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Free Trade Faltering
IBD Editorials ^ | 3 April 2007 | Staff

Posted on 04/03/2007 9:22:51 PM PDT by Kitten Festival

Commerce: An ill wind is blowing through America's stalled trade treaties. New calls for tariffs and misplaced xenophobia are finding a home in the Democrat-led Congress. All that's going to do is make us poorer.

Even respected liberal economists like former Fed Vice Chairman Alan Blinder have started uttering nonsense against free trade, so there's no doubt a bad current of populist thought has taken hold.

In Congress, the blight's the worst. Anti-free-trade Democrats like Charles Schumer of New York and Max Baucus of Montana, and Republicans like South Carolina's Sen. Lindsey Graham, are weighing in with encouraging Smoot-Hawley-like tariffs against China.

(Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorials.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Government
KEYWORDS: codepinkos; democrats; freetrade; loudobbs; morons; populists; seattlewtoprotestors
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If we don't get on the ball about free trade, we will all be poorer and weaker.
1 posted on 04/03/2007 9:22:52 PM PDT by Kitten Festival
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To: Kitten Festival

Look at the bright side, maybe our pets will live longer.


2 posted on 04/03/2007 9:26:07 PM PDT by jatopilot99 (Mitt Romney is pro-abortion, pro-gay, and pro-euthanasia!)
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To: jatopilot99
Look at the bright side, maybe our pets will live longer.

Not just our pets - our kids. There have been a handful of instances of kids ending up with lead poisoning after swallowing small knick knacks from China...which were 99% lead.
3 posted on 04/03/2007 9:28:17 PM PDT by Old_Mil (Duncan Hunter in 2008! A Veteran, A Patriot, A Reagan Republican... http://www.gohunter08.com/)
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To: Kitten Festival; Kevmo; AuntB; pissant; airborne; WalterSkinner; Paperdoll

Free trade is fine, but not conscious-free trade.

Free trade with Japan? Sure. Free trade with Britain? Yep. Free trade with Austrailia? No problemo.

Free trade with China? No.


4 posted on 04/03/2007 9:30:27 PM PDT by Ultra Sonic 007 (Vote for Duncan Hunter in 2008. Audio, Video, and Quotes in my profile.)
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To: Ultra Sonic 007

Free trade is fine. I say this without the “buts” that negate everything to the left of the conjunction.

The protectionist ideas of Hoover and Roosevelt do not work. Hopefully we don’t have to live through the 1930s again for this point to be relearned.


5 posted on 04/03/2007 9:51:41 PM PDT by JHBowden (President Giuliani in 2008! Law and Order. Solid Judges. Free Markets. Killing Terrorists.)
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To: JHBowden

Zackly. Too much stupidity on both sides. Mostly, it’s people who are big naysayers but offer nothing better in return.


6 posted on 04/03/2007 10:55:59 PM PDT by Kitten Festival
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To: Kitten Festival

this trend is very sad, even many on FR are in favor of expanding government to meddle in the trade of free indidividuals.


7 posted on 04/03/2007 11:20:12 PM PDT by traviskicks (http://www.neoperspectives.com/Ron_Paul_2008.htm)
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To: Ultra Sonic 007

Your right what is missing is standards and respect for their fellowman, which China has none for its own people so how can they have it for strangers!

Some how we have to have also campaign to awaken the citizens of this nation that the today’s Democrats has no respect for those who vote for them!

It is also time for Republican leaders to be honest and quit white washing the enemy within!


8 posted on 04/03/2007 11:29:13 PM PDT by restornu (Accept Nothing Until It Is Verified)
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To: Kitten Festival

We want more soup kitchens!


9 posted on 04/04/2007 12:24:55 AM PDT by jwh_Denver ("Planet of the Apes" happened because people wouldn't proof read their posts.)
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To: Kitten Festival

Frontpagemag.com has a very good pro-free trade article today. I can’t remember who wrote it, but it is very long and detailed explaining why globalization is making the whole world richer and why infringements on free trade make everyone poorer.


