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Trade jitters, anti-China sentiment rouse voters
Reuters ^ | 11/14/07 | Andrea Hopkins

Posted on 11/14/2007 4:59:55 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster

Trade jitters, anti-China sentiment rouse voters

By Andrea Hopkins

Wed Nov 14, 1:56 PM ET

It could be expected that Iraq would play a big role in the 2008 U.S. election campaign. But if recent populist rallies are an indication, another country may be rousing even more anger from voters: China.

In all corners of an overflowing convention room this week in the industrial Rust-Belt city of Pittsburgh, voters, union officials and company executives alike railed against unfair trade -- and demanded U.S. politicians do something.

"Our government refuses to stand up to the Chinese and make a level playing field," John Ratzenberger, a television actor headlining the event, told about 800 factory workers and concerned voters, to applause.

The standing-room-only gathering was the fourth in a series of rallies in key U.S. states sponsored by the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a nonprofit group whose partners include the United Steelworkers union.

Voters were given a list of questions to put to presidential candidates who might pass through the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania in the run-up to the November 2008 presidential election, including queries like: how will you "hold cheating countries like China accountable?"

Few in the audience seemed to need such prompting.

"China makes these inferior products but they have all our debt so they don't listen to us for one minute," said retired General Motors worker Bernadette Koval, 66, a Democrat.

More than 3.1 million U.S. manufacturing jobs have been lost since Republican President George W. Bush took office, most in states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Ohio, where next year's presidential election could be decided.

While many key trade deals were signed by former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, voter sentiment on trade has soured in the seven years since Bush took over. A majority of Americans, including 60 percent of Republicans, now believe free trade is bad for the U.S. economy, according to recent NBC News-Wall Street Journal polls.

'TAINTED GOODS'

Safety concerns have helped stir anti-trade momentum, a development analysts said could boost the globalization issue to the top of voter agendas in 2008.

"The tainted goods issue is a factor," said Jared Bernstein, an economist at the liberal Economic Policy Institute in Washington. "A lot more people in the electorate are going to be looking for the government to step in and meet these challenges of globalization, not least of which is product safety. And that's going to cut across party lines."

"Just look at all the bad toys," said retired meat cutter Charles Hrelec, 80, referring to recalls of lead-contaminated and other unsafe toys from China in recent months.

Bernstein said popular opinion against both politicians and U.S. companies that outsource jobs overseas makes trade an issue that Democrats could capitalize on in 2008.

In the crowded hall, Republican Craig Tripp, 37, said he supports Democrat John Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina, due in large part to his stand against unfettered trade.

"Everything is falling apart," Tripp said. "There's no manufacturing here any more. We're paying $20 billion a month in trade from China -- that can't be sustained. We could be making those goods in the United States."

That the monthly trade imbalance with China -- it was actually $23.8 billion in September -- rolls off the tongue of a middle-class voter does not bode well for free-trade proponents and candidates from both parties have taken note.

Edwards has taken the most populist stand among Democratic front-runners, pledging to revisit unpopular trade deals and chastising rivals Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois for voting to support a trade deal with Peru last week.

But Republicans, too, have taken up the mantra of "fair trade" rather than free trade and U.S. Steel Corp chief operating officer John Goodish said the issue is bipartisan.

"It's our job, together with the union, to make sure we keep manufacturing competitive," Goodish, a Republican, told the crowd. "It's the government's job to make sure we have a level playing field. They're not doing their job."

(Editing by Lori Santos and Bill Trott)


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: chicoms; china; cool; duncanhunter; election; tlr; trade
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Now Republicans have a decision to make: either (1) they can fully make use of national security angle to ride this surging tide, taking edge off Dems and offset Iraq issue or (2) haplessly keep championing free trade with any country, further eroding their position.
1 posted on 11/14/2007 4:59:55 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster
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To: TigerLikesRooster; maui_hawaii; tallhappy; Dr. Marten; Jeff Head; Tainan; hedgetrimmer; ...

Ping!


2 posted on 11/14/2007 5:00:29 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster (kim jong-il, chia head, ppogri, In Grim Reaper we trust)
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To: TigerLikesRooster

Only one man in the race has the courage to talk about China and security.


3 posted on 11/14/2007 5:02:57 PM PST by cripplecreek (Only one consistent conservative in this race and his name is Hunter.)
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To: TigerLikesRooster

In the crowded hall, Republican Craig Tripp, 37, said he supports Democrat John Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina, due in large part to his stand against unfettered trade.


LMFAO! No Republican in his right mind, trade, terrorism or whatever other issue, would support Breck Girl.

