[unseen]

Well if you can't understand why the decrease in Industrial spending as a percent of the GDP is a cause for concern there really is no reason to continue the discussion. If you do not understand how the reduction of are industrial base is a major problem for national security again it's a lost cause.

And yes I understand the exporting of our industrial base gives a false number in the trade deficit. The more of are industrial base we export the more of a negative our trade will be in the future because the exports will decrease over time and imports will increase as the new forgien industrial base comes online. Thus to keep our GDP growing the consumer and government will have to pick up the slack. This signals a long term decline in standards of living as the government shoulders more and more of the societal costs while the previous industrial base that use to pay for these benefits flee the country for cheaper labor and easier governmental oversight. I understand that these are very difficult concepts to grasp and you may not be able to follow along. Free traders do have difficultly following any logic that requires a person to give up short term profits for long term gains.

[LowCountryJoe]

...there really is no reason to continue the discussion.

Whew! Thank you, thank you, thank you. It is quite frustrating discussing something with someone who is uneducated on a topic just to have them turn right around and regurgitate information back to you - innacurately - while claiming that they're the ones who really know what in the heck they're talking about. It's enough to make me want to chew off your leg just to get away...I guess I'm just too undisciplined to ignore your stupidy-filled replies/posts.