Posted on 07/03/2005 6:00:20 PM PDT by Coleus
When the North American Free Trade Agreement was being debated in 1993, the rhetoric from both the U.S. and Mexican governments was similarly emphatic.
NAFTA would help deter migration by creating new jobs and prosperity in Mexico, they said.
Several years later, NAFTA appears to have done just the opposite. While many Mexicans appreciate the elevated diplomatic status it has conferred upon their country, the trade pact has driven large numbers of farmers, small-business owners and laborers out of work. These people are left with few options but to seek a better life in the United States.
NAFTA has helped part of the Mexican economy -- large industry, agribusiness and the average consumer -- by accelerating capital investment, boosting trade and lowering prices. Industrial productivity has increased, Internet use is becoming more common and store shelves are packed with the latest consumer goods from all over the world.
However, although the Mexican government does not keep reliable statistics on unemployment, experts say the jobs created by NAFTA are not as numerous as the jobs eliminated.
FARMING WOES In Tlacuitapa, farming has never looked worse, and local farmers blame foreign trade.
As part of NAFTA, corn and dairy tariffs were cut, bringing floods of cheaper U.S. corn. Tlacuitapa farmers, whose two main products are corn and milk, found the prices offered by local distributors slashed to the bone.
The region, where farm machines are few, the land is rocky and rainfall is erratic, simply could not compete with the mechanized, nature-blessed bounty of U.S. agriculture. Those who had the misfortune to live in the Tlacuitapa region -- and in many other regions throughout Mexico -- had no way of making a decent living.
At around the same time that NAFTA took effect, the Mexican government eliminated farm subsidy payments,
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
I'm sure you have. Smoot-Hawley is a favorite bugaboo myth amongst free-traitors.
If the myth had any validity, why didn't the reversals begun in 1934 pull us out of the depression?
Unfortunately if took the WW II war economy to do that.
Your "they know better than we do" political belief has yielded us an irrational, unexplainable war in the ME and an invasion on our southern border to which "they" are oblivious.
Some Americans have had enough.
If it were just Hillary's plan, it would be DOA. Or maybe you think Hillary is so powerful that she can control a Republican House, Senate, and Presidency.
Yes, because such posts contribute absolutely nothing to the issue in question.
Have the antis now joined forces with the anti-war crowd?
Y'alls hatred of President Bush must run deep.
For some, deciding to have children is a selfish act. Others decide not to have children because they worry about not being able to provide health care, education, AND time for them. If you're working two jobs to survive, you can't be providing the supervision and nurturing children require to thrive.
Its all them toys and pleasures that make our economy strong. What an unpatriotic thing to suggest we should forgo them.
Actually it was the South Koreans and Japanese who were baring the bulk of the financial burden. Very little of the money was to come from the US.
No, Great Britain was the economic super power of the 19th century and the English pound was the preferred international medium of exchange. The majority of Americans were dirt poor though we did have a class of very wealthy people. The rise of the middle class began during the war and continued during the 50s and 60s.
You'll have to speak louder, my new Bose speakers are great at overcoming the noise of my jet boat engines but make it difficult to carry on conversations.
So now you're blaming the Depression on protectionism in a pathetic effort to keep us from protecting our industries today.
Anyone who knows anything about the Depression realizes that the stock market had far outstripped its value in 1929. There were junk stocks selling at prices beyond what blue chips should have sold, and blue chips were in the stratosphere. Also, the impact of WW1 and the problems surrounding the valuation of currency were related. The Depression started when people realized their stocks were useless, and continued when they realized that the economy couldn't easily be revived.
Today, we're outsourcing and offshoring even the services that we were promised would replace our "dirty" manufacturing industries that were lost in the 1970s and 1980s. America's economy is being hollowed out. If we don't reverse the trend, our fate will be entirely in the hands of foreigners. The equity on Wall Street is already more than 50% owned by foreigners and foreign interests.
If we don't ensure that the outsourcing and offshoring trend is reversed, what could follow might make the Great Depression look like a Monopoly game that went wrong.
If we don't reverse the illegal immigration trend, more taxes will be spent on services for illegal aliens, more Americans will lose their jobs to illegal underbidding, and more educational resources will be drained for remedying their children's pathetic English skills.
It's clear to me that illegal immigration and our loss of service and manufacturing segments are bad for America's economy. I remember when automobiles were made here. I remember when televisions were made here. I remember when a few foreigners accentuated the high tech firms, which made their software and hardware right here in America.
I remember when America led the world with its industrial might. Anyone who thinks we should continue giving that leadership up is advocating the weakening of this great country. Anyone who advocates the continued flood of illegal aliens is advocating the weakening of our culture.
If immigration had ever had the impact it's having today, then prove that ever in our history there were as many foreign national flags flying in the streets of any of our cities? Look around in any town that has been invaded by illegals. You'll find Mexican flags everywhere.
This time in our history has no precedent. We are losing our country in new, much more interesting ways. All you need to do is count the Mexican flags to figure that out.
Check out some of the replies on this thread. They're a hoot.
The point is that Americans believed in our potential. We had natural resources and a sense of Manifest Destiny - the belief that our nation was blessed by God. The unique combination of freedom and natural wealth was on everyone's mind who lived here. We believed we were going to succeed beyond anyone's wildest dreams, and we did.
That optimism has been temporarily lost today. For one thing, our children are taught in school that the American economy hurts the environment and foreigners. They're taught that Manifest Destiny was racist. They're taught to hate themselves. And we pay taxes for the privilege of having our children brainwashed to believe that they're the cause of suffering in the world. No wonder affluence had become associated with low birthrates.
But American diplomats agreed to the protection scheme by which the DPRK would promise not to use the money to build nuclear weapons. Where's that picture of Halfbright toasting her work with Kim Jong Il?
If our farming methods are so economically superior, why are government subsidies necessary? Why does the US government follow-up farm subsidies with cheap loans to purchasing countries to promote sales? My guess is that without heavy government investments in agriculture, we couldn't compete successfully on the international market.
Excuse me while I enjoy the fruits of our prosperity instead of wallowing in despair and misery.
BTTT
As I recall, North Korea wasn't going to get cash, they were getting nuclear power plants that didn't produce the materials necessary for bomb making and heating oil to see them through the transition period (time between shutting down the old plants and bring the new on line).
It is true that the agreement did include using a percentage of local labor, but I doubt their pay was enough to fund a nuclear weapons program.
Still, the major damage happened on Clinton's watch. Looking back a few years, Carter made similar concessions to Kim Jong Il's father.
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