I agree, though. It’s time for fair trade. Screw free trade.


4 posted on 11/14/2007 5:16:32 PM PST by abercrombie_guy_38
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To: TigerLikesRooster

Out comes the cheerleaders for Fleece Trade with a chart that uses skewed or incomplete statistics to tell those folks they are stupid and never really had it this good....

There are reasons why people spend their time going to political rallys especially when they have never went to such things before.

The US electorate may be taking on a Nationalistic outlook, that is not a good thing when we have three wars ongoing..


5 posted on 11/14/2007 5:17:01 PM PST by padre35 (Conservative in Exile/ Isaiah 3.3)
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To: TigerLikesRooster; cripplecreek
Great topic. This should be one of the centerpiece issues in so many House and Senate and Governorship races, along with the Presidential campaign.

By the way, has anyone compiled 'The Sayings of Chairman Duncan' on the China problem? (and he was an actual Chairman of the Armed Services Committee as I recall.)

6 posted on 11/14/2007 5:18:39 PM PST by ProCivitas (Duncan Hunter = Pro-Family + Fair Trade = Pro-America. www.gohunter08.com)
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To: ProCivitas; WalterSkinner

You seem to be the keeper of the archives.


7 posted on 11/14/2007 5:24:53 PM PST by cripplecreek (Only one consistent conservative in this race and his name is Hunter.)
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To: cripplecreek

And that man is Duncan Hunter. It’s a wide open race, might as well back the most conservative man.

According to Polls, Fred Thompson Foundering
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1925179/posts

Here’s what I’ve been posting lately.

Here’s a recent poll showing Hunter at 4%.

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/28889/republicans_2008_giuliani_28_thompson_19

Here’s an intrade link to the forum site discussing how Hunter might be gaining traction.
http://bb.intrade.com/intradeForum/posts/list/1797.page

Here’s one showing Fred at 6%, and discussing why.
http://bb.intrade.com/intradeForum/posts/list/1805.page

One thing prediction markets are better at — their only bias is whether someone can make money trading the futures contracts.

The Efficacy Of Prediction Markets
The Liberty Papers ^ | November 8, 2007 | Brad Warbiany
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1922961/posts

Posted on 11/08/2007 12:21:43 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum

Fred has lost ~30 points at Intrade over the last few weeks, looks like it’s stabilizing at ~6%.

Thompson Tanking in Futures Markets (Intrade, IEM)
Intrade; Iowa Electronic Markets ^ | October 31, 2008

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1919127/posts

The Dropout contract for Thompson has an ask price 2 points higher than last trade. There is no Dropout contract for Hunter.

http://www.intrade.com/jsp/intrade/contractSearch/

DROPOUT.DEC07.(F)THOMPSON
Fred Thompson to drop out of 2008 Presidential race on/before 31 Dec 2007 M 6.0 9.2 4.0 0 0


8 posted on 11/14/2007 5:24:55 PM PST by Kevmo (We should withdraw from Iraq — via Tehran. And Duncan Hunter is just the man to get that job done.)
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To: All

For instance, just from today:

Duncan Hunter Speaks To Nevada About Chinese Threat
News Which Cannot Lose\Elko Daily Free Press ^ | 11-13-07 | Elko Daily Free Press
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1925890/posts

Posted on 11/14/2007 4:55:46 PM PST by WalterSkinner


9 posted on 11/14/2007 5:26:58 PM PST by Kevmo (We should withdraw from Iraq — via Tehran. And Duncan Hunter is just the man to get that job done.)
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To: padre35

that is not a good thing when we have three wars ongoing..
***Iraq, Afghanistan, and WOT?


10 posted on 11/14/2007 5:28:21 PM PST by Kevmo (We should withdraw from Iraq — via Tehran. And Duncan Hunter is just the man to get that job done.)
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To: TigerLikesRooster
"Our government refuses to stand up to the Chinese and make a level playing field," John Ratzenberger, a television actor headlining the event, told about 800 factory workers and concerned voters, to applause.

Hey, Cliff, look over here...


11 posted on 11/14/2007 5:28:40 PM PST by Virginia Ridgerunner (“We must not forget that there is a war on and our troops are in the thick of it!” --Duncan Hunter)
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To: cripplecreek; pissant

Ping to post #6


12 posted on 11/14/2007 5:29:46 PM PST by WalterSkinner ( In Memory of My Father--WWII Vet and Patriot 1926-2007)
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To: Kevmo

WOT?

Exactly, we have soldiers in various roles from the Phillipines to Columbia to Djubti to who knows “?” doing counter terror operations and training.