10 posted on 04/04/2007 2:20:55 AM PDT by driftless2
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To: jwh_Denver
We want more soup kitchens!

Lets just thicken that soup with a little more wheat gluten.

11 posted on 04/04/2007 2:26:30 AM PDT by texastoo ("trash the treaties")
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To: Kitten Festival
Hopefully we don’t have to live through the 1930s again

There's nobody left that remembers the 30s or even the 70s.

The top 20% want free trade, the bottom 20% want no trade, and the muddle wants 'fair' trade.

If we p!ss off the Chinese, we will get skyrocketing inflation (from a depreciated dollar) and skyrocketing interest rates (nobody left to buy our govt bonds).


BUMP

12 posted on 04/04/2007 2:32:51 AM PDT by capitalist229 (Get Democrats out of our pockets and Republicans out of our bedrooms.)
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To: capitalist229

Then maybe the goverment will have to cut spending. That is a good thing.


13 posted on 04/04/2007 2:40:00 AM PDT by Hydroshock (Duncan Hunter For President, checkout gohunter08.com.)
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To: traviskicks
Free Trade* in its proper usage is a proper noun referring to the agreement made and written and ratified between two governments. It has to meet all three of those criteria to be considered Free Trade*.

While the individual and corporation benefits, it is not their 'right' to trade with whomever they want to.

See: Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the US Constitution.

There is no expansion of government. Power has been vested in the government since America was formed to regulate trade with foreign nations.

Its clear as a bell. This has nothing to do with individual rights.

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States

In some cases it is not in our general welfare to trade with certain countries or people.

The general welfare of the country trumps your right to do trade with any foreign company or government.

14 posted on 04/04/2007 2:57:48 AM PDT by maui_hawaii
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To: capitalist229
If we p!ss off the Chinese, we will get skyrocketing inflation (from a depreciated dollar) and skyrocketing interest rates (nobody left to buy our govt bonds).

You are wrong on both accounts.

Nobody left to buy our bonds? HA! Only the other 97% of the market, thats all.

We trade more bonds in a day than China holds all together.

You are failing to recognize that China holds between 3-4% of our total debt.

15 posted on 04/04/2007 3:02:05 AM PDT by maui_hawaii
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To: texastoo

Democrat congress = tariffs and trade wars = new greater depression. Buy Gold Before they outlaw it again...


16 posted on 04/04/2007 3:09:33 AM PDT by x_plus_one (As long as we pretend to not be fighting Iran in Iraq, we can't pretend to win the war.)
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To: Kitten Festival

Nothing like good and miserable Americans for the Democrats to find opportunity....if not enough are miserable...they’ll make ‘em....


17 posted on 04/04/2007 3:16:52 AM PDT by mo
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To: maui_hawaii
...failing to recognize that China holds between 3-4% of our total debt.

That's an important point.   Sure China has a lot of people, 4 or 5 times as many as the US does; but their economic significance is microscopic.

18 posted on 04/04/2007 5:26:09 AM PDT by expat_panama
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To: traviskicks
Why is it okay to hogtie our businesses with oppressive regulations and at the same time allow a competitor, if not enemy to flood our markets with products produced with no regulations?
19 posted on 04/04/2007 5:44:44 AM PDT by Colorado Doug
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To: Kitten Festival
When Senator Reid and others made their trip tp Latin America, it was mainly obscured in the US because it co-incided with Ford's funeral.

It is hard to determine exactly how much they will require to be done on each of the FTAs with Peru, Columbia, and Panama.

The Whitehouse has acknowledged that it will have to make some changes, but it is not clear whether the dems will accept a side agreement. The dems have never been satisfied with the NAFTA side agreements.

20 posted on 04/04/2007 7:21:57 AM PDT by Ben Ficklin
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