Posted on 03/10/2006 12:33:17 PM PST by groanup
REVIEW & OUTLOOK
The New Protectionists - How to create a real security crisis.
Friday, March 10, 2006 12:01 a.m. EST
Dubai Ports World finally threw in the kaffiyah on its American operations yesterday, agreeing to sell them "to a U.S. entity." We hope that entity turns out to be Halliburton, if only for the torment that would cause certain eminences on Capitol Hill.
Dubai Ports was susceptible to this political stampede because it was an Arab-owned company buying port operations, which Democrats have played up as uniquely vulnerable. But this is also the second such mugging of a foreign investor in recent months, following last year's demagoguery against a Chinese company's bid to buy Unocal, a middling American oil company. If Members of Congress want a real security crisis--a financial security crisis--they'll keep this up.
What's especially dangerous here is that we're seeing the re-emergence of the "national security" protectionists. They were last seen in the late 1980s, when Japan in particular was the target of a political foreign-investment panic. The Japanese were buying Pebble Beach and Rockefeller Center, and so America was soon going to be a colony of Tokyo. A Japanese bid for Fairchild Semiconductor of Silicon Valley was seen as a threat to American defense. Those fears seem laughable now. But here we go again, with new targets of anxiety.
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(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
You forgot to blame free trade for sunspots.
No sunspots are caused by the sun's change in its electromagnetic currents and happens in a approx 11 year cycle. Which by the way is for casted to start a new cycle soon. This could impact sensitive communications like sat which could cause major problems for international trade.
Thats like saying shop at our grocery store but we are not going to let you rent a parking place in the parking lot. If you can't lease docking space you can't even get in the port. Commerce is off limits if there is no way to ship it.
Where did I say that? Germany has a trade surplus. Does that mean their economy is better than ours?
Massive trade deficits hurt the country as whole, drive down the value of the currency, and transfer control of the economy to foreigners.
How do trade deficits drive down our currency? Last year we had a record deficit, but our currency got stronger against the Yen and the Euro. Maybe you're wrong? And how exactly do foreigners control our economy?
The Chinese, for example, could tomorrow sell their dollars, cause its value collapse
The Chinese hold about $250 billion in US treasuries. Selling those dollars would hardly cause a collapse of the dollar.
resulting in massive inflation and increased interest rates.
Hmmmmm....if selling would cause higher rates and more inflation, buying must have caused lower rates and lower inflation. Now, were you telling us why foreigners were bad for our economy?
Evidently they don't buy things to make money, they just buy things to blow them up. They just spent 50 million for Boeing aircraft to blow up. They own CSX containers and have terminals here and they blow them up every week. They blow up the millions of dollars of real estate they own in the US every month. Every year they blow up the the terminals they lease in our international airports.
I guess you're going to really be sad when you find out that a UAE company has cargo terminals at JFK and a UAE company has been awarded a DOD contract to service US Navy ships.
They are going to blow them up in 6 months. I can hardly wait for their next purchase. Hope they buy congress.
What US Company that makes military turbines for military engines?
Thank you. If the above is the case, then I would not sell my F-16's to the U.A.E., shut the line down, tell my workers to take a hike, and pray to the Lord Almighty that the F-16's I already have will never need to be quickly replaced.
Then I would get lambasted on Free Republic for not having any concern for my manufacturing workers, my manufacturing base, and the security of my nation.
We might as well hand our keys over to the ChiComs.
I'm not sure of the name, I heard that the issue of this acquisition was also on the table for CFIUS. maybe someone else knows details.
what "very people" - most republicans were against this port deal too.
The American Revolution was fought to allow free trade and to abolish taxes. If you don't like free trade just tear up the Constitution and throw it away.
Yes, and thank you for pointing these facts out. You see in today's "free trade" system, "free people" become
a thing of the past. Free speech, free thought and freedom of association go by the wayside in order not to "offend" "free trade partners".
http://www.courant.com/news/nationworld/hc-ports0302.artmar02,0,3171289.story?coll=hc-headlines-nationworld
its a london based company with plants in the US, making components that serve DoD projects.
Yeah, protect-ism worked real good 1929-1950. I lived half of that period. You should have lived the other half.
The British Navy already uses these ports along with the US.
Really? Then what's this whole 50.1% of Free Republic member opinion about who answered "Bad" or "Really bad" to the following question: "Is the failed port deal bad for America?" More inaccuracies on your part, oceanview?
http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/poll?poll=142;results=1
I wonder about you people and whether you really know the definitions to certain simple words - words such as "most".
Dang, you should have told us that before we fought that old war The American Revolution for free trade. Then we wouldn't have had to write that old Constitution essay.
freerepublic is hardly representative of all republicans who voted for Bush. not even close.
To make money!!!!!!!!
The constitution?
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