I can understand the reaction to the trade deals, I don’t care for them myself, but we cannot allow ourselves to lose 3 wars on a knee jerk “America needs them on the Border” sentiment.


13 posted on 11/14/2007 5:32:08 PM PST by padre35 (Conservative in Exile/ Isaiah 3.3)
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To: padre35

I can understand the reaction to the trade deals, I don’t care for them myself, but we cannot allow ourselves to lose 3 wars on a knee jerk “America needs them on the Border” sentiment.
***I do not understand what you’re talking about. We’re WINNING the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan. If we left today (see my tagline) we would be leaving behind relatively healthy countries. The WOT is not really a war, it’s like the WOD and war on poverty, mostley a bunch of sloganeering. These trade deals AND the border issues are all interrelated — by trading with our enemies on favorable terms, we fund the terrorists against us, and also the border is a security issue, noting that several of the 9/11 hijackers were illegal aliens. Like the WOD, you never win nor lose the WOT, it just becomes a living bureaucracy; so I wouldn’t count the WOT as a third war to be lost.


14 posted on 11/14/2007 5:39:10 PM PST by Kevmo (We should withdraw from Iraq — via Tehran. And Duncan Hunter is just the man to get that job done.)
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To: TigerLikesRooster
While many key trade deals were signed by former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, voter sentiment on trade has soured in the seven years since Bush took over. A majority of Americans, including 60 percent of Republicans, now believe free trade is bad for the U.S. economy, according to recent NBC News-Wall Street Journal polls.

Good. These people can vote for the one person actually talking about China (and no, I'm not referring to Hillary).

Even more importantly, these people vote with their wallets: they can join me and others in simply looking at where products are made before tossing them in the cart.

15 posted on 11/14/2007 5:39:25 PM PST by Lexinom (Your hopes and dreams rest on your right to life. GoHunter08.com)
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To: TigerLikesRooster

DITTO. You do not know how many times I been beaten up by freepers who claim free trade is good for the US and it is not an issue amongst GOP rank and file. The WSJ poll shows that 60 percent of GOP is having second thoughts about free trade. Job security thru fair trade, illegal immigration, war on terror and taxes will be the GOP winning ticket. Take the right position on all four issues and the Blue Collar Dem and GOP coalition will be revived and give the GOP a landslide. Be wrong on one of the four issues, and it will be a close election.


16 posted on 11/14/2007 5:55:12 PM PST by Fee
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To: TigerLikesRooster

Thanks for the thread! I’m pasting a copy of one of my previous posts (link and comments from article) here. I can’t stand that china is the MFN....never did like it.


http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell060600.asp

June 6, 2000
snip
“...the recent vote in Congress to grant China permanent “most favored nation...”
snip
“...instead of concentrating on the millions of consumers, international trade policy is too often focused on the desires of producers, including the producers of technology that can enable China to more accurately aim nuclear missiles at American cities. It is not yet clear how many of our nuclear secrets were stolen and sent to China, but what we have sold to them is enough to qualify as one of the most reckless acts of a reckless administration.
—snip—
When we try to play moralistic political games with international trade policy or diplomatic recognition, we not only fail politically, but also morally. If the issue were moral, then we should have nothing whatever to do with China, either politically or economically. But, when we only pretend that the issue is moral, and then establish diplomatic relations and grant most favored nation status, the question becomes: If China is not bad enough to be denied these statuses, then who is?

If we deny “most favored nation” status to some other regime after granting it to China, what have we accomplished, except to make ourselves look like hypocrites, thereby reducing our moral influence in the world?...”


17 posted on 11/14/2007 6:00:50 PM PST by Freedom2specul8 (Please pray for our troops.... http://anyservicemember.navy.mil/)
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To: TigerLikesRooster

Hunter


18 posted on 11/14/2007 6:04:37 PM PST by Earthdweller (All reality is based on faith in something.)
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To: Kevmo

I think we are on the same page kevmo, we cannot pull back and allow ourselves to lose due to some misplaced sentiment concerning the US’s role in the world.


19 posted on 11/14/2007 6:08:11 PM PST by padre35 (Conservative in Exile/ Isaiah 3.3)
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To: Kevmo

Wow, you’re spreading lies on multiple threads now! How . . . passionate . . . you must be about deception.

Fred is not at 6%, though there is a futures market at Intrade that trades at about 6.


20 posted on 11/14/2007 7:06:01 PM PST by Petronski (Willardcare abortions $50 each, $25 per twin. Ask for S&H Stamps!)
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