present Administration for not keeping faith with the sugar producers of this country; the Republican party favors such protection as will lead to the production on American soil of all the sugar which the American people use and for which they pay other countries more than $100,000,000 annually. To all our products--to those of the mine and the field, as well as those of the shop and the factory--to hemp, to wool, the product of the great industry of sheep husbandry, as well as to the finished woolens of the mill-- we promise the most ample protection.
Merchant Marine.
We favor restoring the early American policy of discriminating duties for the up building of our merchant marine and the protection of our shipping in the foreign carrying trade, so that American ships--the product of American labor, employed in American shipyards, sailing under the Stars and Stripes, and manned, officered and owned by Americans--can regain the carrying of our foreign commerce.
Foreign Immigration.
For the protection of the equality of our American citizenship and of the wages of our workingmen against the fatal competition of low-priced labor , we demand that the immigration laws be thoroughly enforced and so extended as to exclude from entrance to the United States those who can neither read nor write.
"I have not been posting or following on FR for quite some time..."
Welcome back to FR! I'm sure you will find many arguements still in progress. And then someday....they'll be...just...forgotten about.
I say this because I re-read that famous speech that Reagan gave on Goldwater's behalf, what 40?! years ago. I didn't have 1/2 a clue about 1/2 the things he spoke about. I couldn't even tell what point he was trying to make a lot of the time. There's really not too many things that stand the test of time.
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